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Food Situation in Crimea in the Post-War Decade (1944–1954)

The food crisis and the inability of the Crimean Oblast to supply its population and vacationers with locally produced food during the first post-war decade (1944–1954) as a result of the deportation of indigenous peoples, the degradation of agriculture, and the unadaptability of russian settlers.

Overview

During the first post-war decade (1944–1954), the Crimean Oblast, while part of the RSFSR, proved unable to supply its population and vacationers with essential food products—meat, milk, potatoes, and vegetables of its own production. Unlike the pre-war period, when the Crimean ASSR was self-sufficient, after the deportation of Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians, and Germans, the agricultural sector fell into deep decline. Colonists brought in from the russian hinterland were unable to adapt to the harsh natural and climatic conditions of arid Crimea. The acute food shortage forced the USSR to annually import huge volumes of food from Ukraine, which became one of the key factors behind the subsequent transfer of the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Ethnic Factors of Agricultural Decline: In pre-war Crimea, meat and dairy animal husbandry and sheep farming were traditionally conducted by Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians, while vegetable growing was developed by settlements of Bulgarians, Greeks, and Germans. After their deportation, the first wave of russian settlers proved unable to conduct agriculture under conditions of a waterless, hot climate.
  • Vegetable Growing and Potato Farming: Vegetable yields fell nearly threefold compared to 1940 (down to 50.9–55 centners/ha in 1950–1953). State procurement of vegetables declined from over 60 thousand tons (1940) to 34–41 thousand tons (1950–1953). Potato procurements dropped from nearly 17 thousand tons (1940) to 4.7–6.1 thousand tons in 1950–1953, forcing constant imports of potatoes from mainland Ukraine.
  • Livestock Farming and Fodder Deficit: Due to the lack of a fodder base (forage grain, hay, juicy feeds), the authorities failed to solve the issue of meat and dairy supply. The growth in head count of cattle (from 104.8 thousand in 1940 to 150 thousand in 1953) and cows (from 26.4 thousand to 57 thousand in 1954) occurred by turning abandoned lands of deported peoples into pastures and bringing cattle with settlers. Meanwhile, the number of horses dropped from 81 thousand (1940) to 46.4 thousand (1954), while poultry farming grew from 338 thousand (1940) to 1.55 million (1953).
  • Decline of Processing and Sanitary Crisis: Meat-packing plants and meat processing facilities were in a state of total degradation. A network of butcher shops was non-existent, and trade at the sole collective farm market of Simferopol (on the site of the current Trenev Park) was conducted in terrible sanitary and epidemiological conditions, causing massive outbreaks of infections.
  • The Role of Ukraine after 1954: After the accession of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, the republican authorities initiated a systematic development of commercial and processing infrastructure: the first specialized stores ("Ukrainska Kovbasa" [Ukrainian Sausage], "Ukrainska Palyanytsia" [Ukrainian Bread]) were opened, mobile trade in chilled poultry and rabbits from sterile trays was introduced, and the food shortage was overcome over the subsequent decade.