Climate Dependence and Food Problems in Russia, 1900–1990
The Interaction of Climate and Agricultural Policy
and Their Effect on Food Problems
Nikolai M. Dronin lectures at Moscow State University
and is involved in a number of international projects
concerning environmental problems in Russia. The current
book evolved from research done jointly with Kassel
University (Germany).
Edward G. Bellinger was senior lecturer at the
University of Manchester (UK) and Director of the Pollution
Research Unit until 1995 running a postgraduate course
in environmental studies and a number of research projects
on watershed and lake management. Founding member and
head of the Department for Environmental Sciences &
Policy at the Central European University, Budapest.
Between 1900 and 1990 there were several periods of
grain and other food shortages in Russia and the former
Soviet Union, some of which reached disaster proportions
resulting in mass famine and death on an unprecedented
scale.
New stocks of information not previously accessible
as well as traditional official and other sources have
been used to explore the extent to which policy and
vagaries in climate conspired to affect agricultural
yields. Were the leaders' (Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev
and Gorbachev) policies sound in theory but failed in
practice because of unpredictable weather? How did the
Soviet peasants react to these changes? What impact
did Soviet agriculture have on the overall economy of
the country? These are all questions that are taken
into account.
The book is arranged in chapters representing different
time periods. In each the policy of the central government
is discussed followed by the climate vagaries during
that period. Crop yields are then analyzed in the light
of policy and climate.
"The book's most important contribution is its
thorough and systematic overview of climatic changes,
year by year, and their impact on the performance of
Russian and Soviet agriculture.
Given the profound impact of food supply problems at
so many critical junctures in Russian and Soviet history,
this thorough and rigorous survey deserves to be welcomed
by all historians of Russia and the Soviet Union."
- American Historical Review
"The "intrusion" of two specialists
in environmental policies into historical studies of
Russia should only be welcomed.
Commonly for each chapter, the section on "weather
variations and agricultural production," is the
most interesting and contains the most new information.
In these sections the authors fully exploit their expertise,
usually lacking among humanist historians, and uncover
technical sources (typically reports published by the
Hydrometeorological Service) which are almost destined
to be ignored by historians. The authors carefully try
to identify to what extent each case of agricultural
and food crisis in Soviet history was caused by climatic
or political reasons." - The Russian Review
Contents
Preface;
Chapter 1 Climate and agriculture
in Russia Chapter 2 Availability and reliability
of statistical data for Russia Chapter 3 Pre
revolutionary period (1900-16) Chapter 4 Post
revolutionary period (1917-28) Chapter 5 Collectivization
of the Soviet agriculture (1929-40) Chapter 6
Postwar recovery (1945-53) Chapter 7 Virgin lands
campaign (1954-64) Chapter 8 Period of intensification
of the Soviet agriculture (1965-75) Chapter 9
Period of stagnation of the Soviet agriculture (1976-90)
Conclusion
2005
383 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-10-3 cloth $49.95 / €42.95 /
£32.00
ISBN 978-963-7326-09-7 paperback $24.95 / €19.95
/ £16.99
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