The World : Soviet Harvest Falls Short
In a rare disclosure, the Soviet government announced the exact size of last year’s grain harvest, revealing that it fell below target. Figures published by the Central Statistics Administration showed a 1985 harvest of 191.67 million metric tons, about 50 million tons short of the goal. Overall, the figures indicated that 18 months of effort by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to revitalize the economy so far have failed to produce the radical improvements he seeks. However, the government said that alcohol sales were down by $12.6 billion and that alcohol-related deaths also fell.
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