Innovations Benefit Soviet Grain Harvest

The 1987 Soviet grain harvest was the fourth best on record despite bad weather largely because of new farming techniques introduced under Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev, foreign analysts say.

The 211.3 million metric ton grain crop was threatened by a harsh winter, fierce spring winds and heavy rains at harvest time and would have been considerably less had it not been for the new methods of improving yields, the analysts say.

“They had so much terrible weather, I’m sure they would have fallen under the previous year’s crop under any other circumstances,” said an agricultural expert from a Western embassy in Moscow.

The rains did hurt grain quality, forcing the Soviet Union to import milling quality wheat from the United States and Canada, the analysts told Reuters.

The lack of sufficient storage and drying-out facilities will also reduce by 10% to 20% the amount of grain that makes it to market, they said. Soviet newspapers have warned that some grain will be lost to spoilage.

The Kremlin announced last month that the 1987 grain harvest was 211.3 million metric tons, the second largest crop in two years and the fourth best ever. The 1986 crop was 210 million tons.