Soviet Harvest Bountiful--but So Are Losses

The Soviet Union, facing widespread public unrest due to serious food shortages, had a record grain crop this year but tremendous losses occurred during harvesting, government estimates released today showed.

An official at the State Statistics Committee put the harvest at 240 million metric tons, about 3 million more than the previous record in 1978.

The harvest was achieved despite bad weather and shortages of labor and transportation. Officials called out students, factory workers and even KGB forces to help bring in the grain.

But losses still occurred. A senior Soviet agriculture official, speaking on television last month, said there was about 300 million metric tons of grain in the fields at the start of the harvest.

The Soviet Union, the world’s biggest grain importer, has been counting on a big crop to reduce its purchases on the world market. Initially officials hoped for 260 million metric tons.

Last month, as bread shortages hit Moscow, President Mikhail S. Gorbachev accused farmers of holding back grain and ordered urgent action to make them hand it over.

This year, purchases as well as harvesting were crippled by the general disintegration of the old controlled economic system, with many farmers hoping to sell grain on fledgling private markets or keeping more for themselves against future food shortages.