The economic situation of state farms and collective farms Altai Territory in the second half of 1980s

Abstract

The article analyzes the insufficiently studied problems of the agrarian and economic history of the USSR in the second half of the 1980s, related to the policy of state bodies to increase investment in the agro-industrial complex and stimulate the development of agricultural production. Using materials on the Altai Territory, the author substantiates the thesis that the action of new mechanisms for the economic development of agricultural production and a favorable investment climate became the reasons for the improvement in the welfare of collective farms and state farms in the economic period under review, led to a significant increase in agricultural production. At the same time, the ruling elite did not provide for a radical revision of the system of economic relations between the state and agricultural producers. Attempts were made to introduce self-financing and contracting, elements of economic lease were introduced, and the economic independence of agricultural enterprises was expanded. The pace of development of the agricultural sector of the Altai Territory in 1986–1989 was quite high compared with the three previous five-year plans and was second only to the economic results of the second half of the 1960s. The evolutionary nature of the development of agricultural production was determined by the traditional conservatism of the industry and was meaningfully connected with the political and economic features of the decisions of the March (1965) Plenum of the party and the Food Program of 1982. Cardinal transformations in the agrarian development of the region in the 1990s were due to a change in the economic model and the implementation of a new agrarian course.