APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110021-0
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FIGURE 7. Land use pattern (U/OU) (map)
corn and sorghum, have provided significant shares of East German requirements. Western grain imports reached a peak in 1970-71. High-protein feed supplements, like oilcake, are also being imported in larger quantities each year.
c. Problems and policies
The postwar growth of agricultural production has been seriously impeded by the regime's insistence on agricultural collectivization and by its failure to allocate the resources necessary to support large-scale farming. Immediately after the war most large landholdings were confiscated, and the land was redistributed to small landholders and landless peasants. During the 1950's pressure for collectivization increased, especially through the Machine Tractor Stations, which controlled most major agricultural equipment. This campaign made rapid progress in the late 1950's and was suddenly forced to completion in the spring of 1960. The land held by collectives rose from 40% of the total in 1959 to 84% in 1960 (Figure 10). The regime then paused to consolidate the new collectives and to overcome the disruptive effects of the forced collectivization. Little pressure was exerted to transform "lower level" cooperatives, in which only the agricultural land is held in common, into "higher level" ones, in which all land and livestock are collectively held. Since 1966, however, the regime has been pushing intercooperative planning, management, and investment, and the joint use of farm machinery in the hope of increasing specialization and the efficient use of farm resources. In 1971 the land held by collectives amounted to about 86% of all agricultural land. The remainder consisted of private holdings, including the private plots owned by members of state and cooperative farms.
The East German regime apparently did not anticipate the disruption caused by collectivization campaign, the continued passive resistance of the peasants, and the drop in production in the early 1960's. The Central authorities did not take positive action to counter the resistance until 1963, when they introduced a complex system of production bonuses, which was subsequently modified and expanded frequently to reflect the regime's changing priorities. Production bonuses were originally designed to encourage livestock and dairy product output, but they have been extended to feed and industrial crops.
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110021-0
