To the 60th anniversary of turning Wild Lands into Fertile Lands

Finest hour of “virgin soil”

Reforms and people in the USSR

August 16, 1956, in the USSR there was adopted a resolution “About irrigation and the development of virgin soil lands”. More than a half million people went to the steppes of Kazakhstan, the Volga region, Siberia and the Urals.

“In such way, foremost people of reaping are honored on virgin farm” Leninskiy ” ” / Photo: Iosiph Budnevich

The development of virgin land on color photographs from the archives of the “Ogonyok” magazine – in the photo gallery of the famous newspaper.

The development of virgin land began in 1954 when in the Soviet Union there was a grain deficit. 50 thousand. Of Komsomol members from the central part of the country went to the Aktyubinsk region (Kazakh ASSR), plant grain culture.

“Through virgin soil” / Photo: A. Gostev

During the time of the development of virgin lands program more than 45 million hectares of land: 25.5 million ha – in Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Urals – 17 million hectares was plowed and planted with new crops.

“Best pig-woman Maria Rogacheva with her pet” / Photo: Yakov Ryumkin

Workforce for new lands was attracted from the western part of the USSR. Mobilized young Komsomol members got free transport, allowance for a thousand rubles. In addition, they had a soft loan amounting to 20 thousand for 10 years for housing building. During five years from the state budget, 20 billion rubles were allocated for this purpose.