Georgian farms produce more because of reforms
Tbilisi, USSR ~
About 10 miles
east of Geor
gia’s capital city
lies the most
productive col
lective farm in
the republic.
Nestled in a valley near the
Caucasus Mountains, the 2,200
acre nursery is lush with sapling
fruit trees, which will be sent to
farms where the soil cannot
support the young trees.
Modern irrigation pipes, cov
ered with a rust-free alloy that
looks like zinc, carry water up
hill through a series of small
wooden gates, to a field where
women are planting carrots by
hand.
The women are dark-skinned
Azerbaijanis, representing one
of nine nationalities that live and
work together on the farm. They
move auickly in rows through
the fields, chatting among them
selves and laughing.
Grape vines weave in and out
of fences along the dirt roads to
the fields, waiting to be made
into the sweet wines that have
made Georgia famous.
This is the republic’s life
blood, the resources that make it
so valuable to the Soviet Union.
One of the most productive
farming areas of the Soviet Un
ion, Georgia is considered the
breadbasket, one of the few
republics with a climate mild
enough to produce staples like
vegetables and citrus fruits.
The temperature ranges from
60 to 80 degrees nine months
out of the year, allowing for a
long growing season. Rainfall is
consistent, and has not varied
for the last six years.
Georgian politicians, striving
for secession from the Soviet
Union, assert that the republic’s
strong agricultural base would
allow Georgia to maintain an
economic system separate from
the Soviet Union.
But until two years ago, Geor
gian farms were almost as un
productive as those in harsher
climates. Now, they produce
three times the amount they did
then -- mostly because of re
forms implemented by President
Mikhail Gorbachev.
Novrus Babayev, consultative
director of the Georgian sofhotz,
or state-owned farm, said Gor
bachev’s five-year plan to re
structure collective farms has
produced drastic changes in the
amount of food produced.
Two years ago, before the
f)lan was in effect, Babayev’s
arm produced barely enough
food to meet the government’s
production goals. What little
was left fed the 300 workers who
live on the farm.
The farm has progressed from
one of the most unproductive in
Georgia to the most productive.
Babayev said this is because
more decisions are made by the
farmers themselves, as part of
Gorbachev’s plan to loosen
government control.
Three years ago, Babayev’s
farm had 56administrators, most
of whom were chosen by Soviet
f>arty officials in Tbilisi. Now the
arm has 15 administrators, 14 of
whom were elected by farm
workers. Babayev was chosen
by party officials as the farm’s
liaison to the government.
Those living on the farm de
cide what they will grow and
how they will plot their fields.
Before, the government set stan
dards on how much could be
planted and when, Babayev
said. This change, he said, has
accounted for the increased
production rates.
Now, people who work the
land and know the best farming
methods are the ones who make
the decisions, he said. This has
ended friction between the
farmers and administrators, he
said.
Because the farm is produc
ing more, Babayev said, the
workers are earning more. Two
years ago, he said, farmers made
100 to 150 rubles a month,
roughly $160 to $210 in U S.
currency.
Under Gorbachev’s new plan,
workers get paid for how much
they produce. This year, farmers
on Babayev’s sofhotz make 450
to 500 rubles a month, or $750 to
$830.
One-third of the crop goes to
the government, Babayev said.
After that one-third is turned in,
the producer can sell the rest of
the crop directly to consumers,
or in the case of Babayev’s farm,
directly to other farms.
Farmers also can sell food
grown on small plots behind
their homes. Two to 3 percent of
their earnings from extra crops is
paid to the government in taxes,
Babayev said. Workers on the
sofhotz planned to build a stand
in downtown Tbilisi this sum
mer to market their fruits and
vegetables.
The reforms for collective
farms also give people the
chance to contract land separate
from the farm. But Babayev said
his workers are not ready for that
step, so few people have tried to
contract their own land.
Under this plan, Babayev
said, a few people would grow
one or two crops, and buy their
own equipment. Because the
government-owned equipment
is expensive, Babayev said, it
takes several years for a collec
tive farm to purchase one tractor.
For a farmer working independ
ent of the sofhotz, the purchase
would take 10 years, he said.
If "private” workers cannot
afford to buy the equipment,
they must wait until equipment
is available from the nearest
sofhotz to harvest their crops, he
said. If the sofhotz has not fin
ished harvesting, Babayev said,
the farmers must let their crops
sit in the field.
Also, Babayev said, farmers in
the Soviet Union are so accus
tomed to working collectively,
with many people planting and
harvesting one field, that it is
difficult for them to work alone.
The contract plan is risky for that
reason, he said, because if there
is not enough time to meet pro
duction goals, farmers won’t get
paid.
Babayev said that while the
lease-agreement plan is too
advanced for the workers on his
farm, most of Gorbachev’s re
forms have improved their lives,
and made their work easier.
But farmers need equipment
more than they need reforms,
Babayev said. Georgian farmers
know how to improve their
farms, he said, but cannot gel
better equipment through the
Soviet government.
Without the tools and tech
nology to improve farming tech
niques, he said, Soviet collective
farms will never produce
enough food to feed the coun
try.
- Amy Edwards
Two women working on a government farm near Tbilisi. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev s reforms
have helped some Georgian farms become more profitable in recent years.
——.-—— ..«
Special coverage of the conflict in Tbilisi, Georgia, would not have
been possible without the guidance and understanding of Alfred
"Bud” Paael Jr., associate professor of journalism, and generous
support from R. Neale Copple, dean of the University of Nebraska
Linroln College of Journalism. Partial funding for the trip was
provided by the Reader’s Digest Foundation
The Sower is the Daily Nebraskan’s depth magazine. All stories and
photos in “No Way Out” are by Sower Eaitor Lee Rood and DN Editor
Amy Edwards. Special thanks go to DN Managing Editor Jane Hirt,
Photo Editor Eric Gregory and Graphics Editor John Bruce.