Page:CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5.pdf/11

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5

territories, where advanced agricultural technology had been employed before the war. The neglect of agriculture and attempts at collectivization in the early 1950's resulted in slow recovery to prewar levels of productivity. The acquiescence of the Gomulka regime in permitting a private agricultural sector to operate stimulated a rapid increase in yields per hectare in the late 1950s and in the 1960's. The average annual yields of Poland's important grain crops were 25% to 45% larger in 1966-70 than in 1956-60 (Figure 6). Because of inferior agricultural technology, however, yields are generally still lower in Poland than in West European countries with similar soil and climatic conditions.

Livestock production has been expanding in recent years and accounted for nearly 47% of the gross value of agricultural output in Poland in 1972. The numbers of hogs and cattle have risen over the past decade, reaching postwar peak levels of 17.3 million and 11.5 million, respectively, in 1972 (June 30 census). Sheep raising is far less important, and after small increases in the mid-1960's, the number of sheep has been declining since 1968 (Figure 7). The number of horses also has declined in Poland, but to a lesser degree than in other East European countries. The small private farms that are still characteristic of Polish agriculture continue to use horses both for draft power and for local transportation.

The overall increase in livestock production during the 1960's enabled Poland to increase the domestic consumption of meat and other animal products and to remain an important exporter. Red meat production

5

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5