Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; THE ECONOMY CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110014-8.pdf/10

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110014-8

especially fertilizer, and by forced collectivization. It was not until the mid-1960's that gross agricultural output finally rose above pre-World War II levels. The growth of employment opportunities in the cities has reduced agricultural employment by nearly one-half since 1948. Extensive mechanization has not been sufficient to offset the loss of labor. Moreover, the movement of the young to the cities has left an aging labor force in the villages. Agricultural output covers about 80% of domestic consumption; Czechoslovakia is a major net importer of fruits and vegetables, meat, and—above all—grain. About 2 million metric tons of grain imports are needed annually, mainly wheat for the flour mills but also feed grains. Traditional exports are beet sugar and hops.

(1) Land and climate—About 55% of the land area is classified as agricultural, including 41.7% classified as arable and 13.7% as meadows and pastures. Another 34.7% of the land area is taken up with forests. Czechoslovakia had 0.3% hectare (1 hectare = 2.471 acres) of arable land per capita in 1973, more than any other industrial country of Europe except Denmark.

The topography is one of the most varied in the Eastern European Communist countries and is characterized by valleys, rolling hills, and low mountains. Generally, the areas with the least variation in topography are found at lower altitudes, where the more productive soil types predominate.

The climate reflects both maritime and continental climatic influences. The country has greater extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter than Western Europe, but it does not have the marked seasonal changes characteristic of the U.S.S.R. or the U.S. Midwest. Within the country the temperature, wind, and rainfall are influenced to a large extent by local topography.

(2) Crops—The value of gross agricultural production has been almost evenly divided between crop and livestock production in recent years. Grains are the most important crop, accounting for over 54% of the total cultivated land and 43% of crop production in 1972. In the 1950's the area sown in wheat and rye was reduced in order to expand the area devoted to industrial and fodder crops. The regime counted on higher yields of grain to offset the reduction in sown area. The increase in yields, however, did not meet this expectation, and since the 1960's the regime has been increasing the area sown to the higher yielding grains, wheat and barley (Figure 2). The average production of wheat finally surpassed the pre-World War II level in 1961-65, but total

4

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110014-8