Hungarian Bulletin, 1950 (4. évfolyam, 67-85. szám)
1950-03-31 / 70. szám
It was Katyas Rákosi who on August 2o, 194-8, on the Holiday of Hungarian Bread, marked out the road of the future for the working peasantry. He pointed out the advantages of collective farming as opposed to individual farming; he emphasized that the standard of agriculture, and along with this the living standard of the working peasantry, could be raised only if in agriculture just as in industry, large scale production were developed. He cautioned, however, that the co-operatives could be founded only on a voluntary basis. 'fhis is how the movement for collective farming started in Hungary. In the agricultural year of 194-8-49, 900, and by the end of I949 already 1,920 producers’ co-operative groups were active. The development has been steadily accelerating and, according to the most recent data published on March 19» 1990» the number of producers’ co-operatives approximates 2,000. State Aid to Agriculture The increase of productivity and large scale farming was possible only through the mechanization of agriculture. Development was rapid along this line, too. On November 20, 194-7» the first State machine station was set up at Kisszállás and in December 1948 the one hundredth at Tard. By the end of 194-9» 221 tractor stations were operating and on the Fifth Anniversary of Liberation, on April 4th, 270 machine stations will be engaged in the spring ploughing and sowing. The People’s Democracy assists the work of the working peasantry and improves their living conditions with many measures. According to a government decree issued in the autumn of 1948, the large tenancies must all be given to poor working peasants, primarily to those who received no land or very little land in the course of the Land Reform. These peasants have formed co-operatives and farm for themselves on these tenancies. The commassation of land, decreed in September 194-9» makes possible the large scale cultivation of land on a single large area instead of on scattered plots. Through the agricultural co-operatives which have 1,200,000members, the Government promotes the work of the producers with no less than 20 kinds of credits. In the -course of the Three Year Plan, the State Farms were greatly developed. Their area increased tenfold in the period of the Plan and they are now better able to provide agriculture with the necessary breeding stock, improved seeds, etc. Sixteen new agronomical Nations were established. Experiments for the introduction of cotton and other plants not previously grown in Hungary are in an advanced stage. During the Plan, an additional 26,000 holds were placed under irrigation; the rice-producing areas were increased from 9,000 to 29»000 holds. Afforestation has been completed on 102,000 holds. The quality of the livestock is higher than it was in 1938. A large number of scientific institutions and experiment stations apply the rich . experiences of the Soviet Union in agriculture and popularise them among the working peasantry.