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Soviet Union [USSR] Other Crops
Fruit cultivation in the Soviet Union is most successful in the
southern, more temperate zones. The tiny Moldavian Republic, with
its fertile soil and ample sunshine, produces more fruit and
berries than all but the Ukrainian and Russian republics. In 1986
it harvested 1.2 million tons, as compared with 3.3 million tons in
the Ukrainian Republic (which has 18 times more land area) and 2.9
million tons in the entire Russian Republic (which is 506 times the
size of the Moldavian Republic). Orchards and vineyards occupied
their largest area between 1971 and 1975, with a yearly average of
4.9 million hectares. However, the area allotted to noncitrus
fruits decreased steadily from 3.8 million hectares in 1970 to 3.0
million hectares in 1986. Significant crops were table and wine
grapes, which were widely grown in the warmer southern regions. The
Azerbaydzhan and Moldavian republics accounted for over 40 percent
of the total grape harvest, but the Ukrainian, Georgian, and Uzbek
republics and the southern Russian Republic were also major
producers. Citrus fruit growing was limited to the Black Sea coast
of the Georgian Republic and a small area of the southeastern
Azerbaydzhan Republic. In 1986 the Georgian Republic produced 97
percent of the total national harvest of 322,000 tons of citrus
fruit.
Tea, a traditional beverage of Russians and the peoples of the
Caucasus and Central Asia, is another specialty crop of the
Georgian Republic, which accounted for 93.4 percent of national
production in 1986. Other important centers of tea growing are the
Azerbaydzhan Republic and Krasnodarskiy Krai in the Russian
Republic. The area reserved for tea cultivation grew significantly
between 1940 and 1986, going from 55,300 to 81,400 hectares.
Production rose steadily during the 1950s and thereafter, reaching
a peak of 620,800 tons in 1985. Despite increased yields, however,
larger tea imports were necessary to meet consumer demand and
reached 108,000 tons (equal to 17.4 percent of domestic production)
in 1985.
Tobacco, like tea, is a fixture of Soviet life. The crop
flourishes in the warmer southern regions, particularly in the
Moldavian Republic, which produced about a third of the 1984
harvest. Other centers of tobacco cultivation are Central Asia and
the Caucasus, which accounted for roughly 30 percent and 25 percent
of the 1984 harvest, respectively. In 1940 only 72,800 tons were
grown, but by 1984 tobacco output had more than quadrupled,
reaching 375,700 tons. Production, however, did not keep pace with
demand, and in 1984 about 103,000 tons (equal to more than 27
percent of domestic output) had to be imported.
Data as of May 1989
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