THE LONG RUN TREND AND MEANS BY PERIOD

The data below, in Figure A3.1, show official Russian statistical reports of output per hectare from 1800 to 2005 (the latest year available), compared with my compilation, which I have transformed into a 3-year moving average. The denominator is total arable (hectares) in rotation, excluding the waste, or unused land. The numerator is gross output in centners (see Appendix 2 on measures), including all grains and potatoes, the “vysev,” or harvest, calculated as indicated in Appendix 1. For much of the Soviet period, the data is not barn weight but truck weight, which includes moisture and waste matter; this makes it comparable to the pre-revolutionary information.

Official records of yields broke off only during the first and second world wars. Observations for the war years are missing, given that there are no published figures. Judging by immediately post-war years, effects were devastating but recovery was rapid, leading to restoration of pre-war levels within a few years. The main difference above is the higher estimates for the period of serfdom in official data. Both series show the lack of growth, however, over sixty years.

Table A3.1 allows a rough comparison of the means of annual rates of growth of yield and of land under cultivation by historical epoch and reform period.