Organizational Backgrounds of Collective Farm Poultry Farming in the Ukrainian SSR in 1951-1964
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to analyze in the historical retrospect the organizational and socio-political backgrounds of development of poultry breeding in the collective farms of the Ukrainian SSR in 1951-1964. The historiographical analysis of the research topic has shown that the problem of the complex characterization of poultry development in the collective farms of the Ukrainian SSR since the beginning of the second half of the 20th century and until the period of its transfer to the industrial base, has not been the subject of a separate research yet. Research methodology is based on the integrated use of general scientific, structural-functional and historical methods, published and unpublished sources, the basis of which are archival materials.
It is shown that in the beginning of the second half of the XX century in the Ukrainian SSR poultry breeding mainly developed on the basis of small farms of collective farms, state farms, as well as private farms of collective farmers, workers and employees. Poultry production was for the most part extensive and did not allow the full use of the genetic potential of poultry productivity, did not facilitate the introduction of industrial technologies with the mechanization and automation of labor-intensive processes. At the same time, for the activity of collective farms, mixed poultry farms combining the breeding of good lying hens breeds with the breeding of meat poultry were more common.
It is reasoned that despite the gradual decrease in the number of collective farms during the period under research, their productivity of eggs and poultry meat was increasing. At the same time, in the gross dynamics there was a gradual decrease of the role of collective farms in general in the production of eggs on the farms of the public sector.
The author shows the importance of socio-political factors in the development of poultry farming in the Ukrainian SSR during the researched period, which reflected in the regulation of the relevant state resolutions of measures for the intensifying of the processes of consolidation and disaggregation of collective farms, their financing, etc.