Excerpt
THE Soviet Union…. Images of a vast land covered with forests and snow come to mind. In fact, the Soviet Union has the most extensive agricultural land resources of any country in the world. About 27 percent of the nation's land area is agricultural, more than one-third of which is arable. In 1987, Soviet farmers cultivated 560 million acres (226 million hectares) of land. Agriculture accounts for one-fifth of the country's gross national product and employs more than one-fourth of its labor force.
Climatic conditions in the Soviet Union are far from ideal for agricultural production. Cold is a limiting factor in many regions, and more than one-half of the arable land lacks an adequate, reliable moisture supply. Many areas are affected by hot, dry, easterly winds known as “sukhoveys.” During a sukhovey, literally translated as “thirsty winds,” relative humidity Mls below 30 percent, wind speeds exceed 10 miles per hour (16 lulometers/hour), and temperatures soar to more than 80°F (27°C).
Soviet cropland is subject to severe wind and water erosion. In many regions these erosional processes have been accelerated by traditional …
Footnotes
W R. Schroeder is assistant head of the Investigation Section and J. Kort is a shelterbelt biologist at the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration Shelterbelt Centre, Indian Head, Saskatchewan SOG 2KO.
- Copyright 1989 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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