Kolkhozy and Sovkhozy Productivity

[Valdyr]

Hello, I'm in a debate with someone, and the subject of the kolkhozt and sovkozy in soviet agriculture has come up. I was under the impression that the productivity per acre of the sovkhozy were higher because the state absorbed the risks, rather than the peasants shouldering it. However, he is claiming that while the kolkhozy accounted for only 3% of the land, they accounted for 20% of the agricultural output.

I'd never heard these numbers before, and he cited Collective farming in Russia: A political study of the soviet kolkhoz by Roy Laird in support of his numbers. I confess I'd never even heard of this book; my sources were primarily the work of R.W. Davies and his crew. Is anybody familiar with this, and can anyone attest to the veracity (or lack thereof) of my opponent's numbers, and if they are valid, their relevance to the productivity debate? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Perhaps this belongs in history, I wasn't quite sure

[Die Neue Zeit]

Were you referring to this article when you said you checked out my older threads?

http://www.revleft.com/vb/national-democratization-industrial-t143923/index.html?t=143923

The kolkhozy weren't that small in acreage, actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovkhoz


In 1990, the Soviet Union had 23,500 sovkhozy, or 45% of the total number of large-scale collective and state farms. The average size of a sovkhoz was 15,300 hectares (153 km²), nearly three times the average kolkhoz (5,900 hectares or 59 km² in 1990). Sovkhoz farms were more dominant in the Central Asian part of the Soviet Union.

My sources cited in that article were:

Inventing a Soviet Countryside: State Power and the Transformation of Rural Russia, 1917-1929 by James W. Heinzen [http://books.google.ca/books?id=Zj83HmNUdYUC&printsec=frontcover]

Soviet Agriculture: A Critique of the Myths Constructed by Western Critics by Joseph E. Medley [http://www.usm.maine.edu/eco/joe/works/Soviet.html]

[ComingUpForAir]

I have a simple question -- I have been watching a documentary on the Cold War:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcUwoK9WouE&feature=related

Only 5 minutes in, the subject of Soviet Agriculture comes up.

Why did the Soviet Union have problems with agricultural output? Why were there need for reforms? Just a simple reply will do, I know this has been basically answered before but the most basic answer will help me as I navigate the more esoteric material.