Abstract

A New Famine Year in Russia?

The foreign press has recently carried a report that a bad crop is expected in the USSR. The following authoritative statement by the "Exportkhlieb," state grain-exporting organization, explains the actual state of affairs: The information which is being spread by the hostile foreign press does not correspond to the actual state of the crops on this date. There have been no cases of frozen seed. The area affected by locusts was 2,115,000 dessiatins in 1923 and 1,473,000 dessiatins in 1924. The area affected by field-mice was 8,700,000 dessiatins in 1923 and 7,673,000 dessiatins in 1924. The crops might have been badly affected by the drought during the last ten days of May when the prospects decreased from 3.2 on May 15 to 2.9 on June 1, 1924. But the rain during early June improved the situation.