Land reclamation

Vast territories of Western Siberia are covered with swamps and wetlands. Part of the wetlands has long been used as pastures and hay fields. The Tyumen region, Tobolsk and Vagaysky districts are especially heavily swamped. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Ministry of Geology of the RSFSR decided to begin draining the marshes of Western Siberia, to develop peat, and in the most favorable places for growing potatoes, vegetables and even cereals.

In 1962, 7 Machine-Reclamation Stations (MRS) were organized in the Tyumen Region, mainly in the southern regions, to carry out land reclamation and development of drained lands, improve meadows and pastures, and extract fertilizers. In the following years, MRCs were established in Tobolsk and Vagai districts. In 1965, the first machine-reclamation station was organized in the Khanty-Mansiysk district — Surgut, and then several more MRCs: Lugovskaya in the Kondinsky district, Serginskaya in Oktyabrsky, etc.

Machine-reclamation stations and construction organizations were well equipped with machinery. They had dozens of tractors, uprooters and brushcutters, bulldozers, excavators and more. About 2 thousand workers were employed in the reclamation works.

During the first two years of operation, the MRS of the Tyumen region mastered 28.4 thousand hectares of wetlands in collective farms and state farms (4.2 thousand hectares were put into operation), improved 5 thousand hectares of meadows and pastures, harvested and exported to the fields about 600 thousand kg of peat and peat compost. In 1965, another 4.6 thousand hectares of wetlands of Sorokinsky, Yarkovsky, Tobolsk and Vagaysky districts and state farms of Tyumen and Omutinsky districts were developed. Meadows and pastures have been improved on an area of 8.1 thousand hectares.

Subsequent years have shown all the positive and negative sides of land reclamation for agriculture.

Land reclamation in Tyumen region

Land reclamation at the Pesyanovsky state farm in the Ishim district

In the state farm "Pesyanovsky" of the Ishim district, reclamation works were carried out by the forces of the Ishim MRS (Machine-Reclamation Stations) on an area of 400 hectares of the Rechkinskoye swamp, which was only partially used for selective manual mowing. The cost of surface improvement (36.5 rubles per 1 ha) paid off within one year: the state farm collected 15 tons per 1 ha, and only 6 thousand tons of hay. At the same time, the reclamation improvement of wetlands made it possible to replace manual labor with mechanized hay harvesting, saving 1 ruble 27 kopecks on harvesting each hundredweight and obtaining total savings of about 7.6 thousand rubles when harvesting hay.

Land reclamation at the collective farm named after Lenin

In 1964, at the collective farm named after In the Yalutorovsky district of the Arkhangelsk machine-reclamation station, stagnant water was diverted and small cultural and technical works were carried out on an area of 150 hectares. Almost 7 thousand rubles were spent on this (or 46 rubles per hectare). The following year, on the developed territory, the collective farm mowed about 4 thousand tons of hay (27 tons per hectare) in the amount of 9.7 thousand rubles. This area has not been mowed down before. Thus, the costs of drainage and improvement of swampy hayfields not only paid off during the year, but also made a profit of 2.8 thousand rubles.

Land reclamation at the Gilevsky state farm in the Yarkovsky district

In 1964, the Gilevsky state farm in the Yarkovsky district carried out reclamation and cultural and technical work on previously unused swamp and swampy soils (437 hectares) at a cost of 67 rubles per hectare. In autumn, the state farm sowed 100 hectares of winter rye mixed with foxtail for hay and 100 hectares of winter rye for grain on improved lands, and in 1965 it received a harvest of 27.5 kg of hay and 10 kg of winter rye grain from each hectare. Each sown hectare yielded an income of 67 rubles 50 kopecks. Thus, the costs of improving the swamp and wetlands at the Gilevsky state farm also paid off within one year.

Land reclamation at the collective farm named after Kuibyshev Yarkovsky district

At the collective farm named after In the Kuibyshev Yarkovsky district, 220 hectares of wetlands were drained, on which 130 hectares of pea-oat mixture (for hay), 70 hectares of oats and 20 hectares of wheat were sown in 1965. Before the improvement of these lands, no more than 60 tons of low-quality hay were collected from the entire 220 ha massif, and in 1965 325 tons of hay (25 tons per 1 ha), 15 tons of oats and 10 tons of wheat per 1 ha were collected. With the cost of improvement of 83−85 rubles per 1 hectare, the collective farm received 72−75 rubles of income from each hectare of improved land only for one year of their use.