Evolution of Virgin Agriculture in Northern Kazakhstan: Determinants of Regional Development

Abstract

The agriculture of the Soviet Union, incorporated into the closed economy, significantly lagged behind the Western countries in terms of productivity and labor efficiency due to its extensive nature. Soviet mega-project – the development of virgin and fallow lands in the eastern regions of the country, was not trigger. The purpose of this project was to solve the problem of providing the population with bread. This article considers the underlying causes that led to the initially given vector of extensive development of the virgin agricultural space of Northern Kazakhstan, despite the colossal funds invested in the development of the steppe frontier. The article researches the post-Soviet institutional transformations in the agriculture of the republic, which affected, first of all, the agriculture of the grain belt. Used descriptive and research statistical tools made possible determination of the factors of the post-crisis transition of agricultural formations to the cultivation of industrial (oilseeds) crops as the most highly profitable in modern conditions. Our results showed a significant time and space dynamics of the structure of sown areas and a qualitative transformation of agriculture on the example of an integral part of the virgin frontier – North Kazakhstan region, as a result of the transition to an agrarian landscape system of land management in combination with the digitalization of the industry and the diversification of crops. Innovative and paternalistic measures of further mesoterritorial intensification of agriculture are proposed.