The People's Commissariat for Agriculture, abbreviated as ''Narkomzem'' was established in the USSR in 1929. Its headquarters building was located at Orlikov Pereulok, 1,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, designed by

Aleksey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (academic spelling), german: Schtschussew, french: Chtchoussev, pl, Szchusiew. (russian: Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successf ...

in 1928. ''Narkomzem'' was reformed as the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Ministry of Agriculture and Food (''Minsel'khoz'') in 1946.

History

1930-33grainUSSRandUkrSRRgraincollection

The commissariat united all republican commissariats of the Soviet Union. It was formally known as the People's Commissariat for Agriculture (russian: Народный комиссариат земледелия - ''Narkomzem'') was set up in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in October 1917. Vladimir Milyutin was appointed the first People's Commissar of Agriculture. He was a member of the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

. The Ministry was abolished in November 1985 with the creation of the

State Agro-Industrial Committee State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

(''Gosagroprom'') which took over the functions of the Ministry for Agriculture, the

Ministry for Fruit and Vegetable Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, the Ministry for the Meat and Dairy Industry, the

Ministry of the Food Industry The Ministry of Food Industry (Minpisheprom; russian: Министерство пищевой промышленности СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union. History The People's Commissariat of Food Industry was established ...

and the Ministry for Rural Construction.

Role in offensive Soviet biological warfare programme

For more than four decades, the USSR Ministry of Agriculture managed a large Soviet offensive biological warfare programme focused on the development of anti-livestock and anti-crop agents. The crucial step to initiating a coordinated large-scale agricultural biowarfare effort was the issue on the 7 August 1958 of decree No. 909-426 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the USSR Council of Ministers. It was officially focused on "''strengthening work in the field of microbiology and virology''". In reality the decree established six specialised research institutes and their affiliated branches under a secret new department of the USSR Ministry of Agriculture, the Main Administration for Scientific-Research and Experimental-Production Establishments (''GUNIiEPU''), also known as the 7th (Special) Administration of ''Minsel'khoz''. The agricultural biowarfare programme was given the name "Ekologiya" ("''Ecology''"), and was also referred to as Problem "E". The ''Ekologiya'' programme was composed of two very distinct strands, one focusing on plant diseases and the other on diseases associated with agricultural animals. Despite having signed the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

continued development and production of offensive biological weapons. Under a new, top-secret, national nerve centre, the Interdepartmental Scientific-Technical Council for Molecular Biology and Genetics, there was a major shift in focus to the development of genetically modified biological warfare agents, with wholly new and unexpected properties. Under the direction of the council, there was an intensification of the agricultural biowarfare programme with an expansion of the network of facilities. Some 10,000 scientists and technicians would eventually be enrolled within ''Ekologiya''. One aspect of the programme concerned the creation of reserve mobilisation production facilities for anti-agricultural BW agents. The best documented of these mobilisation plants was the Pokrov Factory of Biological Preparations, which was commissioned in 1979. During his 1993 visit to Pokrov, David Kelly, a UK weapons inspector, is reported to have departed the site feeling this was "''the most sinister facility''" he had visited in Russia. A number of biological agents were focused on by the ''Ekologiya'' network. The anti-livestock pathogens included:

rinderpest virus Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthog ...

;

foot-and-mouth disease virus ''Foot-and-mouth disease virus'' (FMDV) is the pathogen that causes foot-and-mouth disease. It is a picornavirus, the prototypical member of the genus ''Aphthovirus''. The disease, which causes vesicles (blisters) in the mouth and feet of cattl ...

; ''

Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ...

'' (the causative agent of anthrax),

African swine fever virus ''African swine fever virus'' (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the '' Asfarviridae'' family. It is the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF). The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; ...

African horse sickness virus African horse sickness (AHS) is a highly infectious and deadly disease caused by ''African horse sickness virus''. It commonly affects horses, mules, and donkeys. It is caused by a virus of the genus ''Orbivirus'' belonging to the family ''Reovi ...

and

sheeppox virus Sheeppox (or sheep pox, known as in Latin, in French, in German) is a highly contagious disease of sheep caused by a poxvirus different from the benign orf (or contagious ecthyma). This virus is in the family ''Poxviridae'' and genus '' Capr ...

. Anti-crop pathogens studied and developed included: rice blast (''

Magnaporthe grisea ''Magnaporthe grisea'', also known as rice blast fungus, rice rotten neck, rice seedling blight, blast of rice, oval leaf spot of graminea, pitting disease, ryegrass blast, Johnson spot, neck blast, wheat blast, and Imochi (Japanese:稲熱) is a ...

''), rice bacteriosis (''

Xanthomonas oryzae ''Xanthomonas oryzae'' is a species of bacteria. The major host of the bacterium is rice. The species contains two pathovars, neither of which is native to Europe: ''X. o.'' pv. ''oryzae'' and ''X. o.'' pv. ''oryzicola''. ''Xanthomonas oryzae ...

''); late blight of potatoes (''

Phytophthora infestans ''Phytophthora infestans'' is an oomycete or water mold, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the serious potato and tomato disease known as late blight or potato blight. Early blight, caused by ''Alternaria solani'', is also often called "pot ...

''); and rust diseases of wheat and other small grain crops. There is no reliable information at all with regard to which delivery systems were to be employed to allow the agricultural BW agents developed by the network to be used against enemy crops and herds of livestock.

Ken Alibek Kanatzhan "Kanat" Alibekov ( kk, Қанатжан Байзақұлы Әлібеков, Qanatjan Baizaqūly Älıbekov; russian: Канатжан Алибеков, Kanatzhan Alibekov; born 1950), known as Kenneth "Ken" Alibek since 1992, is a Kazak ...

, who had some limited interaction with the Soviet military agricultural network, claims that the agents were "''designed to be sprayed from tanks attached to Ilyushin bombers and flown over a target area along a straight line for hundreds of miles''".

List of ministers

''Source'':

People's Commissars for Agriculture

* Vladimir Milyutin (8.11.1917 - 29.11.1917) * Andrei Kolegayev (23.12.1917 - 1.3.1918) * Semyon Sereda (1.3.1918 - 1.12.1921) *

Vasili Yakovenko Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasili I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425 *Vasili II of Moscow Grand Prince fro ...

(1.12.1921 - 6.7.1923) * Yakov Yakovlev (8.12.1929 - 1.4.1934) *

Mikhail Alexandrovich Chernov Mikhail Alexandrovich Chernov (russian: Михаи́л Александро́вич Черно́в; 20 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian politician and Soviet statesman who was executed during the Great Purge. He was born in Vichuga, ...

(1.4.1934 - 29.10.1937) * Robert Eikhe (29.10.1937 - 15.11.1938) *

Ivan Benediktov Ivan Benediktov (russian: Ива́н Бенеди́ктов; 1902–1983) was a Soviet official who served in different posts, including people's commissars for agriculture, then minister of agriculture and Soviet ambassador to India and to Yugo ...

(15.11.1938 - 11.12.1943) * Andrey Andreyevich Andreyev (11.12.1943 - 15.3.1946)

Ministers of Agriculture

* Andrei Andreev (19.3.1946 - 26.3.1946) *

(26.3.1946 - 6.3.1953) * Alexei Kozlov (6.3.1953 - 26.9.1953) *

(26.9.1953 - 18.10.1955) *

Vladimir Matskevich Vladimir Vladimirovich Matskevich (russian: Владимир Владимирович Мацкевич; 14 December 1909 – 7 November 1998) was the Deputy Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers from 9 April 1956 to 25 December 1956.

(19.10.1955 - 29.12.1960) * Mikhail Olshanski (29.12.1960 - 24.4.1962) *

Konstantin Pysin Konstantin Pysin (1910–1984) was a Soviet political figure who served as the minister of agriculture between 1962 and 1963. He was a member of the Communist Party and served in different positions in the party. Early life and education Pysin w ...

(25.4.1962 - 8.3.1963) *

Ivan Volovtshenko Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

(8.3.1963 - 18.2.1965) *

(18.2.1965 - 2.2.1973) *

Dmitry Polyansky Dmitry Stepanovich Polyansky (russian: Дми́трий Степа́нович Поля́нский; – 8 October 2001) was a Soviet statesman who was First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1965 to 1973. F ...

(2.2.1973 - 16.3.1976) *

Valentin Mesyats Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule, terco". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Latin America ...

(16.3.1976 - 18.11.1985)

Ministers of Agriculture and Food

* Vjatsheslav Chernoivanov (20.3.1991 - 24.8.1991)

References

External links

The Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 1917-1964
{{authority control Agriculture and Food Agricultural organizations based in the Soviet Union

1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union