Selfless Labor of Kyrgyz Farmers in 1942

The industrial enterprises provided significant assistance in supplying spare parts to the collective farms. For instance, the Osh Regional Executive Committee mandated the "Kyzyl-Kiya" mining administration to produce tractor parts for the Naukat, Ichkilik, and Tuya-Muyun MTS, the Frunze Metallurgical Plant for the Kholmion MTS, the "Sulyukta" mining administration for the Laylak and Beshken MTS, and the silk factory for the Osh and Madyn MTS. However, the production of spare parts required scarce materials, the delivery of which ceased from the first day of the war. Consequently, it was necessary to maximize the use of internal reserves. In early 1942, at the initiative of Komsomol members and youth, a mass collection of abandoned and unused spare parts, tools, and metal was launched. By May 10, 1942, 32,697 parts, 590,432 kg of cast iron and iron, and 3,346 kg of non-ferrous metals were identified and collected across the republic. This allowed for the production of a significant number of spare parts in the workshops of the MTS, state farms, and industrial enterprises, bringing about half of the tractor fleet in the republic back to operational condition.

Fuel and lubricant savings, as well as the organization of their storage, accounting, and control, became of great importance. In the spring of 1942, at the suggestion of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, special Komsomol-youth control posts were established in the MTS and state farms. For example, there were over 110 of them in the Osh region.

The strong desire to devote all efforts to support the front was expressed in the increased labor activity of the peasantry and a new surge in socialist competition. In March 1942, at the initiative of the advanced workers of the Ordzhonikidze (now Stavropol) region, a competition of women's tractor brigades was launched across the country. Following this, in response to the May Day call of the Central Committee of the VKP(b), a nationwide socialist competition began for the successful conduct of fieldwork, the cultivation and harvesting of high yields, the development of livestock, and the early fulfillment and over-fulfillment of state deliveries.

As a result of extensive explanatory work by party organizations and political departments of the MTS and state farms, socialist competition in 1942 involved all workers in the agricultural sector of the republic. For example, in the Jalal-Abad region alone, 190 collective farms, 13 MTS, 174 livestock farms, 877 tractor drivers, 150 combine operators, 225 tractor brigades, and 749 field brigades participated.

Competitions of Female Tractor Drivers in Kyrgyzstan During the War

The initiator of the competition for female tractor drivers in Kyrgyzstan was the tractor brigade of the 7th Belovodskaya MTS in the Frunze region, led by Great Patriotic War participant K. Ananko. The brigade members plowed 600 hectares with three "Universal" tractors in 1942 instead of the planned 339, fulfilling the annual tractor work plan by 243% and saving over 3 tons of fuel. Tractor driver T. Toktobaeva from the Kyzyl-Kiya MTS in the Osh region plowed 141 hectares during the spring fieldwork of 1942 against a plan of 88 hectares, saving 361 kg of fuel. Saadat Nogojeva from the Sakaldin MTS in the Jalal-Abad region (now a Hero of Socialist Labor) consistently exceeded production targets.

As a result of the All-Union competition for women tractor drivers and female tractor brigades during the spring sowing campaign of 1942, 15 female tractor drivers from the MTS of Kyrgyzstan were awarded the badge of "Excellence in Socialist Agriculture" by the USSR People's Commissariat of Land and the Political Administration for their high labor performance. Among them were renowned tractor drivers Anna Sokolova and Varvara Savina from the brigade of the 7th Belovodskaya MTS, Anat Eraliyeva and Tumar Chelebaeva from the Akterek and Kochkor MTS in the Tian Shan region, Busakhan Yegemberdieva from the Osh MTS, and others.

However, despite the successes achieved, the level of mechanization in agriculture and the productivity of the machine-tractor fleet declined. The tractor work plan for the republic during the spring plowing of 1942 (as of May 10) was fulfilled by 82%. The lack of machinery was compensated by the use of horses, oxen, and camels. During the spring sowing in the collective farms of the Osh region, 2,865 plowmen were employed. Widely using the method of the Krasnoyarsk plowman Valentin Nagorny, plowmen Sarmambetov, Bekturov, and Moldokulov from the Dzhailma collective farm in the Issyk-Kul region plowed 3-3.8 hectares on the first day, but on the second and third days, they plowed 4-4.25 hectares. In the "Orto-Aryk" collective farm in the same region, plowman Beyshembaev achieved four norms per day.

Using a one-way plow, record productivity was achieved by female collective farmers Anna Kurgasheva and Maria Varivodina from the "Path of Lenin" collective farm in the Kurshab district of the Osh region. During the winter sowing, Kurgasheva plowed 1.14 hectares in 7 hours, completing almost two norms, while Varivodina plowed 2.5 hectares in 14 hours, or four norms. In the Naukat district, 42 brigades working by the Nagorny method daily fulfilled their norm by 250-300%. Overall, in the Osh region in 1942, during the peak of winter sowing, 103 plowmen worked using Nagorny’s method. 114 of the best plowmen in the republic were awarded a Certificate of Honor from the People's Commissariat of Land of the Kyrgyz SSR and the Political Administration for their high-performance labor.

At the same time, Nagorny’s advanced experience was not given due importance everywhere. In the collective farms within the operational zones of the Kainidin and Belovodskaya MTS, it did not find further dissemination. On the eve of the winter sowing, the leaders of certain farms took away replacement horses, not bringing the initiatives of the innovators to completion.

In plowing and transporting fertilizers, the use of barren and low-yield cows was practiced.

Where tractors were lacking, land was cultivated manually—with ketmens and shovels. This method was particularly widely used in the collective farms of the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan, where new lands were being developed, mainly in the mountains and on steep slopes.

Thanks to ketmen plowing in the Kurshab district of the Osh region, the sown area was expanded by 782 hectares, in the Mirza-Akin district by 1,000 hectares, in the Osh district by 2,000 hectares, and a total of 8,055 hectares of virgin lands were plowed by 3,765 collective farmers across the region.

Work of Political Departments in the Kyrgyz SSR in 1942