e--in an effort to reduce a draft power shortage.
This increase would inevitably be at the expense of the growth in the
numbers of cows and young stock.

The growth of productive livestock herds, excluding draft animals,
lagged very substantially in relation to the increase in population, at
least through 1966. This has entailed a significant worsening of the
initially very meager supply of livestock products. According to
estimates published by the FAO, total annual meat production, including
all types of meat in terms of carcass weight but excluding edible
offals, increased from an average of 40,000 tons in the 1952-56 period
to 50,000 tons in 1967. The output in 1967 implies a per capita daily
meat availability of only about 2.5 ounces, including bones. A similar
situation prevailed with regard to dairy and poultry products because
there were only about 75 low-production cows per 1,000 population and
one head of inferior poultry per capita.

Total agricultural production, which was planned to increase at an
average annual rate of 11.5 percent or from 71 to 76 percent for the
five-year plan period as a whole, consistently fell short of the targets
in the 1966-69 period and was not likely to attain the 17-percent
increase planned for 1970. Thus, for instance, the actual output
increase achieved in 1969 was only about 10 percent as against a planned
rise of 22.1 percent and in 1968, similarly, about 1.6 as against 12
percent.

This persistent lag in farm output has been extensively and publicly
discussed by the leadership, which is intent on raising the general
level of performance in agriculture and ensuring an adequate domestic
supply of food products. Although some blame has been attached to
unfavorable weather conditions, the lag has been ascribed primarily to
the reluctance of peasants to adopt modern production techniques, poor
farm management, insufficient effort to use available resources to best
advantage, widespread indifference and negligence, and an excessive
preoccupation with personal interests leading to an irresponsible
attitude toward work in the collective sector. These shortcomings were
said to exist not only among the peasantry at large but also among
Communists, who should be serving as models of responsible behavior. The
basic reason that clearly emerges from public discussion is a widespread
opposition of peasants to the collectivization of farms and an
associated tendency to devote their best