page_title: Economy of East Germany
section_title: Agriculture
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of East Germany / Sectors of the economy / Agriculture
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Infografik, Landwirtschaft der DDR Getreideerträge ADN-ZB Grafik 22.1.87-Bo-Landwirtschaft der DDR - Getreideerträge. Mit einem Hektarertrag von 46,4 Dezitonnen Getreide wurde von den Genossenschaftsbäuerinnen und -bauern, den Arbeiterinnen und Arbeitern in der sozialistischen Landwirtschaft der DDR im Jahr 1986 das Rekordergebnis des Vorjahres noch übertroffen. Insgesamt wurden 11,7 Millionen Tonnen Getreide geerntet.
context_page_description: East Germany had a command economy, similar to the economic system in the Soviet Union and other Comecon member states — in contrast to the market economies or mixed economies of capitalist states. The state established production targets, set prices, and also allocated resources, codifying these decisions in comprehensive plans. The means of production were almost entirely state-owned.
  East Germany had higher standards of living than other Eastern Bloc countries or the Soviet Union, and enjoyed favorable duty and tariff terms with the West German market. The East German economy was one of the largest and one of the most stable economies in the "Second World," until the revolutions of 1989.
  Relative to its Western counterpart before Soviet occupation, East Germany was in a slightly better economic position. This changed, however, after World War II, and East Germany lagged in terms of growth and fell behind West Germany up until their reunification in 1990.
context_section_description: The agricultural sector of the economy had a somewhat different place in the system, although it too was thoroughly integrated. It was almost entirely collectivized except for private plots. The collective farms were formally self-governing. They were, however, subordinate to the Council of Ministers through the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Foodstuffs. A complex set of relationships also connected them with other cooperatives and related industries, such as food processing. By 1 July 1954, there were 4,974 collective farms with 147,000 members which cultivated 15.7 per cent of the arable land of the territory.
caption: A 1987 propaganda poster showing increased agricultural production from 1981 to 1983 and 1986
exif: {}