This article examines the development of virgin and fallow lands in Kazakhstan in the 1950s. Since the climate in the Kazakh steppes was sharply continental, arid, and the soils unsuitable for farming, the cultivation of grain crops was associated with huge risks and difficulties. Everywhere in those years a great number of state farms were established in Kazakhstan, which had to develop not only vast areas in extraordinary conditions and terms, but also apply innovative for that time and for that area methods of cultivation of high yields of grain crops. Analysis of the materials showed that, despite the difficult natural and climatic conditions, lack of agricultural machinery and labour, the virgin lands cultivators harvested high yields by applying the method of layer-by-layer tillage. The authors concluded that in the course of land use state farm specialists tried to maintain the quality characteristics of the soil.

The article deals with the beginning of virgin lands development in Kazakhstan in the 1950s. In those years there was an acute shortage of fodder crops, as vast areas of land were given to grain crops. Since the traditions of legume and fodder crops cultivation were forgotten, the specialists of the Zarechny state farm had to apply new methods to solve fodder problems under difficult conditions. The authors came to the conclusion that during the experiments, the specialists of the state farm determined the best way of sowing forage beans by means of square-breeding sowing of a mixture of corn and beans. The chosen method solved the problem of fodder for cattle to a certain extent, affecting the productivity of the dairy herd and its weight gain.