From ancient times till now agriculture has been the major occupation for the population of Klimovichi district. The 1850s' unrest caused by the crisis of serfdom and feudal system and development of capitalist relations forced czarism to agree to the revolution from above - abolition of serfdom. However, the 1891 reform was not strong enough to eliminate every vestige of feudal system; it also failed to tackle the agrarian problem. Serfs were made free and stopped being slaves of their landlords, but the amount of land in their hands was waning.

In 1916 there were 168 landed members of gentry owning 200.6 acres and 2,900 peasants owning 126.9 acres in Klimovichi district. There were 45 major land-owners of other classes who accumulated some 30.7 acres.

After the revolution the process of collectivisation was launched. Starting from 1927 the collectivisation was marching up-tempo. As of October 1, 1927, there were already 19 kolkhozes of total area 1,900 hectares. A year later, the number grew up to 24 and its lands enhanced to 2,280 hectares.

One of the first kolkhozes to emerge in Klimovichi district was the one called Leninsky Putj (Lenin's Way). It was founded in mid-March 1929, was rich with 2,000 hectares of land and comprised 345 yards. Then, May 17, 1929, kolkhoz Bolshevik was set up, followed by the creation of the largest kolkhoz of the district - Communard of Byelorussia - with 6,000 at its disposal. As of 1929, there were 53 kolkhozes with a total of lands possessed amounting to 80,000 hectares. However, the hi-tech supply left much to be desired. At that time, the whole district has only 2 tractors and 2 threshing machines. Summer and autumn of 1930 saw 485 people joining kolkhozes.

In 1957 the Ministry of Agriculture decided to eliminate all poor and unprofitable economy objects and creation of more powerful sovkhozes and kolkhozes.

The first sovkhoz was named Klimovichsky, the second - Rodnyansky. The latter might boast of serving the basis for setting up the first town with gas and water supply. In 1966 the head of the above-mentioned sovkhoz was awarded with Hero of Social Labour reward for achievements in cultivating cattle-breeding and stocking-up agricultural production.

Sovkhoz Miloslavichsky was created in March 1960. It included 30 villages and more than 20 hectares of land. In January 1964 sovkhoz Mekeyevichi was created on the base of Miloslavichsky, and later formed a separate sovkhoz.

In 1967 the district had 14 kolkhozes and 10 sovkhozes (3 specialised ones, including Klimovichsky - cattle-breeding, Timonovo - livestock breeding, and Rodnyansky - poultry farming).

As of 1967 there were 310 agrarian specialists in the district. Half of the profit fell on plant cultivation, some 45-46% - on cattle breeding, and 4-4.4% - on poultry farming.

The period from late 1970s to mid 1990s was known for considerable growth of agricultural production.

The growth of yielding capacity in the district grew from average 15 centners in 1972 to average 26.8 centners in 1989 1 hectar. The highest yields were received in such sovkhozes as Vysokovsky, Miloslavichsky, Timonovo, where yielding capacity occasionally would reach 40 centners per hectare.

The years 1986-1989 were the most productive in agriculture for the district. Kolkhozes and sovkhozes were transferred to intensive systems in land cultivation and cattle breeding, self-financing was getting popular, etc. All this contributed to higher efficiency of agricultural production and profitability growth.


Today, the land reform prompted appearance of farms, though their efficiency was not high. At the same time private farms were getting stronger, there were 17,127 of them with 1,692 hectares, which made an average of 0.59 hectares per farm. Share of private farms in overall agricultural production amounted to: milk - 36%, meat - 15%, potato - 52%, vegetable - 64%, fruit and berries - 97%. On average, agricultural family of the district satisfies its needs in agricultural production for milk - 36%, meat - 15%, potato - 99%, vegetable - 75% and eggs -71%. In 90s rural residents were additionally given 1,595 hectares of land to enlarge private farms to 1 hectares.