Spatial adjustments in grain production in late tsarist Russia

The late nineteenth century world grain market expanded as prices declined and trade increased. As competition increased, Russian producers adapted to market conditions. Russian grain output increased, first by the extension of arable southward and eastward and later as a result of land reform. Analysis of grain output data using information statistics demonstrated dispersed patterns of production from 1885 to 1909. Among individual grain types, rye and oats displayed dispersed output patterns, while wheat and barley output became more concentrated. Changes in these patterns are evidence of adaptation to world market conditions and changes in Russia's socioeconomic system. -Author