Such plates were installed in 1984 for the 30th anniversary of the virgin lands development, in the state farm ‘Komsomolsky’, which was founded in 1955; Orsk provided active assistance to the state farm and its first street was named Orskaya. It was in ‘Komsomolsky’ in the summer of 1958, a group of workers from the Moscow Gorky Film Studio arrived to shoot a new feature film, ‘Ivan Brovkin on Virgin Lands’, which later became a classic of Soviet cinema.
Tselina (virgin lands) – this word was as a password for young people in the early 1950s. It was heard in all languages in every corner of Russia. On March 2, 1954 the resolution of the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee ‘On further increasing grain production in the country and the development of virgin and fallow lands’ was issued. Trains with cargo and people headed east. Groups of Komsomol members and young people were escorted to areas where the virgin lands were being developed. The first train arrived at the station Orsk in early March. At that time, the city was the main foothold, the headquarters, from where the pioneers went to the Adamovsky, Novoorsky, Kvarkensky and Dombarovsky steppes. The Party’s call found a lively response from the workers of Orsk. The Party and Komsomol committees were receiving applications from workers and employees, mainly from the Komsomol, with a request to send them to develop virgin and fallow lands. Within 2 days, 224 applications from the citizens of Orsk were received. Komsomol vouchers were issued, following which young people went to develop virgin lands.
In spring 1954 Sergey Pavlovich Lychagin was one of the first to leave Orsk for the state farm “Vostochny”. He was appointed head of the tractor and field brigade. At that time, the pioneers lived in canvas tents, completely unprotected from the winds, the kerosene lamps were not enough, there was a lack of food, and a great deal of difficulties had to be overcome. Lychagin’s brigade mowed 1750 hectares and milled 150,000 pounds of bread. The harvest was so rich that there was not enough trucks to take out all the bread. Much of the grain was left under the snow. 18 most distinguished workers were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for their success in developing the virgin lands. Among them was Sergey Pavlovich Lychagin. Commemorative and anniversary medals were also issued for badges devoted to virgin lands development.
In spring 1954 Sergey Pavlovich Lychagin was one of the first to leave Orsk for the state farm “Vostochny”. He was appointed head of the tractor and field brigade. At that time, the pioneers lived in canvas tents, completely unprotected from the winds, the kerosene lamps were not enough, there was a lack of food, and a great deal of difficulties had to be overcome. Lychagin’s brigade mowed 1750 hectares and milled 150,000 pounds of bread. The harvest was so rich that there was not enough trucks to take out all the bread. Much of the grain was left under the snow. 18 most distinguished workers were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for their success in developing the virgin lands. Among them was Sergey Pavlovich Lychagin. Commemorative and anniversary medals were also issued for badges devoted to virgin lands development.
Industrial enterprises in Orsk provided all possible assistance to the village workers in supplying equipment. For instance, the factory of electrical products has adopted the production of grain blowing units. In 1968, 363 million pounds of grain were harvested on the virgin lands and then transferred to the state. This was the first time such a large quantity of bread was sold. For these outstanding achievements, the Orenburg region was awarded the second Order of Lenin. More than 2 million hectares of fallow lands were cultivated in the region, mostly in the eastern districts. Large production of bread from virgin lands was established as early as in 1950s and early 60s.
