I.Ye. Ovsinskyi ‘New System of Agriculture’: Public Perception (end of 19th – early 20th century)

Keywords: I.Ye. Ovsinskyi, organic agriculture, new system of agriculture, agrarian science, cultivation of land

Abstract

The main stages of public discussion and promotion of the ideas of Ivan Yevhenovych Ovsinskyi, which allow uncovering the way of (non) perception of scientific ideas among the sectoral scientific community of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th – early 20th century are studied in the paper.

It is found out that having close contacts with Polish patriotic circles, I.Ye. Ovsinskyi was persecuted by the tsarist authorities, and that influenced the perception of his scientific ideas. It is shown that for the first time the scientist presented the main provisions of his concept ‘New System of Agriculture’ at the regional congresses of agrarians and at the 10th congress of Russian naturalists and physicians, which took place in Kyiv at the end of the 19th century. However, the status of ‘politically unreliable person’, the lack of close ties in the domestic scientific agrarian community did not allow the innovator to get adequate support. It is proved that authoritative Polish scientists Yu. Okhorovych (Julian Ochorowicz), H. Kotlubai (Henryk Kotłubaj) influenced the final version of the concept of I.Ye. Ovsinskyi, which was designed as a monograph of the same title, and helped to organize its high-profile promotion.

The active discussion of ‘Ovsinskyi System’ in the Polish press, the publication of the book (1899), and the interest of scientific authorities prompted experts from other parts of the Russian Empire to study the concept in more detail. It is noted that the ‘New System of Agriculture’ aroused interest among the progressive agrarians of the time (over 70 publications during 1899-1912). The mechanism of public opinion on innovative ideas formation can be analyzed on the example of the most famous domestic public sectoral associations (Kyiv and Poltava Agrarian Societies) activity. It is proved that the policy of the leadership of those organizations regarding I.Ye. Ovsinskyi was politically dependent and did not contribute to a proper scientific discussion of his ideas. It is found out that such a situation influenced the organizing and conducting of the experiments to test the ideas of the innovator. Imperfect methodology during the experiments led to incorrect conclusions, which became the basis for discrediting of the ‘New System of Agriculture’ suggested by I.Ye. Ovsinskyi.

References

Bogdanov, S.M. (1909). O novoi sisteme zemledeliia Ovsinskogo [About the New Farming System of Ovsinsky]. Khoziaistvo, 46, 2018-2022; 47, 2060-2064; 48, 2104-2107 [in Russian].

Bogdanov, S.M. & Leshchenko, I.V. (Eds.) (1896). Trudy Tretiego Kievskogo oblastnogo selskokhoziaist-vennogo sieezda [Proceedings of the Third Kiev Regional Agricultural Congress]. Kiev [in Russian]

Kononova, L.P. (2004). Ssylka uchastnikov polskogo vosstaniia 1863-1864 godov (po materialam Ark-hangelskoi gubernii) [Exile of the Participants in the Polish Uprising of 1863-1864 (based on materi-als from the Arkhangelsk region)]. Arkhangelsk [in Russian]

Kovalenko, N.P. (2014). Stanovlennia ta rozvytok naukovo-orhanizatsiinykh osnov zastosuvannia vitchyznianykh syvozmin u systemakh zemlerobstva (druha polovyna XIX – pochatok XXI st.) [Forma-tion and Development of Scientific and Organizational Bases of Application of Domestic Crop Rota-tions in Systems of Agriculture (second half of the XIX – early of the XXI cent.)]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Kovalenko, S.D. (2019). Evoliutsiia nauchnykh vzgliadov na obrabotku pochvy v zemledelii Ukrainy (XIX – pervaia polovina XX v.) [Evolution of Scientific Views on Tillage in Agriculture in Ukraine (19th – first half of the 20th century)]. Metody nauki, 2, 26-30 [in Russian].

Kudashev, V.A. (1892). Obiasnenie kniazia V.A. Kudasheva po povodu zamechanii na doklad ego o sberiz-henii pochvennoi vlagi i vozrazhenii gg. Izmailskogo Dubrovskogo i s. kh. v «Golose zemledeltsev». [Ex-planation of Prince V.A. Kudashev about comments on his Rport on the Conservation of Soil Moisture, and objections of Izmailsky, Dubrovsky and rural owners in the «Voice of the Farmers»]. Poltava [in Russian].

Mankovskii, K.G. (1908). Vlazhnost pochvy v sviazi s metodami yeio obrabotki pod ozimyie i yarovyie khleba [Soil moisture in connection with the methods of its processing for winter and spring bread]. In Itogi rabot Poltavskogo opytnogo za dvadtsat let 1886-1905. (Vol. 1, pp. 43-209). Poltava [in Rus-sian].

Orekhivskyi, V.D. (2017). Evoliutsiia naukovykh osnov orhanichnoho zemlerobstva v Ukraini (druha polovyna XIX – pochatok XXI st.) [Evolution of Scientific Bases of Organic Agriculture in Ukraine (sec-ond half of the XIX – early of the XXI century)]. Vinnytsia [in Ukrainian].

Osadchii, T.K. (1899). K predstoiashchim godichnym sobraniiam Kievskogo obshchestva selskogo khoziaistva [For the upcoming annual meetings of the Kiev Society of Agriculture]. Zemledelie, 5, 68-69 [in Russian].

Ovsinskii, I. (1899). Novaia sistema zemledeliia [New Farming System]. Kiev [in Russian].

Owsinski, J. (1897). Organizm ekonomiczny. Warszawa [in Polish].

Prymak, I.D. & etc. (2014). Istoriia ahronomichnoi nauky i tekhniky [History of agronomic science and technology]. Vinnytsia [in Ukrainian].

Reva, I.M. (Ed.) (1890). Trudy Pervogo Kievskogo oblastnogo selskokhoziaistvennogo siezda [Proceedings of the First Kiev Regional Agricultural Congress]. Kiev [in Russian].

Slavinskii, O. (1899). O novoi sisteme zemledeliia [About the New Farming System]. Zemledelie, 7, 97-99 [in Russian].

Sokolovskii, Yu.Yu. (1905). Kratkii otchet o rezultate opytov Poltavskogo Opytnogo Polia v 1902 godu v sviazi s predydushchimi godami. [A Brief Account of the Results of the Experiments of the Poltava Ex-perimental Field in 1902 (in connection with previous years)]. Poltava [in Russian].

Sokolovskii, Yu. (1903). Opyty s melkoi vspashkoi Ovsinskogo [Experiments With Shallow plowing of Ovsinsky]. Zemledelie, 30, 440-452 [in Russian].

Sonko, S.P. & Maksymenko, N.V. (2012). Evoliutsiia mekhanichnoho obrobitku gruntu, yak holovnyi chynnyk planuvannia ahrolandshaftu (ekolohichni nadii ta rozcharuvannia). [Evolution of mechani-cal tillage, as the main factor of agro-landscape planning (ecological hopes and disappointments)]. Visnyk KhNU imeni V. N. Karazina Seriia «Ekolohiia». 1004. 7. 7–22. [in Ukrainian].

Strzeleckiy, A., Kotlubaj, H. (Ed.) (1888-1890). Encyklopedya rolnicza i rolniczo-przemysłowa, Vols. I-III [Agricultural and Agro-industrial Encyclopaedias]. Vols. I-III. Warszawa [in Polish].

Terskii, A. (1899). Zakliuchenie komissii izbrannoi otdeleniem zemledeliia Kievskogo Obshchestva sel-skogo khoziaistva po organizatsii kollektivnykh opytov po primeneniiu sistemy obrabotki pochvy predlagaemoi g Ovsinskim [The conclusion of the commission, elected by the department of agricul-ture of the Kiev Society of Agriculture, on the organization of collective experiments on the applica-tion of the soil cultivation system proposed by the city of Ovsinsky]. Zemledelie, 17, 255-257; 18, 271-274 [in Russian].

Vasilev, N.K. (1913). Novyie sistemy zemledeliya [New Farming Systems]. In Yezhegodnik Glavnogo Upravleniya Zemleustroystva i Zemledeliya po Departamentu zemledeliya i Lesnomu departamentu (pp. 28-47). Sankt-Peterburg [in Russian].

Verhunov, V.A. (2018). Istoriia silskohospodarskoi doslidnoi spravy v Ukraini. Vol. II: Naukovo-orhanizatsiini zasady funktsionuvannia silskohospodarskoi doslidnoi spravy na terenakh Ukrainy (druha polovyna XIX – pochatok XX st.) [History of Agricultural Research in Ukraine. Vol. II: Scientific and Organizational Principles of Functioning of Agricultural Research in Ukraine (second half of the XIX – early of the XXI century)]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Verhunov, V.A. (2009). Poltavske doslidne pole: stanovlennia i rozvytok silskohospodarskoi doslidnoi spravy v Ukraini (do 125-richchia derzhavnoho doslidnytstva v ahronomii ta tvarynnytstvi). [Poltava Research Field: Formation and Development of Agricultural Research in Ukraine (to the 125th Anni-versary of State Research in Agronomy and Animal Husbandry)]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Verhunov, V.A. (2018). Ukrainski ahrarni studii kniazia V.O. Kudasheva [Ukrainian Agrarian Studies of Prince V.O. Kudashev]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Verhunov, V.A. (2019). Zasluzhenyi profesor Universytetu Sviatoho Volodymyra S.M. Bohdanov (1859-1920) – vydatnyi orhanizator naukovo-osvitnoi ahronomii na ukrainskykh zemliakh: do 160-richchia vid dni narodzhennia [Honoured Professor of the St. Vladimir’ University S.M. Bogdanov (1859-1920) – an outstanding organizer of scientific and educational agronomy in the Ukrainian lands (to the 160th anniversary of his birth)]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Vilenskii-Sibiriakov, V., Kon, F. & Shilov, A. (Eds.) (1931). Deiateli revoliutcionnogo dvizheniia v Rossii: Bio-bibliograficheskii slovar: Ot predshestvennikov dekabristov do padeniia tcarizma [Figures of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia: Bio-bibliographic dictionary: From the predecessors of the De-cembrists to the Fall of Tsarism]. (Vol. 2 (3), pp. 980-981). Moskva [in Russian].

Published
13.01.2021
How to Cite
Korzun, D. (2021). I.Ye. Ovsinskyi ‘New System of Agriculture’: Public Perception (end of 19th – early 20th century). Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal, (4(32), 253-262. https://doi.org/10.33782/eminak2020.4(32).487
Section
History of Science and Technology