Altai Krai

Altai Krai represents one of the twentieth century's most dramatic examples of ecosystem engineering—the deliberate transformation of an entire biome to serve human food production. The 1954 Virgin Lands Campaign converted 2.9 million hectares of steppe grassland into arable farmland, with 350,000 settlers arriving to work the newly plowed fields. This was the world's largest temperate grassland conversion, and seven decades later, the region's agricultural character remains locked in.

The biological parallel to beaver engineering is striking: like beavers transforming streams into ponds, the Soviet state transformed steppe into grain fields. Today, Altai Krai holds Russia's largest sowing area for grains and leguminous plants. In 2024, the region harvested over 5.5 million tonnes of grain, ranking fourth nationally. The territory exported 3.8 million tonnes of products—primarily sunflower oil—to 49 countries, with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia as the primary trade partners. Weekly export volumes reached 100,000 tonnes in early 2025.

Yet ecosystem engineering carries long-term costs. The same soil erosion that plagued Kazakhstan's Virgin Lands affects Altai Krai; agricultural profitability has fallen for three consecutive years to a record low of 11% in 2024. The region now pivots toward value-added processing rather than raw commodity export—leading Siberia in wheat flour exports and grain quality metrics like gluten and protein content. Agriculture contributes over 12% of regional GDP, with Barnaul serving as the processing hub for this vast agricultural hinterland. The path dependence from 1954 decisions is total: you cannot un-plow 2.9 million hectares.