Soviets fail to hit food, industry targets

The Soviet economy failed to meet production targets in most key sectors in 1981, according to newly released statistics.

The gas industry did well, while the Kremlin's biggest problems were coal, steel, and a crop that was poor enough that the government did not release the 1981 harvest figures. Western experts have estimated the Soviet harvest at around 175 million metric tons, the lowest figure for six years and the third poor crop in a row. The Soviet target is 239 metric tons.

But national income, the indicator of overall growth, rose by 3.2 percent, just 0.2 per cent below the leadership's target.