Authors

Discussion

The economic transformations occurring in the Ukrainian lands of the Russian Empire at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries represent an important area of study within economic history. Previous studies have primarily focused on industrial developments; however, significant transformations also occurred in agriculture and scientific knowledge about crops and everyday foods. This paper will analyse the types of oil crops planted in the second half of the nineteenth century in the Ukrainian gubernias, including flax, hemp, rapeseed, and sunflower. By exploring the economic and scientific factors behind these decisions, this study will illustrate how knowledge about oil crops was developed and what it meant for society, culture, and the environment.

A particular focus of this paper will be on the role of new oil crops in agricultural production and in the everyday practices of the population. Sunflower, a novel plant introduced from the Americas, eventually became a staple food and economic resource in Ukraine and eastern Europe. The plant arrived in the Russian empire in the eighteenth century and gradually spread across its vast territories. Initially, sunflower was considered a rare, exotic flower, circulated among the elite and cultivated by botanists in their private gardens due to its distinctive beauty, colors, and size. With the growth of the oil industry in the Russian empire, scholars, engineers, and agronomists began striving to cultivate the most efficient oil crops. Sunflower’s potential as an oil crop was recognised in the early nineteenth century. By the second half of that century, sunflower cultivation had expanded to several regions of the Russian empire, including Ukrainian gubernias such as Katerynoslav, Tavriia, and Kyiv. Scientists examined the properties of this new plant and conducted experiments to harness its valuable qualities, developing oil mills and other mechanical tools (masloboinia) in the process. During this time, agronomists were also seeking other oil crops that might prove more valuable, practical, or profitable. Although sunflower had not yet become an industrial crop by the early twentieth century, it was widely grown in kitchen gardens and used for household purposes. With these ideas in mind, this paper aims to position the sunflower within the broader economic and agricultural landscape of the late nineteenth century, illustrating the role it played during that time. What knowledge and concerns did scientists and agronomists have regarding this plant, and how did these considerations shape their decisions? How were shifts in the economic and agricultural significance of oil crops and sunflowers connected to Ukraine’s colonial past and why?