What was collectivisation?

• Collective farms, known as kolkhozy were set up in which farmers would join and in doing so, gave up their land, animals and farming equipment.

  • In exchange, they would earn a wage based on the value of the produce the farm managed to sell and the number of working days they completed.
• The farms were independent from the state but would have to meet a quota set by the state and then could sell the rest of their produce at local markets.

  • Most of the surplus came from the private plots of peasants that they were allowed to farm.
• In each area there were machine and tractor stations.

  • Collective farms would hire machinery from those in exchange for sharing over 20% of their produce.
• The 2,500 MTS's had political sections and were used to control the countryside.
• State farms were also established known as sovkhozy.
• Sovzkhozy were run on factory lines with each workers receiving a fixed wage.

  • These were run by the state and were prominent in developing the Virgin Lands in the 1950s.