Three Major Changes Introduced in Agriculture in the Soviet Union after 1918
(i) After the Russian Revolution the estates of landlords, church and nobility were confiscated and distributed among the peasants. Most of the landholdings thus created were small and productively non-viable.
(ii) The government thus started its own farms and also introduced collective farms worked by peasants with government owned machinary and animals. The income from these was divided equally. According to the work and capacity of the farmers.
(iii) By 1937 almost all cultivable land was brought under collective farms. While initially the peasants were given an option to join or not to join, later it became compulsory. Thousands of wealthy peasants (kulaks) were executed when they tried to withhold their land from collectivisation. Many others were imprisoned or exiled.