Word: kolkhozes
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...peasants' complaints, the government introduced a New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921 which was a concession to the peasants. This policy lasted until 1928, when Stalin began an intensive drive for collectivization of agriculture. Under this plan, two types of farms were set up, a collective farm called the kolkhoz, and a state farm of "grain factory," called the sovhas. The former is by far the more prevalent in Russia today, with about 98 percent of the farmers included...
Under the kolkhoz system, each peasant is part of a vast cooperative and participates in the output of the whole farm. In addition to working for the cooperative and receiving a salary based upon the amount of work he does for it, the peasant on the kolkhoz is allowed to have a small plot of land upon which he can grow his own products and raise livestock. He can sell this produce on the open market to supplement his income. The peasant, as might be expected, generally prefers to till his own plot rather than the cooperative...
This puts the government in a dilemma. If it tries to coerce the peasant to work more faithfully for the kolkhoz, the peasant may slow down his production. And if the government allows him complete freedom, the peasant will almost always work harder on his own plot...
...Komsomolskaya Pravda, another complained: "The soil begins to dry . . . The cause is lack of manpower. Things are managed the wrong way. Seventeen-year-old girls from the city who have never held a pitchfork in their hands work in the hayfields, while two husky kolkhoz fellows just sit by the stove, drink vodka and tell funny jokes...
...Ivestia, another: "The Tarangul Motor Tractor Station began its work in the fields about half a month later than last year . . . Not a single furrow has been made in our kolkhoz. The director of our MTS, Comrade Petrov, forgot to give even one single plow to our brigade...