Household plots and their symbiosis with large farm enterprises in Russia

In the 1990s, production substantially declined on Russia’s large farm enterprises (LFEs). By the end of the decade, the majority of these mostly privatized successors of the kolkhozes and sovkhozes had turned unprofitable. In response, farm managers as a rule tried to avoid dismissals, resorting instead to paying low wages or delaying wage payments. Furthermore, the LFEs, which had traditionally provided all village social services, had to relinquish some of their social functions. Farm employees reacted by increasing production on their subsidiary household plots to become self-sufficient in food and earn extra income with the sale of the surplus. The households’ share in total agricultural production increased from one quarter at the start of market reforms to more than half by the end of the 1990s (Visser 2003b, 2003c).