ABSTRACT
Families, individuals, and small cooperatives are being encouraged to lease land, equipment, and buildings from the existing farms or local soviets. The general secretary’s ideas on agricultural reform have evolved along with the rest of Gorbachev strategy, and the history of the campaign is closely connected to other struggles about the future of the Soviet system. The coincidence of Gorbachev’s espousal of radically restructuring Soviet agricultural institutions and a movement of almost open opposition to perestroika emphasizes how important the existing kolkhoz system is as a component in the whole command economy. Since collectivization, Soviet farmers have normally worked in large groups, called brigades, performing individually assigned and evaluated tasks assigned to them by the brigade leader on a daily, or almost-daily, basis. Reform of agricultural prices and elimination of state subsidies for production of many items will fundamentally affect the leaseholders’ financial position and their contracts with the farms.
