Agricultural activities play a significant role in the economic history of Russia. During the tsarist period, productivity was low and the peasants mostly worked as laborers for the landed lords. The vast Siberian lands were not utilized. In fact, in the period until the Russian revolution of 1917, 81% of the approximately 2 million agricultural farms were privately owned, 15% were state-owned and 4% were owned by the Kazakh. 110,884 km2 of land was under cultivation, 36,421 km2 was under crop rotation, and 72,843 km2 was used as pasture and cultivation sites. Around the same period, 94% of the cultivated crops were cereals (48% wheat, 28% oats, 14% oat, 4% barley), 2% potatoes, and 1% each flax and hemp, and 2% miscellaneous crops (Stamp, 1967).

With the October Revolution, land reform was performed and it was intended to abolish large land ownership by distributing the agricultural land to all farmers. However, the poor farmers who did not have the sufficient instruments and income could not cultivate the land, and production declined. For this reason, in 1928 the lands were taken from the peasants and turned into state-owned farms. Some of these farms were state-owned farms called sovkhoz and the others were called kolkhoz where peasants worked collectively.

Collectivization contributed to the agricultural development of the country to a great extent. By this means, agricultural tools that the peasants could not afford could be purchased, scientific techniques were applied in the fertile lands, opinions of the specialists were acted upon, and fertile lands were not allowed to be left uncultivated at the arbitrary decisions of individuals in order to make the most of the land. However, unfavorable economic developments, which occurred in the country following the collapse of the Soviet Union, have also had an impact on the agricultural system. As a matter of fact, when the distribution of the working population is analyzed, it is seen that the number of people working in the agricultural sector has decreased.

The collapse of the collective farming system, the decline in the living standard of those working in sovkhozes (the state farms), lack of capital and state support, dramatic decline in the agricultural structure and low labor wages have all contributed to the decline in the agricultural working population. Although there is development in the agro-industrial complexes lately, the overall socio- economic structure not being fully recovered makes making it difficult for the

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sector to function.
In respect of agriculture, Russia is located in a risky zone due to its average

soil fertility being low. Of the 200 million hectares devoted to agricultural use, 120 million hectares are suitable for agriculture, 2 million hectares are fallow, 2 million hectares are under permanent cultivation, and 87,000 hectares are covered by permanent pastures and meadows (FAO, 2021). Thus, the average agricultural land per capita is 1.5 hectares

The organizations called the kolkhoz and the sovkhoz were reorganized in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Initially, their names were changed as ‘production cooperatives’. Private investments started to be influential in the capital and management. There have also been changes in the ownership structure of agricultural land. Those who previously worked in kolkhozes and solkhozes became land owners. During the recent years the share of small commercial organizations has increased and transformed partly into farms or family enterprises. However, chronic undercapitalization and dependence on state subsidies are among the main problems that today's enterprises face. While the right to private ownership of land is affirmed in the Constitution, this right has not yet been truly recognized in the current legal arrangement. Besides, the inability to pledge the land as security for loans eliminates farmers' access to credit. This also represents the reason behind the inefficiency in establishments (Craumer, 1994).