Read the text given below and answer the following questions. The period of the early Planned Economy was linked to the disasters of the

collectivisation of agriculture. By 1927- 1928, the towns in Soviet Russia were

facing an acute problem of grain supplies. The government fixed prices at

which grain must be sold, but the peasants refused to sell their grain to

government buyers at these prices. In 1928, Party members toured the grain-

producing areas, supervising enforced grain collections, and raiding ‘kulaks’

the name for well-to-do peasants. As shortages continued, the decision was

taken to collectivise farms. It was argued that grain shortages were partly due

to the small size of holdings. After 1917, land had been given over to

peasants. These small-sized peasant farms could not be modernised. To

develop modern farms, and run them along industrial lines with machinery, it

was necessary to eliminate kulaks, take away land from peasants, and

establish state-controlled large farms

1) Who were ‘kulaks’ ?

2) Point out one reason for grain shortages.

3) What was the decision taken to solve the problem of grain shortages?

4) What was necessary to develop modern farms?​