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?