Grain requisitioning

Grain requisitioning weakened the incentive to produce extra food. If a peasant expected the state to seize any surplus, growing more crops offered little reward. Some peasants reduced production or resisted the collectors.

In the countryside, the government used grain requisitioning: grain was taken compulsorily from peasants to feed the army and towns. Private trade was banned, and food was distributed through rationing rather than freely bought and sold. These measures gave the government control over supplies, but they also restricted people’s choices about work, production and exchange.