He sees hope in the transformation of the abandoned collective farm into a state-of-the-art pig farm, underwritten by Dutch and British venture capital.

ECONOMIST: The land that time forgot

Agriculture is managed so badly because the old collective-farm system has survived the collapse of communism almost intact.

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His party appeals to entrepreneurial farmers as well as city businessmen, which is one reason, with a general election next spring, why he has chosen to bunk out of the government: he does not think it has done enough to reinvigorate farming, and one coalition partner is tied to the old collective-farm establishment.

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Peter Mumme was a labourer on a big collective farm near the border.

ECONOMIST: Germany

At the west end of the crescent in Farringdon, Farm Collective is another fresh offering.

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