Abstract <p>With the onset of reforms in the second half of the 1980s, the USSR agricultural policy was subject to revisionism. The problems of the agro-industrial complex had been accumulating for many years and were the result of a combination of factors associated with the methods of building the socialist system in the Soviet Union. If in the 1930s the reorganization of agriculture consisted of the forced collectivization of the village, under the new conditions the revival of independent peasant farms was proposed, as well as the assimilation of Western experience related to the development of farming. The discussions focused on issues of private land ownership and the future of collective farms. Why was agrarian reform necessary? What was the goal? Did the country’s leadership have a program of agrarian reforms? How did economic, legal, and social aspects interact in the reform process? Were the set objectives achieved? These questions are the focus of this study. The source base of the research is the documents of the Congress of People’s Deputies, the Supreme Council and the Government of the RSFSR. It is worth noting the significant statistical material and data from sociological surveys. A separate group of sources is represented by legislative acts and documents related to their development and publication.</p>