Agriculture 1964-1985 - Brezhnev

Question 1

What did he do?

Answer 1

Brezhnev largely abandoned attempts to make agriculture more productive.
Rather he authorised large-scale grain imports from the West to keep food-prices low.

Question 2

High oil prices

Answer 2

Brezhnev was able to buy large amounts of grain from the West by selling oil.
Oil prices were high during the 1970’s so selling oil generated a great deal of income for the Soviet Union.