Eastern Europe and Central Asia represents a unique situation, where invest- ments in very large farms contrast with an overall contraction of agricultural land use. In the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, the area sown to grains has declined by 30 million ha since the end of the Soviet era. These croplands were mostly returned to pastures or fallow, due to lack of suitable technology and market access. Large farms were better able to deal with financing, infrastructure, and technology constraints of the transition, lead- ing to considerable concentration. For example, the 70 largest producers in Russia and Ukraine control more than 10 million ha. They have been.
