The economic development of Russia is inextricably linked with the agro-industrial complex, the basis of which is agriculture. Food supply of the population through crop rotation on the basis of national land resources has quite justified environmental, technological and energy bases that have been formed over centuries. Therefore, today the agricultural sector is one of the most promising areas of the national economy, which also does not stand still and develops, increasing the attractiveness of rural areas. Of course, this is not without problems in this sector.
The concept of the agricultural sector
Agrarian society is defined as the stage of development of human activity associated with farming. The transition from gathering and hunting to cattle breeding and agriculture marked the formation of a productive economy, which in our time directly affects the state of the economy. In fact, a properly organized agricultural sector of the country is a source of food for citizens and raw materials for industry. At the same time, the agrotechnical complex has a wider scope than agriculture and animal husbandry. It also includes farming in the broad sense of the word involving hydrological and forest resources. The success of any type of economic activity in this sector is also associated with organizational and legal relations, the participants of which are owners of natural objects, tenants, directly farmers and wage workers, as well as the state.
Agricultural enterprises
High yields and rational use of land does not guarantee that the agricultural sector will give appropriate returns in the country's economy. The way real productivity in agriculture will affect the economy in a broad sense is determined by the organizational and technological infrastructure of the enterprise that is engaged in this activity. If in the USSR it was mainly collective farms and state farms, today most of the participants in the agricultural sector are agro-industrial complexes and large farms. A small share is also made up of private family farms. Moreover, it is worth emphasizing that the functions of such enterprises can differ in a variety of ways - both by type of industry and by the structure of production cycles. For example, a large enterprise can provide a full cycle of growing and processing agricultural crops. But there are also highly specialized enterprises that are completely unrelated to work “on the ground”, but contribute through the subsequent processing of finished raw materials or products. And this is without taking into account the intermediate participants in the logistics processes, which may be responsible for transportation, loading and unloading activities, maintenance of equipment, etc.
The interaction of the agricultural sector with industry
Agriculture is largely dependent on the industrial sector as a direct user of its products. Today, everyone - from small to large agricultural enterprises - use equipment in their work: cultivators, tractors, seeders, suspended equipment and other mechanics involved in tillage. And this applies only to relations with the machine-building industry, but also modern agriculture is not complete without the products of the chemical industry. Specialized fertilizers, feeding complexes for crop rotation and pest control chemicals increase productivity and in some cases strengthen the fertile layer - of course, with the proper use of such products.
With regard to feedback, the agricultural sector is a direct source of raw materials for the food, textile, leather and pharmaceutical industries. Various agricultural enterprises supply large producing consumers with milk, meat, flour, wool, skin, fats, spices and other products, which are already subjected to industrial cleaning, modification or processing operations, after which they are sent to thinner production cycles or directly to the market.
The economic role of the agricultural sector
The agricultural sector forms the conditions in the economic space of the country for the development of other areas of national activity, acting in some way as a locomotive or an indirect factor in promotion. Agricultural employment is also a key source of income for residents of villages and small towns. For example, the agricultural sector of the Russian economy is formed by the labor of 6 million employed citizens, and in general about 30 million are working on agricultural output at different stages. According to statistics, 3 billion working hours are worked out each year, which corresponds to 1/5 of all labor costs. . To understand the significance of these figures, it is worth noting that no other industry has the same high potential for working people's activity. The resource intensity of agriculture as a consumer also plays its role. This applies not only to technical means and materials, but also to energy resources, waste from other industries, products of the construction sector, etc.
Features of the agricultural sector as a factor in economic activity
The agro-technical agricultural complex for a reason takes the place of a key factor in the economic development of the country. Moreover, far from always the specifics of this industry have positive characteristics in terms of its attractiveness for business and investment. Actually, one of the main factors in demand for the agricultural sector is the need to ensure food security, in which any state is interested. In this context, the features of the agricultural sector can also be expressed through the accessibility for the development of this type of production activity, the main resource of which is land. If we talk about negative factors, then they will include seasonality, the influence of soil and biological properties and natural and climatic conditions, which inevitably make adjustments to the production process.
A distinctive feature of agricultural production is its long cycle. Depending on the direction, farmers receive finished products in a few months or a year - and the intensity of production is fundamentally independent of the resources invested. A properly selected soil treatment system, fertilizers and high quality seeds, for example, will determine only the volume of the crop and its characteristics.
The current state of the agricultural sector in the Russian Federation
The domestic agricultural complex clearly demonstrates the pairing of several interconnected sectors, which determines both the pros and cons for the economic development of the country. Today, the key sectors of agriculture in the Russian Federation are crop production and animal husbandry. Their shares in the economic turnover are approximately the same figures at the level of 2400-2600 billion rubles. The leading regions in terms of production include the Krasnodar Territory, Voronezh and Rostov Regions, Stavropol Territory, etc. Moreover, the whole sector shows positive dynamics in the development of the sector - in particular, output over the past 10 years has increased more than 3 times.
The agricultural sector of the Russian Federation on the international market
Russia still maintains its export potential, steadily entering the top five leading grain suppliers. Annually, more than 600,000 tons of leguminous and cereal seeds are released onto the market, which allows counting not only on maintaining current positions in the global agricultural market, but also expanding its representation at the expense of countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Of course, the agricultural sector is also the share of imports of goods, which in Russia exceeds the share of exports. Despite the fact that the volume of agricultural products and raw materials in the total export turnover is small, the dynamics in terms of the ratio of exports to imports is positive. The increase in commodity circulation in the agricultural sector just indicates that the sphere is developing quite actively, demonstrating the ability to compete in the world market.
State policy in the agricultural sector
The noted successes of the industry would hardly have been possible without the active participation of the state in supporting the main directions of development of the agricultural complex. This primarily concerns financial support, which is expressed in the annual allocation of funds for subsidizing small enterprises in agriculture. In parallel with the creation of favorable conditions for small businesses, programs for targeted investment support for large enterprises and research projects are being developed through the modernization and implementation of innovative technological solutions. Since the features of the agricultural sector of the economy are also associated with the environmental nuances of nature management, government participation in this area is also manifested in the protective function. This part is expressed in ensuring the legal norms of land use, development and improvement of the rules for handling natural resources.
Modernization of the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation
Sustainable development of agriculture is impossible without constant improvement of applied technologies, which should occur naturally. Modernization aims to increase crop rotation through the use of new, more productive tools. On the other hand, many experts in principle link the development of the agricultural sector with the concept of minimizing the technical and instrumental base. Moreover, its reduction does not mean a decrease in productivity. It is precisely the use of multifunctional and more advanced technological solutions, which, based on the principles of optimization, will allow with the smaller arsenal to provide the same effect of processing the fertile layer, in particular.
Problems of the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation
Despite the recorded positive trends in the agricultural sector, there are also negative factors that do not allow the development of the agrotechnical complex. These include the following:
- Still poor quality of life in the countryside.
- Unsatisfactory level of logistics infrastructure.
- General technological backwardness. The modern agricultural sector of the economy cannot compete without new functional and ergonomic devices and devices, the lack of which is observed in most peasant-farm enterprises.
- Shortage of highly qualified personnel.
Organizational and economic development factors
To develop modern mechanisms for the development of agriculture, new principles of modeling the organizational and economic system of agricultural production are applied. According to this concept, the development of the agricultural sector of the economy will depend on 4 interconnected blocks:
- A sound strategic policy of the state in the agricultural sector.
- On-farm economic mechanisms of agricultural producers.
- The introduction of new management models that take into account legal, social, cultural and environmental aspects.
- Scientific and innovative support.
Prospects
The imposition of sanctions and the restriction of Russian food complexes on the world market could not but change the tactics of the development of domestic agriculture. Today, the development of the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation focuses on several reference points, including a comprehensive improvement of the local market infrastructure, increasing the attractiveness of the social sphere in the countryside, and also training new specialists for agriculture. Among the key tasks that agrarians are facing, the modernization of terminal and logistics complexes stands out. As expected, their mass implementation will optimize the processes of transportation, storage and even primary processing of raw materials with minimal time and financial costs.
Conclusion
Regardless of the strategy by which the state and the agro-industrial complex will solve urgent problems in agriculture, justification of the technical and economic model of further development will remain fundamentally important. Only on the basis of scientific research and research, it is possible to determine the main indices by which the agricultural sector of Russia, and with it other sectors of the national economy, can develop stably and successfully. Also, do not forget about legal regulation, which also plays an important stimulating role in relation to the atmosphere in a particular business environment. At the same time, at the level of each region, the indices of assessments of different development proposals may vary, since local characteristics of agricultural activities will also be taken into account.