The article presents an analysis of the small business environment and development in Russia, discusses state programs for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, a system of measures to support small businesses in the agricultural sector of the economy, and the role of franchising as one of the areas of small business development. The main problems of the development of small agribusiness, the introduction of innovations and the digital transformation of agricultural production in small export-oriented entrepreneurship are identified. The measures to improve the efficiency of small businesses, including these during the COVID-19 pandemic, are described.

It is shown that the level of consumption of vegetable products by the population of the Russian Federation is significantly lower than the standards recommended by the Ministry of Health of Russia and the World Health Organization. The dynamics of production, the level of marketability, exports and imports, the ratio of prices for domestic and imported vegetable products have been analyzed. The assessment of consumption of vegetable products by region, by federal district, by group of the population having different income levels is provided. Proposals have been prepared for the development of production and growth of consumption of vegetables by the population of the Russian Federation.

The aim of the study is to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of budgetary and extra-budgetary support and stimulation of innovative activity in agriculture. Using the methods of complex and struc-tural-dynamic analysis, expert assessments and some others, studies of do-mestic and foreign scientists, statistical data, materials of state programs have been analyzed. This article discusses the main indicators of innovative activities of agricultural. The study showed that the level of innovative activity in the industry remains low due to the lack of finance from manufacturers; it depends on the level of government support. Small and medium-sized enterprises are most dependent on government support; incentive measures and the amount of government support should be long-term. It is proposed to create a center of competence, the purpose of which will be to stimulate innovative activity and reduce the influence of obstacles. To solve the problem of lack of financial resources for the implementation of innovative activities, an operator is needed, such functions can be taken over by Russian Venture Company (RVC) or the National technology initiative (NTI) project office.

In the Russian Federation, small business cooperation in rural areas plays an important social role, and the state provides great support to the development of cooperation. The paper provides an analysis of the state and areas of development of agricultural consumer cooperatives at the federal and regional levels. The analysis has showed that, against the background of a decrease in the number of agricultural consumer cooperatives, their consolidation and an increase in fixed assets are taking place. The main reasons for the slow development of cooperation in the countryside have been established. The Saratov region is one of the regions that has accumulated many years of successful experience in the agricultural consumer cooperatives activities. The experience of the Soyuz export-oriented supply and sales cooperative of the Saratov region is described. Proposals are given for the development of agricultural cooperatives, including that through the introduction of innovations and state-of-the-art digital resources and advanced training of personnel.

Generalization and systematization of information systems and technologies used at different levels of management in agricultural organizations, development of recommendations and criteria for choosing software products for managing an organization, as well as recommendations for training specialists for informatization of the industry are presented.