⎯The paper discusses the key strategic challenges of the development of agriculture in Russia. The materials were not only statistical data, but also the results of expert interviews with heads of agricultural enterprises, farmers, and employees of local and regional administrations in several regions. The internal and external factors of the development of industry in Russia are assessed in the format of SWOT analysis. The following is identified among the key strategic challenges: the processes of intensification of agricultural production; overcoming the quantitative and skill deficit of human resources; adaptation of the development of the agrarian infrastructure to modern realities; preservation of the multistructural character of the industry. Each of these processes is considered in more detail at the regional level. An assessment is made of territorial differences in the intensity of modernization processes in agriculture and the renewal dynamics of the agricultural machinery fleet. The regional features of agricultural employment are singled out, and limiting factors of attracting qualified workers in agriculture are defined. The paper assesses the effectiveness of state support for agricultural production. Examples are given of the discrepancy between the distribution of federal subsidies and the real geography of production.
The article analyzes rural labor markets and the present day practices whereby those who cannot find jobs within their settlements seek sources of subsistence. Various ways of estimating the size of unem ployed population are considered in detail using federal and municipal statistics, as well as the microdata of Russia's 2010 Census. Comparison of statistics, census data, and interviews that the author collected during field studies has yielded the structure of local labor markets and all possible sources of subsistence for rural inhabitants of working age in a case study of 18 key rural settlements in Ivanovo and Kostroma oblasts. The studies show that only about 30-35% of working age rural inhabitants are employed in traditional labor spheres (agriculture, forestry, industrial production, and the service sector) in their home settlements; more than 35% work outside their settlements, commuting daily or on a rotating scheme; about 20% live on pen sions and various allowances or depend on their relatives and other persons; the remaining 10% are self employed (i.e., they work on their commercialized subsidiary farms or have odd jobs). The proportion of identified groups in each settlement depends on many factors, including the condition of the local economy, geographic position, the density of transportation infrastructures, and so on.
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