PROSPECTS AND FACTORS OF FAMILY FARMS DEVELOPMENT DURING THE TRANSITION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION TO «INDUSTRY 4.0»

DOI 10.33305/221-57

Issue № 1, 2022, article № 8, pages 57-64

Section: Agro-industrial market

Language: Russian

Original language title: ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ И ФАКТОРЫ РАЗВИТИЯ СЕМЕЙНЫХ К(Ф)Х В ЭПОХУ ПЕРЕХОДА СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОГО ПРОИЗВОДСТВА К «ИНДУСТРИИ 4.0»

Keywords: PRODUCTION CONTRACTS, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, THE METHOD OF PAIRED CATEGORIES, INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT, FAMILY PEASANT (FARMER) ECONOMY

Abstract: The article considers the prospects and factors of family farms development in the current institutional conditions and macroeconomic environment. The thesis that family farms using the most advanced technologies of the Industry 4.0 can successfully compete with large agro-companies is substantiated. Digital technology, automation and robotization allow the realization of economies of scale at a smaller production size than in the industrial, conveyor method of labour organization, to increase production and sales to effective volumes without a significant increase in the number of employees and complicating the management structure, receiving simultaneously the effect of entrepreneurship (innovative rent) and the scale of production (reducing the share of fixed costs). The use of digital technology, in the absence of problems with asymmetry of information and on-farm opportunistic behaviour, allows family farms to increase the scale of production, minimizing the cost of control and management. Family farms are the most important factor in the preservation of rural (peasant) society, give sustainability to the development of rural areas, because the owners - the family does not consider the farm only as a property complex, which can be sold, focusing on the stock market conditions. Family farms are characterized by their stability under conditions of economic uncertainty, a high degree of responsiveness to changing economic conditions and the adjustment of their own production plans. To research the system of indicators that characterize the ability of family farms to maintain sustainable development in an increasingly competitive environment and the transition of the agricultural sector to "Industry 4.0", the method of analysis of paired categories is proposed. The experience and mechanisms of integration and development of US farms into the system of agribusiness with preservation of the family way of life, which can be considered positive and suitable after adaptation to the conditions of the Russian Federation, are summarized. Proposals for improving the sustainable innovation and investment development of family farms are proposed.

Authors: Surovtsev Vladimir Nikolaevich