Specialization of an organization is essential for ensuring its economic efficiency. Global hop-growing companies are becoming more specialized every year, increasing the area under hops per farm. On average, in the USA, the concentration of hop gardens per farm is 350 hectares, in China - 78 hectares, in the Czech Republic - 42 hectares, in Germany - 20 hectares, etc. At the same time, the number of farms engaged in hop growing is decreasing. In Russia, operating hop gardens are mainly located in agricultural organizations; in 2024, they accounted for about 98% of all areas under the crop. According to the results of our study, modern hop-growing farms in Russia can currently be combined into two large groups: the first is narrow-profile enterprises that fully specialize in hop production. Examples of such farms are newly created hop-growing farms in the Chuvash Republic and Krasnodar Krai. Most often, such organizations are formed by larger parent companies that are competent in matters of the hop market, financially stable and actually or potentially have the ability to launch a full cycle of production, processing and storage of hops and hop products. The second group is traditional hop-growing farms that combine the cultivation of mass crops and hops with the maintenance of dairy cattle. Thanks to these farms, it was possible to preserve hop production in the Chuvash Republic. According to our estimates, the drivers of industry growth will be highly specialized enterprises that can potentially quickly increase the area under hops, and traditional hop-growing farms will contribute to the stable development of the industry.
Due to natural climatic and geographical factors, Russia has favorable opportunities for efficient agricultural production, which allows satisfying not only domestic needs for agricultural products, but also taking a worthy place in the global market. One of the main conditions for the development of agricultural production in the Russian Federation is to increase the efficiency of agricultural water use in rural areas of the Russian Federation. Among the main factors that determine the specifics of agricultural water use in rural areas of Russia, the following should be highlighted: gradual reduction of anthropogenic impact of agricultural water users on water bodies; significant seasonal fluctuations in the load on hydraulic infrastructure facilities; a large number of ownerless hydraulic infrastructure facilities; high wear and tear of rural hydraulic infrastructure facilities; lack of funds in local budgets of rural municipalities for the proper maintenance of hydraulic infrastructure facilities. According to the scientific point of view of the authors, the powers of local government bodies should be supplemented by legislative codification of the right of rural municipalities to develop and participate in inter-municipal agreements concerning the formation of the operating regime of local water bodies used for agricultural water supply. The authors substantiated proposals for the creation of inter-municipal water management complexes of agricultural water supply. The predicted socio-economic effect arising from the practical implementation of the above proposals consists of accelerating administrative processes in the sphere of agricultural water use in rural areas; increasing the speed of response of subjects of the management process to changes in various factors; improving the quality of monitoring the condition of hydraulic infrastructure facilities in rural areas; increasing the efficiency of spending budget funds associated with the development of water management infrastructure in the agro-industrial complex.
This study applies a classical theoretical approach to analyze efficiency of financial state support for the development of the agriculture, which involves comparing the achieved results and the volume of the resources used. Efficiency indicators, including companies’ revenues, gross agriculture outputs in terms of finance and tax revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation, were applied. From the state’s perspective, measured by the growth of tax revenues, the efficiency of support increased in 2019-2023. In 2023, for every Russian ruble invested in the agriculture, more than one Russian ruble was returned to the state in the form of tax incomes. Statistical analysis confirms a positive effect of state support on the agriculture results. It is revealed that the impact of financial support differs across regions. For example, the Leningrad Region was used as a case study. The study revealed that the effect of financial state support is differentiated and depends on the type of activity and size of the agricultural enterprises. Each of these groups of agricultural enterprises has its own pattern. A general pattern found both at the national and regional levels that the elasticity of economic results, such as revenues and gross agricultural output, is higher than the elasticity of tax revenues from financial state support.
This article provides up-to-date information on the specifics of the development of the organic fertilizers industry at the present stage, analyzes the structure and dynamics of the provision of organic fertilizers in the Russian Federation by federal districts. The performed modeling of the effect of the amount of organic fertilizers on crop yields using the Fisher and Darbin-Watson criteria demonstrates the effectiveness of the use of organic fertilizers for a number of crops in the context of federal districts. The systematization of market financing instruments that can be used by agricultural producers for the purchase and production of organic fertilizers has been carried out, such as: a program to stimulate lending to small and medium-sized businesses, subsidies to support priority areas of the agro-industrial complex in the field of animal husbandry and to ensure the costs of agrotechnological work, support for priority areas of the agro-industrial complex and the development of small businesses, and others. It is noted that the traditional lack of financing for the production and use of organic fertilizers by peasant farms can largely be solved through the more active use of government support and subsidies. The study highlights the main problems and trends, as well as the reasons for the increase (decrease) in the supply of organic fertilizers to the federal districts of the Russian Federation.
An analysis of the cost indicators of agricultural production (in the whole industry, crop production and animal husbandry) for the period 2000-2024 showed the presence of an upward linear trend in the development of indicators and the absence of cyclical fluctuations. Crop production developed at a faster pace, with output increasing by an average of 10.9% per year in actual prices and by 2.9% per year in comparable prices in 2000. During the period under review, livestock production increased by an average of 10.9% per year in actual prices and by 1.9% per year in comparable prices in 2000. In the industry as a whole, on average, over the period 2000-2024, the value of products grew by 10.9% per year in actual prices and by 2.5% per year in comparable prices in 2000. The smallest approximation errors in predicting the cost of production were given by the Holt double exponential smoothing and LSTM network models: for crop production, respectively, 5.7% and 3.9%; for livestock, 1.3% and 0.98%. The forecasts averaged over both models gave the following values for agricultural production volumes in 2025-2027, subject to the preservation of prices in 2024 and trends in the period 2000-2024: in 2025, the industry as a whole – 9200.5 billion rubles, in crop production – 4854.5 billion rubles, in livestock – 4346 billion rubles; in 2026, in the industry as a whole – 9370.6 billion rubles, for crop production – 4958 billion rubles, for livestock – 4412.6 billion rubles; in 2027, for the industry as a whole – 9533.2 billion rubles, for crop production – 5050.6 billion rubles, for livestock – 4482.6 billion rubles.
The aim of the study is to systematize current methods for assessing the economic efficiency of the best available food and agri-biotechnologies in domestic and international science and practice. The research applies methods of comparative analysis, systematization, and critical evaluation of scientific publications focused on the economic and environmental effectiveness of best available technologies (BAT). A classification-based approach was also employed to identify and group methods according to their orientation and application area. The empirical base includes regulatory documents, in particular, methodological guidelines for identifying technologies as BAT, national standards (GOST), and scientific publications on biotechnology, precision agriculture, organic waste processing, alternative protein sources, and more. The study examines methods such as investment feasibility analysis, life cycle environmental impact assessment, life cycle costing, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), stochastic analysis, cluster analysis, among others. The findings demonstrate that integration of several methods enables assessment of both the financial and environmental viability of technology adoption. For example, in the case of cultivated meat, key indicators include both unit production cost and carbon footprint, which necessitates a shift from narrow economic assessment to eco-efficiency evaluation. The use of stochastic frontier analysis and clustering methods reveals that differences in farm efficiency are influenced not only by technology type, but also by the degree of its adoption. Overall, the systematization of methods for evaluating the efficiency of BAT indicates a clear trend toward transitioning from isolated economic indicators to comprehensive, data-driven approaches that combine economic and environmental metrics and validate results through empirical evidence.
The article examines the problem of regional convergence of production and economic indicators in Russia's dairy farming sector, using data from 80 regions over the period 2010-2024. The study proposes to consider convergence as an indicator of sustainable development in agriculture. The aim of the work is to test hypotheses about the presence of convergence for three key industry indicators: milk yield per cow, profitability of milk production, and wages in livestock farming. Additionally, the study analyzes trends in regional redistribution of milk production to identify signs of polarization or sustainable development. The convergence analysis was conducted using σ- and β-convergence assessment methods. Quintile analysis was applied to evaluate the dynamics of milk production across groups of regions ranked by the studied indicators. For wages and profitability, both β- and σ-convergence were confirmed. However, milk productivity showed β- and σ-divergence, meaning the gap between leading and lagging regions increased over time. The convergence in wages and profitability reflects the influence of market mechanisms, while the productivity divergence calls for targeted policies to reduce technological gaps. Milk production growth varies across quintiles depending on the ranking indicator: for profitability and wages, it is more balanced, indicating catch-up development in weaker regions, whereas productivity shows polarization favoring leading regions. The results suggest the need for differentiated support measures for agricultural producers to ensure sustainable development. The convergence of key agricultural indicators is proposed to be included in the monitoring system of the State Agricultural Development Program to assess its effectiveness.
Milk and dairy products are a key type of agricultural product, which is a source of animal fat and protein. An analysis of the dynamics of milk production and consumption revealed a deficit of this type of raw material, which limits the level of domestic consumption and entails a change in the structure of sources for meeting the need for milk and dairy products. An assessment of the influence of first-order factors made it possible to establish that the growth in milk production volumes is ensured by an increase in the milk productivity of cows while reducing their number. The increase in the intensity of milk production entailed an increase in its cost and the average industry price. At the same time, the rate of consumer inflation for dairy products in 2024 remained lower than the average for food products in general by 6.0 percentage points. It was established that during 2019-2023, the efficiency of raw milk production exceeds the efficiency of its processing, as evidenced by the dynamics of the profitability level. The profitability of drinking milk in 2024 exceeded the profitability of pasteurized drinking milk by 5.6 percentage points. and was 4.6 times higher than the profitability of milk of varying degrees of processing. Analysis of the dynamics of state support for hammer cattle farming by type shows its increase by 4.1 times over the period 2015-2024. The growth occurred due to an increase in support for investment activity by 7.9 times and support for operating activities by 3.0 times. The projected growth in the volume of state support in 2025 will be 0.7%.
The analysis of the dynamics of livestock and domestic production of cattle meat was carried out and Russia's contribution to the global output of this type of product was determined. The influence of the transformations of beef cattle breeding on the level of meat supply to the population, including the quality and balance of diets in the country, has been established. The current trends in the development of the livestock sub-sector under consideration are analyzed, taking into account the economic, technological and environmental conditions of production in countries with a fairly large population, arable land and cattle. A comparison of productivity indicators has been carried out and the features of production technologies in beef cattle breeding in these countries have been established, taking into account the actual availability of land and biological resources. A methodological approach to comparing the productivity of arable land and natural pastures in countries located in different climatic conditions of cattle meat production is proposed, and the author's estimates of the land potential of Russian beef cattle breeding are given. A comparative analysis of the market conditions for the development of this sub-sector in the leading countries has been performed, taking into account the difference in per capita consumption and price conditions for meat of different types. The analysis of the distribution of beef cattle in Russia has been carried out and recommendations for the development of meat clusters in the country have been given. The results obtained in the course of the study are compared with the results of research in a similar subject area published in Russian periodicals.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the state of bast crop production in the Russian Federation for the period 2014-2025. A review of foreign countries leading in the cultivation of flax and industrial hemp has been conducted. In 2024, there was an increase in the number of regions growing bast crops in Russia. Most of them showed an increase in acreage compared to the previous year. In the whole country, the area of long-lived flax increased by 11.8%, oilseed flax by 18.7%, and hemp by 39.5% over the year. During the period under review, there was a dramatic increase in acreage under oilseed flax and industrial hemp. In general, the area occupied by long-standing crops tended to decrease, with slight increases in 2015 and 2020. In 2024, compared with 2023, the gross harvest of flax fiber increased by 30%, and industrial hemp by 70%. The increase in acreage under oilseed flax led to an increase in the estimated gross fiber harvest by 18.4%. The annual increase in prices for technological equipment in 2024-25 amounted to 15%. From 2014 to 2024, the price of battered flax increased 4.7 times, short flax 4 times, and hemp of the same type 2.3 times. For the development of the industry, modernization of the processing base, a revision of subsidies in favor of quality, deep processing and a solution to the personnel issue are needed. Foreign countries demonstrate successful examples of the integration of bast crops into production chains, which contributes to the development of environmentally friendly building materials, the textile industry and the food industry.