THE DAIRY FARMING DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARCTIC ZONE OF THE REPUBLICS OF KARELIA AND KOMI, ARKHANGELSK REGION: OPPORTUNITIES AND FORMS OF SUPPORT

Abstract

The Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation is a region with special business support conditions. In 2020, it in-cluded the municipal districts of the republics of Karelia, Komi and the Arkhangelsk region, where dairy farming was a traditional activity. Since early 1990s, agriculture in these areas has been in a deep crisis and unable to overcome it. The analysis revealed a close relationship between the reduction in the number of cows and the decrease in the area of cultivated arable land in municipal districts. The number of cows decreased by 25 times in 3 regions, by 15 times in 5 regions, the areas under crops in all categories of farms — by 36 and 15 times, re-spectively. The shallow contour of the fields, the spread of agricultural land across the territory, the lack of a de-veloped transport infrastructure in the Arctic zone do not allow realizing economies of scale and reducing costs through large investment projects, such as mega-complexes with a conveyor type of production being built in the central and Southern regions of Russia. Automation of production processes, digitalization of management increase productivity and quality, reduce resource intensity and operating costs. Mastering digital technologies for monitoring, modeling and control in operational management and planning increase the efficiency of using agro-climatic and natural potential, reduce production and investment risks. The regional specifics of fodder and milk production in the Northern regions determines the expediency of preferential support for the innovative development of dairy farming in small and medium-sized enterprises, family farms, which makes it necessary to improve the forms of state support for investments.