Agricultural sector's performance of the Vologda oblast in the estimates of the agricultural organizations’ heads

At present, it is impossible to provide a qualitative and comprehensive evaluation of the economic processes in the agricultural sector, based only on the results of statistics, and that determines the necessity of sociological research. Since 1992 Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been conducting a questionnaire survey of the agricultural organizations’ chiefs and heads of peasant (farm) households in order to identify the problems and prospects of developing the agriculture in the region. The article briefly presents the results of the monitoring regarding the performance of agriculture in the Vologda Oblast carried out in 2019. The sample size comprises 145 agricultural producers from 26 municipal districts of the region. The questionnaire is composed taking into account the survey results of previous years, economic and political conditions of economic management, as well as the opinions of experts and heads of agricultural organizations in the Vologda Oblast concerning the content of the questionnaire. According to the results of the monitoring conducted in 2019, a number of positive trends have been noted in the industry: intensification of production, maintenance and increase of labor productivity, etc. The author has identified a number of negative phenomena, such as reduction of profitability and increase in production cost, the insufficient rate of investment for extended reproduction, and the high cost of innovation, etc., which in the long run hinders the development of agricultural organizations in the region. The researcher has paid special attention to respondents’ evaluation of the conducted import substitution policy, as well as to readiness of the region’s organizations to export products to foreign countries, and to identifying topical areas of export encouragement, etc. The significance of the research results lies in the possibility of their usage by regional authorities and local government bodies in adjusting support measures and directions for the industry’s development, as well as by researchers, heads of economic entities and other concerned parties within the comprehensive evaluation of the agriculture’s state in the region.