Investment as an agriculture development factor in a region with extreme natural conditions

A significant part of the regions of Russia is located in an extreme natural and climatic zone, agricultural producers of which operate in difficult, economically unfavorable conditions. The Republic of Buryatia, a constituent entity of the Far Eastern Federal District, is also a typical representative of such regions. Without investments, including with state support, rural development in such regions is difficult, and sometimes even impossible. The agrarian sector of Buryatia has been functioning dynamically in the last decade: the volume of agricultural production increased until 2016, but then began to decline to some extent; at the same time, the share of agricultural organizations and farms in the structure of production increased. The provision of tractors and combine harvesters in recent years has decreased several times with an increase in the load per unit of equipment. Under the cur-rent conditions, agricultural organizations need more complete provision with material and technical resources and livestock. Investment activity in the industry until 2015 was low, which did not contribute to its development. However, with the beginning of the implementation of the state program "Development of the agro-industrial complex and rural areas in the Republic of Buryatia", positive results have been achieved. The absolute and relative financial indicators of the activities of agricultural organizations have increased. During the implementation of the state program, the financial result in animal husbandry has increased more than 10 times, in crop production - by 18%. The total volume of program investments in agriculture in the region is gradually decreasing with a change in the structure of the sources of their financing. At the same time, building up national and foreign in-vestments in agriculture pursues a large-scale, strategic goal - increasing the efficiency of the agricultural sector, increasing the level of food supply and the quality of life of the region's population. Research proposes the priority directions for the development of agriculture in the region based on the intensification of investment activity.