The cooperatives in the agricultural sector are the drivers of the differentiated development of rural areas

The concept of "the sustainable development of the rural territories" is considered in the article. They have the considerable potential. In the countryside 37.8 million people (25.75% of the population) live. Their income level is 58.4% from the average national income. There are corporate, family and mixed types of agricultural structures in the regions. The differentiation of constituent entities of the Russian Federation of 4 types according to the Strategies of the sustainable rural development until 2030 is represented. The tools of the development for the regions of the first type with a predominant agrarian specialization are listed. These include Orel, Voronezh, Belgorod, Kursk regions etc. One of the measures of the development of these regions is the rural cooperation. The importance of the state support for the rural employment, the employment creation, the development of the peasant (farmer) economies (174.6 thousand units), personal subsidiary farms (18.2 million units) are presented. Together they produced 47.2% of the domestic agricultural products in 2016. Its value amounted to 2 655.5 billion roubles. The advantages of the personal subsidiary farms, their social functions and the main problems are defined. The concept of the "economic growth" is presented, their main principals are named. As an effective driver of the domestic economy the agricultural consumer cooperation is put forward. Its main advantages are shown. The brief characteristics of the structure are presented. The "triple legal status" of the agricultural consumer cooperatives is defined. The issues of the grant support for cooperatives in the Orel region and the country as a whole are covered. The conclusion about the necessity of the differentiated development of the rural territories on the basis of the agricultural consumer cooperatives as the drivers of the national economy is made.