Methodological aspects of assessing innovative activity in agriculture

Foreign and domestic science has a variety of approaches and methods to solving problems of innovative activity management and mechanisms of its economic evaluation. But despite a significant number of research and publications in the field of innovative activity assessment, some key theoretical aspects are not fully covered. In particular, there is no single approach to systematic consideration of the method for assessing innovative activity in relation to the agroindustrial complex, taking into account interaction of financial, industrial and human resources. Nowadays it is necessary to develop evidencebased methods to improve innovative activity evaluation in agriculture. Thus, the research topic is particularly relevant in modern conditions. The aim of the work is to develop a method for assessing innovative activity in agriculture. The authors have developed the system of indicators that characterizes innovation activities carried out by regions in the most comprehensive way. The method of complex evaluation of innovative activity of the agricultural sector is proposed and tested on the example of the Vologda Oblast. The use of an integral indicator of innovative activity in agriculture helps give an objective assessment of it. The study presents integrated values of innovative activity in the agriculturalsector on the example of the Vologda Oblast; they indicate its low activity. The main advantage of the proposed method is its ease of use in combination with a large amount of information contained in it. The study results can be recommended to the region's authorities to justify the policy in the field of innovative development of agriculture.