About the ways to promote innovative processes in dairy farming in the region

In the current economic and political conditions, the intensification of milk production, and enhancement of its efficiency are the most important tasks, the solution of which will influence the satisfaction of the needs of the population in milk and other dairy products of domestic production. The development of the system for mastering science and technology is of particular importance for intensification of dairy cattle breeding and its economic growth in general. This necessitates the studies of innovative processes in the sub-sector and development of ways to boost them. The study conducted on the materials of the Vologda Oblast reveals that, despite the problems existing in dairy cattle breeding, innovation processes in this sphere have recently intensified; this resulted in the growth of productivity of cows and the total milk production and in the increase the share of breeding cattle in the total number of cattle head. The author points out that the successes achieved are due to a systematic and purposeful government support of the sub-sector (subsidies for 1 kg of milk sold and (or) shipped to own dairies, subsidies for the increase in the number of cows, for reimbursement of part of the cost of acquisition of cows in the private households, for the purchase of agricultural machinery and technological equipment, etc.). Besides, the success is due to high-quality breeding work, optimal and conditions of keeping and feeding animals that take into account biological requirements, the introduction of innovative systems in production. The author justifies the grouping of the components of the innovation process, including investment, breeding and genetic, technological, organizational, economic and social directions and their characteristics. The analysis shows that these groups of activation of innovative processes are mutually related, and the synergistic effect of this relation is manifested at the level of utilization of genetic potential and increase in the performance of the sub-sector. It is determined that one of the most promising structures in enhancing the innovation processes should be the development of scientific and productive dairy clusters with the help of public-private partnership. The model of this cluster is developed on the materials of the Vologda Oblast. To justify the most efficient allocation of investment funds the author used a multi-criteria approach with the application of the analytic hierarchy process developed by T.L. Saaty.