The program-target method in the development of rural territories of the regions of Russia

Introduction. The adoption in 2019 of the new state program of the Russian Federation “Integrated development of rural territories” determines the relevance of the evaluation of the program-target method in the development of the Russian village (taking into account the specifics of the subjects of the Russian Federation and municipalities that differ greatly from each other). The purpose of this article is to identify possible shortcomings and existing problems in the implementation of the state program “Integrated Development of rural areas” as a key tool for the implementation of the program-target method of rural development of the regions of Russia and, based on this, substantiate recommendations to the authorities on improving the measures and tools for the implementation of this method in relation to rural development. Materials and Methods. To achieve the purpose, we have used the methods of economic, statistical, and comparative analysis, generalization and analysis, sociological researches. Information basis consists of Rosstat's official statistics, as well as reporting documents of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the results of a questionnaire survey of heads of municipalities of the Vologda region, publications of scientists and experts in journals and on the Internet. Results. The results of the analysis made it possible to identify the key shortcomings of the program and the problems of implementing the state program “Integrated Development of rural territories”, including a reduction in the amount of financial support for this state program for 2020-2025 in comparison with its original passport, imperfection of approaches and criteria for selecting projects for rural development, the problem of lack of qualified personnel for project development and limited powers of local self-government bodies. The specifics of the implementation of this state program within the framework of the proposed typology of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to the level of development of agricultural production and the overall level of their socio-economic development are revealed. The directions of improvement of this state program and approaches, mechanisms of its implementation are substantiated. Discussion and Conclusion. According to the results of the study, it is shown that the mechanism of implementation of the program-target method for the development of rural areas of Russia does not yet allow to provide for their complete and real comprehensive and sustainable development. The materials of the article can be used by federal, regional, and local authorities to improve the approaches and methods of implementing policies for the development of rural areas.