Resource possibilities of the Vologda oblast agriculture in food supply of the European north of Russia

The article attempts to substantiate the hypothesis that the Vologda Oblast agriculture has significant resources and opportunities implementing which is important for the food supply of the European North and its Arctic zone. Nevertheless, during the years of post-Soviet reforms the industry suffered from social, economic, technical and technological problems; new negative trends emerged. In this regard, the aim of this article is to determine the resource capabilities of agriculture in the Vologda Oblast in the context of food supply to the population of the European North of Russia and its Arctic zone. The increase in agricultural production in the southernmost territory of the European North, the Vologda Oblast, is offered as one of the ways to solve the problem of providing the European North with food. The priority role of the Oblast is due to the available resources (labor, material, natural and climatic, etc.) for agricultural production, a developed transport network, relatively favorable natural and climatic conditions, etc. The analysis of the state of the Vologda Oblast agriculture allowed to conclude that for the period 1990-2018 in general, the industry has lost some potential, but there are reserves implementing which it is possible to increase the volume of production in the region, thereby increasing the provision of the population of the entire European North with food. However, this requires the development of a set of special measures and tools, the improvement of institutions to enhance economic activity, modernization of production, transformation of agricultural policy, etc., which is a promising direction for further research in the framework of the given problem. General scientific research methods (abstract-logical and system approaches, generalization method, monographic, etc.), economic-statistical method, as well as graphical and tabular methods of data visualization were used in the work. The significance of the study results is in the possibility of their use by the authorities, economic entities and other stakeholders in order to improve the regional agricultural policy and when justifying the focus areas for agricultural efficiency improvement.