Creation of innovative clusters in as a factor of increasing agro-food import substitution

The article considers the concept of agri-food import substitution as a process and an economic category, which made it possible to comprehensively characterize its phenomenon in the modern spatial economy. The measures of state support in the field of agriculture and the results obtained in comparison with the planned tasks are characterized. The key factors that are barriers to the development of agro-food substitution in Russia are identified, and a conclusion is made about the possibility of their elimination through the organization of innovative agro-clusters. The author’s interpretation of innovative agro-industrial clusters is presented, the composition of their participants in the context of innovative infrastructure is clarified in comparison with existing approaches. The stages of creating such clusters are substantiated with the allocation of the procedure for selecting innovations and their selection into the system of cluster interaction. The main types of innovations created by both domestic and foreign scientists, which can significantly increase the efficiency of agro-food import substitution, are characterized. The necessity of personnel support of the process of integration of innovative agro-clusters into the national economy is substantiated.