AGRICULTURE IN THE CENTRAL FEDERAL DISCTRICT: COMPARATIVE MACRO-REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The study aims to determine the trends in the development of crop and livestock sectors of the Central Federal District compared to other macroregions. The hypothesis of the study is that the comparative mac-ro-regional analysis will determine the place and role of the agricultural sector of the Central Federal District in the macro-regional space and Russia as a whole. The main producers of agricultural products in the Central Federal District are agricultural enterprises and farms. From 2000 to 2023, the sown areas of cereals and leguminous crops, sugar beet and sunflower increased significantly in the Central Federal District, while the level of crop yields in all macroregions shows steady growth. The study revealed the decline in the number of cattle in the Central Black Earth Region, both in the coun-try as a whole and in macroregions (with the exception of the North Caucasus macroregion). It also re-vealed a steady trend of growth in the number of pigs. For the analyzed period it increased 6.7 times amounting to 40.0 % of the number of pigs in the country. In other regions, even in grain-producing macroregions, there is no such trend. For every 100 hectares of agricultural land in the Central Black Earth Region, 237.1 centners of livestock and poultry are produced in slaughter weight, which is 4.5 times higher than the average Russian indicator and significant compared to other macroregions. The study shows that the most promising form of management is integrated agro-industrial formations, which is confirmed by data on the efficiency of production in the agro-industrial complex of the Voronezh region.