Digital Transformation of the Russian Agricultural Sector: Technological and Economic Barriers

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of digital technologies on the prospects for the development of agriculture, as well as to assess the main barriers preventing the digital transformation of this industry in Russia and to develop recommendations for overcoming them. The research method is the analysis of statistical and forecast data on the research topic contained in the reports of the European Commission, World Bank, Rosstat, Trading economics, Index mundi, Strategy&, Statista, and also analyst forecasts PWC, BCG, Json & Partners, McKinsey, Consulting Group and others. The key problems of the current agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation, consisting in a serious technological and economic lag behind the digitally advanced countries, the solution of which greatly contributes to the implementation of digital innovations were analysed in the research. However, for the successful implementation of digitalization, industry enterprises need to overcome a number of significant social, economic and technological barriers. The scientific value of this work lies in identifying and systematizing the main factors hindering the development of digitalization in the industry. The results of the researches carried out in this work show that the main barriers that have the most significant consequences for the future development of the Russian agricultural sector in the context of its digitalization are the lack of digital transformation standards, low digital literacy of the rural population and extremely limited network coverage in rural areas. The recommendations for the preparation of the main database of digital transformation of agricultural industry were formulated based on the analysis of the results of the researches of the current state and the key problems of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation, as well as the current level and the prospects for the development of the digital economy of the country.