The article analyzes the structure of rural employment in Russia, its dynamics in comparison with world trends, impact of agricultural subsidies on rural employment. It was clarified that current agricultural subsidies under the State Program for the agriculture development affect only those employed in agriculture, whose share in the total structure of rural employment is reduced and amounted to 19.7% in 2018. The indirect nature of the effect of agricultural subsidies on those employed in agriculture is determined through the support of current and investment activities of agricultural producers-employers, the formation of a common infrastructure and industry structure. The analysis showed positive effect of investment subsidies on the number of people employed in agriculture. The rate of reduction in the number of employees is accelerating with a decrease in investment support. At the same time, investment subsidies have a greater impact on maintaining the number of people employed in industry compared with subsidies related to the compensation of current costs. Investment subsidies stimulate the creation of new jobs or increase the competitiveness of existing agricultural producers, which leads to stabilization of the number of people employed in agriculture, and in some cases to its growth, despite the introduction of productive, labor-saving technologies. The results of the study can be used to adjust the areas of support in the framework of the State Program for the development of agriculture and develop support measures for the State program «Integrated Development of Rural Areas».

The paper examines the current state of the Russian agro-industrial complex in the conditions of economic sanctions. Modern approaches of using information technologies in the agricultural industry in different countries. The conclusion about the need to implement them in the domestic agribusiness.

The need to take into account climatic parameters and their deviations from the average values in the development of business plans in agriculture is an urgent task. The solution of this task is aimed at improving the economic sustainability of production. In this paper, on the basis of existing mathematical statistics models for calculating the probability of intervals and errors, the author’s method of risk assessment is proposed. Calculations and assessment of risks of deviation of average values beyond boundary intervals on the sum of temperatures and precipitation on the example of the Voronezh region are given.

In Russia, many citizens have a deficiency of vitamins and minerals due to their deficiency in the diet. This deficit can be made up by eating fortified foods. This study is devoted to　the study of the attitude of Russian consumers to products enriched with vitamins and minerals. The theoretical study of the article is devoted to the identification, justification and grouping　of factors that affect the choice of foods enriched with added vitamins and minerals. The article presents the results of a study　of consumers’ attitude to salt enriched with iodine as the most important product in the Ural region, for which the problem of iodine deficiency is traditionally acute. According to the study, young people, women, consumers with higher incomes, people who already use iodine-containing vitamins and increased amounts of seafood, people who have a doctor’s prescription for the consumption of these products, as well as those who have formed an understanding of the increased usefulness of this product are willing to pay more for an enriched product.

The classification of agricultural producers of Russia is carried out on the basis of the analysis of data of the all-Russian agricultural censuses of 2006 and 2016. Characteristics of classes of farms and the analysis of structural changes are given. Positive and negative shifts in the agricultural structure of the country are determined. The proposals for improving the agricultural policy and the system of statistical observation are given.