Risk management and sustainability in agro-industrial production play an important role

Having appeared in the European Union, the multifunctionality theory was quickly appreciated in most countries of the world. It determines the role of agriculture and its structural elements in the modern economy. This article is aimed at studying the multifunctionality theory in Russia. This study was conducted on the example of private farms in the Samara region by the authors’ classification and identifying their main functions can serve as the basis for a system of their state support. To process the study results, absolute, relative, and average values were used, as well as a regression analysis with the help of the STATISTICA package. The research results are presented in tabular and graphical forms. The growth of production volumes does not lead to an increase in the share of households according to total volume in the case of a steady trend. The impact of all factors on the indicator, except for the production volume amount, results in a 2.272% decrease in the proportion of household plots in the total volume of agricultural regional production annually. It was found that the parameters of households depend mainly not on the geographical location within the region but on the size of the settlements in which they are located. The research result shows that the main focus of state regulation for private farms should be aimed at their support in small settlements, thus ensuring a quick return on invested budget funds. The outcome of the multifunctionality theory in practice should be the strengthening of state support for private farms.

Emissions from fossil fuels are expected to increase in accordance with the global economy, which causes the development of alternative non-hydrocarbon sources in energy production. Biodiesel is one of the best options, among other sources, due to its low footprint. Russia does not have a smart policy of state support for biofuel production. The work objective was to determine whether it is necessary to develop equipment for biodiesel production, taking into account the structure of cultivated areas and available technologies; to calculate economic indicators of biodiesel production for agricultural needs; to compare the options for spring rape cultivation; as well as calculate the government support optimal level. As research methods, the authors used the apparatus of economic and mathematical modeling, and the method of absolute, relative and average values. Statistical tables are used to present the research results. Based on our study results, it is proven that the homemade biodiesel production by agricultural enterprises is economically justified. The equipment needed for its production was determined, the main economic indicators of the fuel production type and the optimal value of monetary and labor costs were calculated, and the gross and market biofuel values were obtained. The optimum level of government support for biofuel production in the Middle Volga region should be EUR 13.223 million, and the area planted with oil crops should be increased by 47.1 thousand ha.

The purpose of the study was to identify forage plants and specialized entomophages of wheat thrips in agrocenoses of winter and spring grain crops cultivated in the Samara region. The highest number of adult pests was noted in winter wheat crops (2365.0 ind./100 strokes), the lowest in winter barley crops (565.0 ind./100 strokes). Egg laying by wheat thrip females occurred on all grain crops. Larvae of wheat thrips were noted in the ears of winter and spring wheat, triticale, and winter barley, with the exception of spring barley. During the research, two specialized entomophages were identified: striped thrips and predatory thrips. During the research years, the largest numbers of predatory thrips were noted in winter wheat crops in the earing phase (90 ind./100 strokes) and in spring wheat and spring barley crops in the booting phase—75 ind./100 strokes and 40 ind./100 strokes, respectively. The damage to winter wheat grain by wheat thrips varied from 55.3% to 69.2% and was higher than the damage to spring wheat grain (38.5–64%). With a certain ratio of specialized entomophages and wheat thrips, it is possible to refuse the use of insecticides in the cultivation of grain crops.

Currently, the problem of environmental pollution by toxicants of industrial origin has great ecological, social and economic importance. The research aim is to analyze the soils contamination in the Samara region with industrial toxicants. The objectives of the research included: to reveal the soil pollution dynamics with nitrates and sulfates over the years, to assess their content in the areas of soil contamination and in the background areas. The studies were carried out in 2014-2018 in the Samara city (near the territory of JSC “Arkonik SMZ”) and in the background areas (FSBI “National Park Samarskaya Luka” and Povolzhskaya AGLOS-Branch of FSC Agroecology RAS). In 2014-2018 the content of nitrate ions in the soils of the background plots and in the areas adjacent to JSC “Arkonik SMZ” varied from 7 to 66 mg/kg (1-9.4 F), sulfate ions from 13 to 303 mg/kg (0.4-8.7 F). During the studied observation period, there is a tendency to a decrease in the content of nitrates in the soils, the MPCs were not exceeded, which makes it possible to classify these soils as a pollution acceptable category. Exceeding the MPC of sulfates in research certain years (2014 in soils 5 km from JSC Arkonik SMZ and soils of FSBI National Park Samarskaya Luka, 2017 in soils 5 km from JSC Arkonik SMZ, 2018 in soils of the Volga region AGLOS-Branch of the Federal Research Center of Agroecology RAS) had a local character.