Abstract: The article analyzes approaches to understanding the role of the peasantry as the basis of the Russian nation and culture and a special social community. The ideas of M. M. Kovalevsky, S. N. Yuzhakov, P. A. Sorokin, A.V. Chayanov and T. Shanin are presented. The conclusion is made about the relevance and methodological value of the approaches of representatives of Russian sociology to this issue. The article states that today, among the priority areas of agricultural sociology, the most popular is the study of family farming as a subject of the informal economy sector of the production of environmentally friendly products for the population interested in the development of bio-agriculture and innovative food networks that reduce the distance between food producers and consumers. It is this urgency of the problem that makes peasant studies the most promising direction of agrarian sociology. Taking into account the practical significance of this problem, relying on methodological approaches and developments of domestic and foreign sociologists, the research group of the Ural Agrarian University, based on the network interaction of universities of the Ural region and India, developed a program of initiative cross-cultural sociological research on the topic "Culture of farm labor", the purpose of which is to analyze the value bases of economic behavior of representatives of this social group for designing an effective agricultural policy.

Abstract: The article analyzes the current problems, functional strategies and instigating trends of the agroindustrial complex. The author describes the possible ways of solving problems and considers the prospects for the development of small-scale enterprises based on the existing government support programs for rural areas. Among the most acute problems for the successful development of farms, the author identifies the following groups of problems: 1. Economic problems: rising prices for fuels and lubricants; the volatility of the ruble exchange rate; the constant increase in tariffs for gas, electricity, fertilizers, machinery for agricultural production; the disproportion of prices of products and resources spent on their production; the lack of long-term supportive programs of preferential lending and leasing services; low level of innovation and investment activity; low level of solvency of the population; unsatisfactory state of telephone and Internet communications, roads and transport links; monopolization of sales markets by large agricultural holdings; insufficient development of marketing and logistics issues; weak image advertising of farm products and the lack of integrated marketing communications, which reduce the profitability and profitability of agricultural production. 2. Technological problems: technical and technological lagging behind the developed countries; low technological efficiency of agricultural production of peasant farms; a high degree of deterioration of the equipment and machinery. 3. Ecological problems: industrial and agricultural enterprises impacting on the environment; the inrease in land fertility; the use of pesticides leading to soil and water pollution; the lack of effective control over the quality and safety of food. 4. Social problems of rural areas: the lack of educational institutions with educational services of high quality and developed infrastructure; the lack of jobs for the adult population and youth's low interest in farming as a way of life; domestic problems.