Importance The issues of regional development of small businesses are of particular relevance in the conditions of strong State regulation of the activity of entities operating in agriculture. Objectives The research aims to validate the promising areas of development of peasant (farm) enterprises in the modern agricultural sector of economy, and to reveal the causes of adverse effects of internal and external factors on the results of small businesses' performance in the agribusiness of the region. Methods Peasant (farm) enterprises constitute the core of the analysis. To assess their economic activities, we have analyzed the official statistics data over ten recent years. We have also analyzed the current state and trends of the Orel region's small farms, which allowed identifying factors that negatively impacted the efficiency of economic activity. The paper also discusses the State support mechanism for the development of farms and quantitative results of their implementation in the region. We have considered federal and regional State programs on agricultural development for the period from 2013 to 2020, as well as other legal acts concerning State support to small farms. We emphasize great importance of farms that have occupied a niche in the sphere of agricultural production, in the formation of the country's gross domestic product. We have also analyzed the State support and its influence on production performance of small businesses in agribusiness and on ensuring food security of the region. The paper identifies the areas of State regulation of small farms' activities. Results We emphasize the importance of farms, which have occupied a niche in the area of agricultural production during the formation of the country's GDP. The paper analyses the level of government support and its effect on production performance of small businesses' activities in the agricultural sector and on food security of the region. Conclusion and Relevance We came to a conclusion about the need to concentrate efforts of the agrarian policy to support peasant (farm) enterprises by developing an organizational and economical mechanism of their efficient functioning. They should become fully legitimate and economically stable entities of the multi-structure agrarian economy.
Keywords: agriculture, peasant farms, industrial efficiency, regional State program, agro-industrial complex, Orel region
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