METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ASSESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: TRADITIONAL APPROACHES AND AN ALTERNATIVE POINT OF VIEW

The purpose of this article is to systematize methodological approaches and substantiate an alternative point of view on assessing the sustainability of agricultural development. The empirical basis of the study was Russian and foreign scientific publications devoted to the methodological aspects of assessing the sustainability of agricultural development, the specifics of the processes of balanced use of production factors, indicators and tools for assessing sustainability. Based on the generalization of interdisciplinary literature, the article provides a comparative analysis of traditional methodological approaches to constructing indicators of sustainable development, considers their advantages and disadvantages. The interrelations and debatable issues between individual concepts were identified, which made it possible to substantiate an alternative approach to assessing the sustainability of agriculture, based on the analysis of material and monetary flows in the implementation of sustainability priorities (economic, social and environmental), which simultaneously serve as the basis for the reproduction of production factors (economic, human and natural capital). Its use makes it possible to calculate the potential for sustainable agricultural development as the amount of investment adjusted for the valuation of the balance of human and natural capital. The developed indicator can be used as a measure of sustainable agricultural development. Using the available data, it can be used to analyze trends in sectoral development at both the state and regional levels, as well as at the level of individual agribusiness entities to better understand the current situation in this area and ensure effective regulation to maintain sustainable development in the long term.