Barriers to digitalization of the activities of small agricultural producers

The article presents the results of a study of the factors hindering the development of digital technologies in the agricultural sector, which is currently undergoing a digital revolution. The aim of the study is to identify barriers to digitalization of the activities of small agricultural producers. At the first stage of the study, based on a review of scientific literature, the factors perceived by scientists and market participants as the most significant obstacles to the introduction of digital technologies were identified. The differences in barriers typical for the markets of countries at the initial stage of digitalization of the agricultural sector and countries with a high level of digitalization are identified. Taking into account the identified barriers, a questionnaire was developed and a survey was conducted in the form of a personal interview of heads of farms and households in the Penza region and the Republic of Crimea, and the activities of two agricultural organizations were also studied. It has been revealed that the barriers of digitalization perceived by small agricultural producers in our country correspond to the typical profile of barriers typical for developing countries. The identified barriers were ranked in descending order of perception frequency: the cost of digitalization; risks of cost recovery; lack of supply of digital technologies in the local market; insufficient qualifications of employees; infrastructure problems; insufficient awareness of technologies. The links between the individual characteristics of the surveyed farms, the use of digital technologies and the perception of barriers to digitalization were also studied. It is concluded that the high cost of digital technologies is perceived as a barrier more often by farms that do not use debt financing; the lack of information about the possibilities of digital technologies is associated with the lack of elements of "smart" agriculture in the economy. Measures are proposed to overcome the identified barriers, including through the use of agricultural consumer cooperation.