On the problem of modernization of the traditional peasant economy of the south of Russia in the late XIX-early XX centuries (based on the materials of the Don Region)

Kolomeytseva Mariya Andreevna

The article considers the problems of traditional agricultural economy in the south of Russia in the post-reform period based on the materials of the peasantry of the Don Region. The main factors that influenced the development of agricultural production are highlighted, crisis phenomena are characterized, prerequisites, problems, achievements of modernization processes in the traditional agricultural sector are noted. It is shown that the natural prerequisites for modernization were provided by the industrial revolution and scientific and technological progress, the expansion of sales markets, increased demand for agricultural products, the formation of new forms of organization of production activities, the development of the land market. However, all innovations were introduced slowly; the crisis was most acute in the traditional peasant economy, which was explained by the prevailing extensive method of production, and insufficient resources of the peasantry, lack of knowledge. The work widely uses periodical printing data, materials of contemporaries of the studied period.

Keywords:Agricultural production, peasant farming, agriculture, agricultural modernization, agricultural market, Donskoy Army region, agricultural technologies