Digital technologies in the transformation of approaches to the management of natural resource capital in the agricultural sector

Abstract

The article touches upon the impact of digitalization processes of economic entities and management bodies of the agricultural production system on the formation of a resource-saving paradigm of its development in the context of ensuring the reproduction of natural resource capital. Based on the position that natural resource capital and, especially, its element as ecosystem services largely form the primary basis for the life of both individuals and the entire human population, the need to find the most effective ways to eliminate the contradiction between the possibility of meeting the constantly increasing needs of modern society and reducing the level of natural capital expenditure, i.e. achieving the decoupling effect, is grounded. One of the key factors contributing to the emergence of conditions for the manifestation of this effect is the active introduction of digital technologies in the activities of agricultural enterprises. In this regard, we consider the development of “Agriculture 4.0” concept (Agriculture 4.0) and its basic directions of implementation are the active introduction of digital technologies (in particular, precision farming), eco-oriented solutions, as well as the use of alternative sources of resources. As an illustration of how digital technologies contribute to changing approaches to the formation of economic organizational and managerial relations that arise in the course of economic activity, we consider the formation of digital (platform) business models for the functioning of agricultural enterprises. It is stated that ensuring the reproduction of natural resource capital in the context of more effective provision of a complex of ecosystem services based on the use of digital technologies and it should involve the formation and use of a set of administrative and economic tools that encourage the introduction of resource-saving technologies and are aimed at reducing the costs of agricultural producers. In this context, we consider the practice of paying farmers so-called “payments for ecosystem services”, which takes place in a number of foreign countries, and identify the most important factors in the development of ecosystem services markets.