Scientific support for the innovative development of the economic space of rural territories as an area of natural functioning of the agro-industrial complex elements

The article summarizes the results of the analysis of the causes of fragmentation, dissociation, and polarization of the economic space of rural territories, primarily the southern regions of Russia, which are the leading agricultural and industrial regions of the country (Rostov region, Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai), determines the impact of infrastructure deficits, conventionality of farming for the outflow of economically active population to areas with a higher level of competitive advantages, determines the need to align the development of rural territories, primarily through the formation and development of poles of economic growth of the “second order”, which should serve as intermediate links for leveling the discreteness of economic space of agricultural and industrial regions. The author considers a set of innovative measures that contribute to the generation of impulses for the development of rural territory economy and transformation of their economic space towards depolarization and the elimination of “dissociation”, which is the key to increase the economic potential of the agro-industrial complex (its resource, agricultural and raw material, processing and production components), increase of its functioning efficiency, which is especially important for the agricultural and industrial regions of Russian South