The modern Russian agrifood industry is a steadily developing sector of the national economy. The production of a number of goods has reached historically high levels. Russia has a strong position in the export of agricultural raw material commodities, while the country remains dependent on imports from other countries. This chapter examines critical areas of scientific research in Russia that will create opportunities for increasing competitiveness in the transition of the world food systems from conventional agriculture to Agriculture 4.0. Science and technology-based innovations for transforming food systems in Russia include productivity growth through breeding technologies and improved genetics, in combination with technologies that will ensure optimal realization of this potential (feed additives, fertilizers, plant protection products, animal health, and other so-called “package” solutions). The introduction of digital technologies and cross-platform solutions in agriculture, to reduce the gaps in labor productivity, will increase overall productivity and reduce food losses. Diversification of food products includes priorities for high-margin segments of healthy, functional and personalized nutrition, and the deep processing of agricultural commodities. The paper explores closed farming systems (including “urban farming”) that are independent of external climatic and biological factors. Development of the agricultural waste recycling sector is a priority too. Russia lags behind its competitors in terms of the scientific quality of its production. This is due to a lack of efficiency in the financing of agricultural science, as well as an imbalance within its structure. An increasingly acute problem of the transition of Russian food systems to the innovative path is the reduction of human resources. This trend is typical both in the scientific sector, where it is expressed in a decrease in the number of researchers and an aging staff (which threatens the continuity in the established scientific schools and the viability of research teams) and in agriculture as a whole.
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