Spatial Transformation of Organic Farming in the Sense of Innovation Theory by Hägerstrand

We assume that the spatial diffusion of organic agriculture can be corresponded to the stages of T. Hägerstrand’s theory of spatial diffusion of innovations. This allows us to assess the homogeneity of the distribution of organic agriculture and divide all producers into two main groups: innovators and followers. Our previous study of general population of organic products producers in Russia made it possible to identify and evaluate each stage of the spatial diffusion of organic agriculture. At the initial stage, about half of the producers of organic products were certified according to international standards and were located near the Moscow region. In the current paper, we update our previous results from the diffusion stage according to the new 2023 data. We observe the appearance of followers certified according to national standards. Currently, the share of manufacturers certified according to Russian standards reached 84.6%. Followers are located mainly in the central as well as south parts of the country and are concentrated around sales markets. We point out that the development of the organic sector remains spatially heterogeneous. We think that this is due to insufficient effective demand, the lack of targeted government support measures, and flaw of experience among small farmers. Therefore, in the short term (2020–2023), even the intensity of the appearance of followers is not observed. We conclude that scaling up organic agriculture and moving to the densification stage is only possible in the long term and will be determined by the possibilities of government support.