Network interactions have become widespread in agriculture due to the peculiarities of social capital formation in rural areas. Given the level of modern digital development, the organization of network interactions in the form of ecosystems can comprehensively influence the development of the resource potential of rural areas. The purpose of this study is to develop directions for increasing the effectiveness of policies to support the sustainable development of rural areas using the potential of specialized network platforms. The study used methods of institutional and neoclassical theory (dual market model, access economy model, platform economy model, hybrid coordination model), statistical methods, graphical and logical modelling. We found that the specialized ecosystem consists of complementary information platforms that create interactions between economic entities through mechanisms of network coordination, state coordination and stigmergy. Moreover, network effects from platforms linking farmers and suppliers, farmers and consumers create self-sustaining benefits. Furthermore, a specialized closed ecosystem creates risks of concentration of market power and information asymmetry, potentially reducing the quality of its contribution to rural development policy. Recommendations are proposed to improve the regulation of the activities of specialized ecosystems in order to manage these risks. The scientific contribution of the study consists in supplementing the approaches to the formation of complex tools for the management of sustainable development of rural areas by taking into account the potential of modern forms of network interactions of economic entities in rural areas.