Traditional and modern methods of geographical research of agriculture

Abstract

Agriculture – basic branch of economy of Kazakhstan, which supplies the population with food,
raw materials industry, and serves as an important factor in the development of individual regions. Since
the early 90’s of XX century the transformation of agriculture in Kazakhstan changing land-use patterns,
the formation of new areas of specialization, particularly around the capital city Astana. The need for
geographers to participate in the study of this most important branch of the economy is determined by
the fact that, along with institutional factors, spatial (geographical) factors. They are natural conditions,
the situation near large cities, infrastructure development, the quantity and quality of the population, its
national characteristics and traditional occupations, and the location of agriculture in the country. In the
new market conditions, the conceptual and methodological approaches to the identification of features
of the territorial development of the industry as a whole change significantly, the object and subject of
the research. Therefore, along with the earlier priority areas of the geographical study of the territorial
structure of agriculture, the article also considers the development of new geographical methods for
agricultural research. The application of new methods in modern agrogeographic research, along with
traditional ones, will make it possible to develop recommendations for improving the territorial organization
of agriculture.