Purpose: Attention to the problems of social and economic development of rural areas by Government authorities, economists and the scientific community was mainly theoretical or sometimes targeted practical in nature. Design/Methodology/Approach: At the same time, rural poverty and high unemployment rate, worsening demographic situation, reducing network of institutions of social infrastructure in rural areas, which together have a negative impact on the reproduction of labor resources, lower production volumes and high migration rates have always been the problems of rural development in the country. Findings: Overall, sustainable development of rural areas characterizes, on the one hand, external major natural resource constraints that form a distant prospect, and on the other hand, determine the possibilities of social and economic development of rural communities, economic entities, diversification of the territory's economy, the formation of new activities and environmental engineering. This is a very wide range of problems, which are currently considered from different perspectives in Russia and in several countries of the world. Practical implications: The article discusses the problems of economic development of rural areas as the main factor in ensuring the sustainable development of rural areas of the agrarian regions of Russia. Originality/Value: The authors define the core resources for development of the rural areas in the region, provide an overview of agribusiness and tourism industry clusters, reveling their points of growth, cluster sales channels, tourism and recreation development.