The goal of the research is to stipulate the role of personnel in ensuring the competitiveness of agro-industrial enterprises and to define basic areas of its development. It is required to formulate essential provisions of the HR strategy in the agrarian sector to bring the latter to the leading positions in the national economy. The article shows that the formation of the competences of agro-industrial enterprise employees becomes a source of its competitive advantages. It shows the interrelation of the competitive personnel with the other elements of the competitiveness of the agro-industrial enterprise. It is determined that the development of the personnel of agro-industrial enterprises requires the relevant diversified support. The leading areas of the HR strategy of the development of the agro-industrial enterprises' personnel have been defined. In the context of these areas, the mechanisms whose joint functioning will allow improving the components of the competitiveness of the agro-industrial enterprises' personnel have been characterized.