The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation plans to open 30 new laboratories in the field of agricultural sciences this year, in addition to about 150 already opened as part of the national project "Science and Universities". This was announced on March 3 by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Dmitry Pyshny at the agro-industrial forum "Biotechnologies in agriculture: national priorities and cooperation in the EAEU space".
“As part of the national project “Science and Universities”, as of 2022, about 150 new scientific laboratories were created, in completely different areas of agricultural science, including in the field of biotechnology. This made it possible to employ about 1 young employees. <…> Another 500 new laboratories will be opened this year,” said Pyshny.
As the deputy minister noted, about 3,8 billion rubles were allocated to upgrade the instrumentation base of agricultural scientific institutions.
Pyshny also said that the country still needs several tens of thousands of highly qualified specialists in the field of agro-industrial complex. According to the Deputy Minister, in the system of education in agricultural profiles, "they began to retrain employees of breeding centers on the basis of leading scientific centers", the topics and profile disciplines were largely revised.
The Deputy Minister expressed hope that the measures taken will expand the range of varieties and hybrids created, increase the competitiveness of domestic breeding material for agricultural crops and reduce import dependence and better provide the domestic agro-industrial complex with high-quality seeds and planting material.