“Tsunamis, volcanoes, hot springs, potatoes, snow and ecology – scientific solutions for Kamchatka” – this is the name given to the session of the II Congress of Young Scientists, which took place on December 1, 2022 at the Sirius Park of Science and Arts on the federal territory near the city of Sochi.
Alexey Zavarzin, Deputy Director for Scientific and Organizational Work of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, spoke about the “Project for organizing seed production of domestic potato varieties in the Kamchatka Territory” during the session. He stressed that Kamchatka is a very favorable climate for potato growing, in addition, geographical isolation prevents the spread of many viruses that infect root crops on the continent. That is why Kamchatka has the potential to become an international supplier of potato seed. However, there are problems that the region has yet to solve - this is the lack of the necessary infrastructure for quality control of seed material, storage of tubers and monitoring of plant growing conditions. Within the framework of the project, scientists proposed to unite the efforts of federal centers providing seed material, breeders, laboratories that control the quality of plants and soils, as well as the authorities of the Kamchatka Territory.
The implementation of the project will not only ensure the food security of the region, but also achieve import substitution and help develop other related business areas, for example, fertilizer development,” the speaker noted.