The Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations, chaired by First Deputy Head Alexei Medvedev, hosted the third meeting of the Interdepartmental Council (IMC) on issues related to the implementation of the comprehensive research plan “Selection and seed production of potatoes” (CPNI).
Representatives of agricultural institutes and agricultural enterprises of the Moscow and Leningrad regions, the Republic of Tatarstan, Siberia, the Urals, and the Primorsky Territory took part in the work of the council.
During the meeting, Alexei Medvedev said that in order to implement Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 350, within the framework of the draft federal scientific and technical program under development, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations and regional agro-industrial complex management bodies, developed a draft potato growing subprogram.
The program aims to formulate a complete scientific and technological cycle for the production of competitive potato planting stock and includes the tasks of developing and implementing advanced technologies for genomic breeding, seed production, diagnosis of pathogens, and the development of integrated potato protection and storage.
The assistant head of the FANO of Russia, Ekaterina Zhuravleva, noted that 21 scientific institutes are participating in the CPNI. In 2017, extensive ecological, geographical and production tests of the most promising varieties and hybrids of potato are carried out in five regions of the country located in different climatic zones (Moscow Region, Leningrad Region, Republic of Tatarstan, Sverdlovsk Region and Novosibirsk Region).
“By analogy with previous years, environmental and geographical tests are being carried out with the participation of regional authorities and agricultural enterprises. The next stage will be the transfer of varieties to seed-growing centers for distribution and production - thus, a full cycle will be provided to replace imported varieties of potatoes with high-quality Russian varieties, ”said Ekaterina Zhuravleva.
Also, the participants in the meeting were presented with the comprehensive scientific and technological projects of the Leningrad Research Institute of Agriculture "Belogorka", the Ural Research Institute of Agriculture, the Tatar Research Institute of Agriculture and the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture, formed jointly with the regional authorities and the business community. Within the framework of these projects, a competitive fund of original seed material for new domestic potato varieties is being created. By 2025, the creation of the fund is expected to ensure the replacement of imported varieties.
Source: http://glasnarod.ru