Seed selection and production are among the priority areas of Russian state support, which is reflected in both the amount of funding and the number of measures. This was stated by First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut at the forum "The national team at the confluence of times: classic approaches and the latest trends", which was recently held at the International Exhibition and Forum "Russia". The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, scientific and budgetary institutions of the federal state, as well as representatives of regions and companies.

According to Oksana Lut, for two years now, the Ministry of Agriculture has been paying priority attention to the development of this area. This includes building an interaction between science and business, which should set tasks for seed producers and breeders in terms of product characteristics and quality. In addition, it is important, while preserving the scientific developments of the national school, to move to the use of the most modern selection approaches.

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture, for its part, has created all the conditions for the accelerated growth of this sector and has restructured state support mechanisms. Preferential loans, compensation for direct costs incurred and support for demand - all this will stimulate this segment of the market, making it attractive for investment. As the First Vice Minister pointed out, the set of measures that are being applied, as well as the joint work with the Ministry of Education and Science and the scientific community, will allow in the coming years to reach the seed supply indicator of 75% foreseen in the Food Safety Doctrine.

At the same time, serious work is being done on updating legal regulations. Thus, on September 1 of last year, the federal law "On Seed Production" came into force, which establishes mandatory requirements for the use, production, sale, transportation and storage of seeds. A whole series of regulatory legal acts are being developed.

The Seed Information System will be an important traceability tool. It contains data on the manufacturer, place of production, information on current and previous generations of seed reproduction. This tool will allow consumers to receive updated information on achievements in genetic improvement, the availability of seeds with specific characteristics and seeds imported from abroad. From September 1, 2024, registration and work in the information system will be mandatory for all participants in the Russian seed market. In addition, starting March 1 it will work in trial mode.

Work is also being done to localize the production of foreign selection seeds. To support domestic breeders, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution on import quotas from “hostile” countries. This mechanism will make it possible to flexibly regulate the volume of foreign seeds on the domestic market, creating more favorable conditions for Russian producers, but at the same time avoiding shortages and increases in seed prices. It is planned that the volume of imported seeds will gradually be reduced in the future as domestic production increases.

One of the important topics of the forum was the modernization of scientific infrastructure. According to Vugar Bagirov, director of the department for coordination of activities of organizations in the field of agricultural sciences of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, thanks to state support, the results of fundamental scientific research in the field of biotechnology and genetic improvement have reached a qualitatively new level. Within the framework of the national project "Science and Universities", 150 new laboratories were created and 1,500 young scientists were given the opportunity to work in industry. About 2 billion rubles have been allocated for these purposes. In addition, subordinate organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture received funding to update the instrument base - more than 5 billion rubles. Seed selection and production centers were also created, for which about 3.5 billion rubles were allocated. Within the framework of the pilot project of the Program for Renovation of the Park of Specialized Agricultural Equipment, about 800 units of equipment for various purposes have been purchased over the past three years for a total amount of more than 5 billion rubles.

The Head of the Department of Improvement and Production of Wheat and Triticale Seeds of the National Cereal Center Lukyanenko, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lyudmila Bespalova, noted that today the Center uses new genetic approaches that help create high-quality, productive varieties and compete with the global community of plant breeders. Thus, over the past 23 years, the yield of cereals created by research institutes and grown in the Krasnodar Territory has increased by an average of 20 c/ha. According to the scientist, each new variety from the research institute, registered by the state commission, is immediately put into production, which creates a powerful seed base.

The Director of NCZ Lukyanenko, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vyacheslav Lukomets, raised in his speech the issue of training personnel for the field of seed selection and production. Currently, the task is to expand the number of students, as well as the level of education, and attract bachelor's and master's students to work.

Laurent Genzbittel, director of the agricultural technologies project center at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, spoke about the implementation of breeding programs based on genomic data. Acting Director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology Gennady Karlov spoke in detail on the topic of increasing the efficiency of the breeding process, as well as the role of genetics and biotechnology.

Additionally, forum participants discussed industry digitalization issues and shared their experience in producing high-margin crop varieties and hybrids.