Evgeniy Kucheryavenko: “Russian farmers have refocused on domestic soybean varieties”

Soybean

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Published Mar 29, 2024

Tridge summary

EkoNiva, a prominent Russian agricultural holding, has broadened its scope from dairy farming to include breeding programs for wheat and soybeans since 2015, in response to import restrictions. With facilities in Voronezh, Kursk, Ryazan, and Novosibirsk, the company aims to produce adaptive varieties of winter wheat and soybeans, crucial for Russia's food security. EkoNiva's portfolio boasts nine winter wheat and four soybean varieties, with plans to expand into lentils and chickpeas. The company collaborates with over 55 global breeding centers to enhance its breeding capabilities. Additionally, a joint genetic and selection and seed production center has been established in Novosibirsk, focusing on genetic technologies and the study of crop varieties. Despite Russia's relative self-sufficiency in grain crops, there's a notable dependency on imported seeds for sugar beets, sunflowers, corn, and potatoes. However, the introduction of zero quotas for soybean seed imports has encouraged a shift towards domestic varieties, highlighting efforts to reduce dependency on imported seeds.

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Original content

The accelerated development of domestic crop selection is becoming one of the priorities against the backdrop of the introduction of zero quotas for the import of seeds from a number of countries. Today, not only scientists, but also agribusiness itself are puzzled by this issue. The EkoNiva group of companies, one of the largest agricultural holdings in Russia, has been conducting a breeding program for wheat and soybeans since 2015. The executive director of the breeding and seed production division, Evgeniy Kucheryavenko, spoke to field.rf magazine about the prospects of this direction. — Why did the agricultural company EkoNiva, whose main focus was dairy farming, decide to engage in breeding? “The company’s development led it to this step. EkoNiva was founded in 1994 and was initially engaged in the cultivation and export of organic buckwheat and millet to European countries. Later, the company began importing super-elite seeds to Russia from Europe for further propagation. ...

Source: Oilworld