Innovative laboratory was opened at Agrarian University to create new varieties

UFA, 8 February 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

An innovative laboratory for the creation of new varieties of agricultural crops opened at Bashkir State Agrarian University. It is equipped with high-tech equipment with a total cost of over 8.5 million rubles, the press service of the university reported.

In the laboratory, undergraduates and graduate students of the Faculty of Agricultural Technologies and Forestry will be engaged in plant breeding and genetic analysis. It concerns modern technologies that accelerate the process of creating new varieties at the molecular level. Young scientists will acquire the skills to isolate the genes responsible for yield - winter hardiness, resistance to various diseases, lodging and stressful environmental factors. It will allow creating varieties that can survive strong winds, hurricanes, and droughts.

“If it used to take about 12–15 years to develop a full-fledged variety, now this period is significantly reduced due to the use of “cabinets” with an artificially controlled climate, enzyme immunoassay methods and real-time polymerase chain reaction,” said the candidate of agricultural sciences, Associate Professor Alexey Dmitriev.

The scientific laboratory will allow Bashkir farmers to obtain a “protein passport” confirming the varietal purity of the produced and seeds that agricultural producers and farmers of the republic will acquire.