Creating value

Kursk Academy opened this unique department in 2020. For the first time in the country, a commercial company has become a production site for an academic project. Zashchitnoye enterprise and the Plant Breeding and Early Generation Seed Maintenance Center of EkoNiva-Semena serve as a platform for students. There they can get insight into the legal aspects, methodology and processes of plant breeding, which sparks their interest and promotes research in this field.

‘The development of plant breeding and seed production is the key to the success of the agricultural sector’, says Yuriy Vasyukov, Regional Director of Zashchitnoye. ‘It is essential for Russian agriculture to be independent of foreign seed companies. So far, the project is in its infancy, but we are headed in the right direction. Our company, as well as others, needs qualified staff, and we believe that this promising initiative will ultimately provide us with skilled plant breeders.’

Fourth-year Agronomy students of Kursk State Academy have an opportunity here to learn first-hand about EkoNiva's activities in the field of plant breeding and seed production, in particular the Center for Plant Breeding and Variety Preservation.

‘Our key competitive edge is highly qualified personnel and modern facilities’, emphasizes Vitaliy Voloshchenko, Director of the Center. ‘We are fully equipped with compact machinery for all operations from sowing to harvesting on our test plots, seed conditioning lines, greenhouses, laboratories and warehouses. The Center implements its own breeding and research programs and molecular biotechnology methods. We aspire to create something worth for agriculture, which we strive to get across to young specialists’.

At Zashtchitnoye, course participants learn how grain quality assessment proceeds in the laboratory, how seed sorting and processing plants work before it is used in the field, and how seed packaging and labeling for marketing work.

‘Such practice-oriented classes provide students with sound knowledge and boost their skills’, says Igor Ishkov, Head of the Crop Farming, Plant Breeding and Seed Production Department of Kursk State Agricultural Academy. ‘We want future farmers to see actual production with their own eyes and understand the importance of having their pre-graduate internship at large agricultural companies, like EkoNiva. I am confident that thus they can define their career paths and create value in the farming sector.’

Ambitious young people, eager to get hands-on experience, already know how to pursue their career. One of them is Yegor Ulyantsev, a fourth-year student, who opted for Agronomy studies after his parents.

‘Agriculture appeals to me for three main reasons’, shares the young man. ‘First of all, it means working outdoors – I am absolutely not an office clerk. Secondly, the financial part matters: the farming sector offers good salaries. And thirdly, the career and professional development prospects are truly great.’

Andrey Uglanov, Yegor’s friend and fellow student, has dreamt of working in agriculture since childhood. Then he helped his mother grow vegetables in the garden. Now he studies Agronomy, takes interest in genetics and plant breeding and, of course, hopes to breed a unique variety to harvest several crops a year, as, for example, in the tropics.

‘Last year, I already completed an internship at EkoNiva’, says the young farmer. ‘It gave me the opportunity to gain invaluable experience and vast knowledge. After graduation, I would like to work at Zaschtchitnoye. So far, I have not made up my mind on my future job, whether it will be Agronomy, Plant breeding or Biotechnology. But I think I will be able to make a brilliant career here.’