Historical background “Far Eastern Agricultural Research Institute”(DV NIISH) KHFIC FEB RAS

The Far Eastern Agricultural Research Institute was established in 1935 in accordance with the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (July 16, 1934 No. 1635 and February 1, 1935 No. 175) in Khabarovsk on the basis of the Technical Department of the Far Eastern Branch of the All-Union Institute of Agricultural Mechanization and local experimental station.

The Institute was named “Far Eastern Regional Research Institute of Agriculture and Livestock”. He was entrusted with the methodological leadership of the entire research work of the Far Eastern Territory and serving the needs of all departments in the field of agricultural research.

The Institute became the first large-scale agricultural research institution in the Far East. It included 14 experimental stations of regional and zonal significance, 7 experimental fields and 2 strong points. On a vast territory - from Amur Region to Kamchatka - employees were engaged in scientific research in sericulture, reindeer husbandry and dog breeding, studied the possibilities of growing rice, soybeans, corn, peanuts, chicory, sugar sorghum, Jerusalem artichoke, a wide range of industrial crops. Work was carried out to improve cattle breeds, feeding and keeping technologies, and herd reproduction, land reclamation methods.

In subsequent years, main areas of research in crop production and animal husbandry were identified in accordance with soil and climatic features of the Far East region.

Scientific results of the DV NIISH are marked by the government. Back in the early 40s, the Institute twice participated in the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition and was listed on the All-Union Board of Honor and inscribed in the Honorary Book of the exhibition. Achievements of the Institute have been awarded with medals of the exhibition. In 1971, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for research in cultivating and breeding crops, introducing science into production.

The main activities of the institute at present

The comprehensive development of theoretical, fundamental and priority applied scientific research to solve important problems of the agriculture, crop production and animal husbandry, including:

• criteria and indicators of natural and anthropogenic soil transformation definition in various climatic zones of Russia in order to preserve and rational use of soil fertility and high-quality crop production in conditions of techno genesis and climate change;
• solving fundamental problems of agricultural biotechnologies to create highly productive forms of cultivated plants that are resistant to adverse abiotic and biotic environmental factors;
• development of the fundamental breeding management principles, the creation of new plant genotypes with high economically valuable traits of productivity, resistance to bio and abiostressors;
• formation of technologies to cultivate economically significant crops in order to design productive agrophytocenoses and agroecosystems;
• the study, mobilization and conservation of the genetic resources of farm animals and birds to use them in the breeding process;
• the creation of biological products, technologies and methods to combat especially dangerous parasitic and non-communicable diseases of farm animals;
• the study of the processes of reproduction and justification of the prospects for agriculture development of the Far Eastern Federal District.

Main results of the activity

Over the years of the institute's activity, 220 varieties of grain, leguminous, vegetable, fodder and fruit crops widely demand in agricultural production in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, the Jewish Autonomous, Amur and Sakhalin Regions, have been created. Employees of DV NIISH received 102 patent and invention certificates, 136 evidences for selection achievements. 17 gold, 15 silver and 22 bronze medals.

  In the new millennium, 44 grades (including 3 spring wheat, 4 oats, 2 barley, 4 soybeans, 3 forage crops, 5 cucumber, 5 tomato, 3 potato, 15 fruit and berry crops) were created and entered in the Register of the Russian Federation selection achievements. Cultivation technologies have been developed for each grade in accordance with difficult soil and climatic conditions of the Far Eastern zone.

Nowadays, 7 scientific departments of the institute carry out a wide range of studies in creating scientific and technical products to solve crop and livestock development issues of the Far East (especially, the Khabarovsk Territory).