A breeding trial evaluation has finished at EkoNiva Group’s Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre. It was attended by the managers of the holding and key production enterprises, breeders, agronomists as well as students undergoing internship at the company. The breeders, variety testers and agritechnologists from Kursk, Voronezh, Ryazan, Novosibirsk and Volga subdivisions demonstrated nurseries and trial plots, which will help in the creation of new varieties, as well as cultivation technology trials conducted with in-house bred varieties.

Trial evaluation is an annual review that is held in all the branches of the Group's breeding centre. The Commission conducts an inventory of the field plots, verifies the compliance of the work programmes with research methods, the quality of the trials as well as their condition at breeding and experimental sites.

In Kursk oblast, full–scale breeding programmes are being implemented, from the selection of parental pairs and crossing to the transfer of varieties to state variety testing as well as environmental variety testing and maintenance breeding of the following crops: winter and spring wheat, spring barley, oats, soybeans, peas, lentils, chickpeas and oilseed flax. This is the first breeding point of the centre, which has been operating since 2015. In total, more than 30,000 plots have been formed in experimental fields in Kursk oblast. Twenty multifactor technological field trials are underway here to create agritechnological passports of selected crops. In 2026, a phytosanitary testing plot was organized in this zone to breed disease-resistant flax varieties.

Breeders and variety testers of the Siberian branch, opened in 2022, have the opportunity to test promising lines and varieties in Siberian conditions for their adaptability and resistance to stressful weather. In addition, work is underway on the breeding of alfalfa and cereal fodder and turf grasses.

Based on the southernmost farm of the Group, in the Voronezh branch, founded in 2024, chickpea and winter barley collections are being formed and breeding work is underway. Ecological-geographical trials of promising lines of all the selected crops are also carried out. In 2026, maintenance breeding sites were established for the EN Kvant and EN Orion chickpea varieties included in the State Register. At the evaluation of the plots, the commission learned about the experiments on the cultivation technology of in-house bred winter and spring wheat, soya beans and lentils. On the basis of these experiments, recommendations are being developed for the cultivation of new varieties after various preceding crops with different sowing dates and rates.

The Ryazan division of the Breeding Centre started its operation in 2025. Now, 12 people are working here, including breeders, technologists, laboratory assistants and mechanics. The employees conduct breeding experiments with such crops as plate-shaped and small-seeded lentils, spring soft and durum wheat, spring brewing and feed barley, spring triticale and oats. As part of a comprehensive project of the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme for the Development of Agriculture, the breeders created the first variety of soft spring wheat, EN Sirius, which was entered into the State Register in 2026 and presented at the Nationwide Field Day in the Altai Area.

The Volga division also opened its doors in 2025. Here, the Centre’s specialists conduct environmental trials of winter, spring soft and durum wheat, barley, oat, soya bean, pea, lentil and flax varieties.

According to the results of the trial field evaluation, the members of the commission noted the great potential for further development of the breeding as well as scientific and production activities of the breeding centre. The Group's experts agreed on a set of promising varieties for cultivation technology experiments, discussed interim results and plans for 2027.

‘Multiple branches of the breeding centre are due to the contrast of the sites both in terms of soil types and climatic conditions, which makes it possible to identify highly adaptive breeding lines corresponding to the technological and economic parameters of enterprises located in these regions. Work at various sites helps breeders develop agritechnological passports of promising breeding lines and varieties included in the State Register of the Russian Federation for the first time’, says Vitaliy Voloshchenko, Plant Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre Director.

EkoNiva has also been conducting targeted breeding work to create new highly-adaptive varieties of field crops since 2015. Over the years, 10 proprietary winter wheat varieties, 1 spring wheat variety, five soya bean variety, two chickpea varieties and 1 lentil variety have been listed in the State Register. In addition, 16 new varieties of six crops are currently being tested by the State Variety Testing Commission.