EN Beluga lentil variety developed by the Group’s Plant Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre has been entered into the State Register of Plant Breeding Achievements in 2025. It is EkoNiva’s first lentil variety that has been approved for use in Russia. The winter wheat EN Titan and the first domestic high-protein soya beans EN Proton have also been added to the register this year.

EN Beluga, a small-seeded variety of the conventional black lentils with a yield potential of up to 4 t/ha, is adapted for the Central Black Soil, North Caucasian and Ural regions and can be introduced into the crop market in the shelled, split or whole form. EkoNiva’s in-house lentil breeding programme has been underway since 2019. Two more varieties of this crop developed by the Group’s breeders are currently undergoing state trials.

‘It is a crop characterised by high plasticity and rich in vegetable protein, which is traditionally cultivated in Russia. Although undeservedly neglected for some time, lentils are now becoming popular again due to the export development and the growth of domestic consumption and processing. The popularity of this excellent crop will further increase thanks to the implementation of our breeding programme’, says Vitaliy Voloshchenko, Director of Plant Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre, EkoNiva Group.

The intensive short-stalked soft winter wheat variety EN Titan adapted for the Central Black Soil region can deliver high productivity even under adverse weather conditions. It boasts such quality characteristics as resistance to lodging, shedding and grain sprouting in the ear, drought tolerance, high winter and frost hardiness, an intensive tillering capacity and the ability to form over 800 productive stems per 1 m2. The yield potential of EN Titan is 13 t/ha, and the maximum potential unlocked during the variety trials in the Group’s Kursk subdivision reached 12.75 t/ha in 2023.

The first Russian high-protein early-maturing soya bean variety EN Proton is adapted for the Central and Far East regions. It requires a sum of effective temperatures of 2,200 °C for ripening. In the Central Black Soil region and Amur oblast, the variety matures in about 100 days. The protein content varies from 42% to 50%, but most often it reaches 47%-48% with yields within the regional standard level.

‘Since protein biosynthesis is one of the most energy-intensive processes in nature, the main issue we face while breeding high-protein varieties is the negative genetic correlation between the yielding capacity and grain quality. EN Proton outperforms its ripeness group counterparts. For example, its last season’s output in the trials held in Kursk subdivision was 3.4 t/ha against that of the analogue variety – 2.9 t/ha’, says Vladislav Rosenzweig, Soya Bean Breeder at EkoNiva.

Every year, the Group’s specialists offer two or three new plant breeding achievements for state tests and registration. Now, they are working on varieties of different pulses – lentils, chickpeas, lupin and peas – and spring cereals – wheat and malting barley. A breeding programme for flax, alfalfa and forage grasses has also been launched to meet the growing demand.

Modern plant breeding is a multifaceted process that begins with making a model of a variety which would be a success in the market. Our main task is to monitor and anticipate trends to find out what crops and variety features are sought-after and further carry out the corresponding breeding work, using diverse methodological tools, including fast-track breeding practices’, points out Vitaliy Voloshchenko.