EkoNiva Group has become a partner of International Plant Breeding Summer School 2025 ‘Modern Plant Breeding Technologies’. The educational event united more than 150 students from Russia and countries across the former Soviet Union and beyond, including Serbia, Iran, Belarus, Vietnam, China, Gabon and Zambia. The two-week programme includes lectures, seminars and practical classes in laboratories. Moreover, the project’s participants visited EkoNiva’s branch office located in Moscow as well as had a tour of Bortnikovo dairy farm.

EkoNiva has been taking part in the International Summer School for three years now. The company always eagerly supports initiatives that facilitate preparing young personnel and developing skills that are in great demand in the agricultural sector. Together with the Moscow Agricultural Academy n. a. K.A. Timiryazev, the Group has developed the Breeding and Crop Production Genetics Specialist professional educational standard. The standard was approved by the Ministry of Labour last year and came into effect this March.

‘We strive to attract active interested youth into the plant breeding field. Partaking in the International Summer School project is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with future specialists, tell them about us, our activity, our breeding programmes and share experiences directly on the educational platform. I’m sure the knowledge gained during the summer school will help them to become real specialists ready to solve most ambitious tasks in the field of plant breeding and drive the development of the agricultutal industry’, says Vitaliy Voloshchenko, Director of EkoNiva Group’s Plant Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre.

The educational programme continued with a one-day tour to the Group’s facilities in Moscow Region allowing the students to take a closer look at the most advanced achievements in the agricultural sector. Science lectures and workshops by the company’s experts were devoted to the Group’s breeding activities and the latest developments of genetic technologies, fast-track breeding methods of the most productive lines and improving plant resistance to diseases and adverse climatic factors.

The school’s students learned about the full cycle of creating and testing new varieties. The most interesting part was the active discussion of practical issues of interaction between the agricultural science and business concerning the commercialization of the bred varieties of field crops. A lot of attention was also given to the ecological aspect of the plant breeders’ activities, including implementing sustainable agricultural practices and preserving biodiversity as well as organic farming.

‘The competencies acquired by the students in the International Summer School will become a pass into the future of agricultural science and practice for them. This project is important and relevant for both students and the company. The young people are making new acquaintances, boosting their knowledge. And for the company, it’s an opportunity to attract the youth and increase their awareness, to invite them for internships and later employ them. I, myself a former EkoNiva intern, now work here. There are a great many excellent coaches who make it easy and more interesting to understand the science of plant breeding’, comments Dmitriy Mashtakov, Agronomist and Plant Breeder of the Group’s Seed Production and Variety Breeding Division.

‘Plant breeding is a very relevant activity nowadays. It’s tedious and important work. EkoNiva understands this, and we, as young scientists, really like that. The company is present in many regions of Russia, my native Bashkiria included, so of course I am interested in cooperation’, shares Rimma Abdullina, a graduate student majoring in General Agriculture and Crop Production at Bashkir State Agricultural University.

The participants also had an insightful tour of the Bortnikovo dairy unit, observed the housing conditions of the cows and calves, the feeding and milking processes, the working conditions at the farm and met the company’s specialists. All of this helped the students broaden their view of modern agricultural business, and the company’s experts inspired many participants for further research and developments.

‘I took up classic science and fundamental research at the university, but I wanted to commercialize, be of practical use to society and get a direct result from my research. I came to the International School with a certain aim – to try out the applied aspect and also to combine it with fundamental research. It seems to me that EkoNiva is just what I need, for this reason I aspire to work at this company. Everything I saw here today is impressive and inspiring’, says Darya Luneva, Voronezh State University graduate majoring in Biology and Botany.

The Russian State Agricultural University aka Moscow Agricultural Academy n. a. K.A. Timiryazev has been the main platform for the events of the Modern Plant Breeding Technology summer school for several years. It’s a complex programme that gives unique opportunities to students and young specialists of agricultural and biological specialties – they get the most modern view of breeding, relevant methods of this process and the intricacies of the seed production business. As part of the school’s work, the participants get acquainted with top-class specialists of Russia’s leading seed companies and also with outstanding scientists from China, South Korea, the Netherlands, Greece and other countries. Moreover, the school provides a unique chance to work on modern equipment at the university’s biotechnological laboratories, exploring basic methods of cellular technology and fundamental approaches of molecular breeding.

Rita Biyoge studies to become an agronomist at Ural State Agricultural University. She comes from Gabon and applied to the International Summer school along with her friend Melinda Seishas from Zambia. Both young women say that after studying at the university they would like to work in Russia in the field of plant breeding.

‘A small garden near the house is my parents’ hobby and has been the main interest of mine since my very childhood. I decided that my profession would be agriculture. When I was choosing where to study, it occurred to me: we know so little about Russia, such a large country – why not go there! I’ve never regretted it. I like Russia, I like to study here, the International Summer School has taught me a lot about breeding and I’m impressed with EkoNiva operations – large-scale and atmospheric. This is the kind of company I’d like to work at’, stresses Rita Biyoge.