Achievements of the federal scientific center "all-Russian institute of forages V.R. Williams" in the study of fodder plants

Abstract

Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology for more than 100 years has been the largest scientific, methodological, research, intellectual center, which concentrates scientific knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the cultivation of fodder plants. Strategic areas of research for the period of activity of the Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology, is the selection and seed production of fodder plants; meadow fodder production; field fodder production; development of technologies for procurement, storage and use of feed. The State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use in the Russian Federation includes 227 varieties of forage crops (24 % of the total number of forage crops in Russia) bred by the Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology, 57 varieties are released to all regions. Profound fundamental research is being carried out on meadow ecosystems, on the ontogeny of meadow grasses, and grassland technologies are being developed. Effective technologies for the restoration of degraded arid pastures and saline lands based on ecologically specialized plant species with extremely high salinity and drought resistance have been developed and put into practice. The total gene pool of halophytes and arid plants includes more than 1200 samples of 25 species. The result of bioresource and breeding work was the creation of 20 new varieties of drought-resistant fodder halophytes for arid territories from the families Chenopodiaceae, Tamaricaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae. Scientists of the Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology developed the scientific foundations of field fodder production. It is shown that fodder crop rotations are the most important means of increasing the productivity of arable land, combating drought, erosion and soil dehumification. Perennial grasses on arable land are the most important means of protection against droughts, the basis for restoring and maintaining soil fertility. Experimental data on the preservative efficacy of compositions of experimental enzyme multisystems in combination with bacterial preparations have been obtained.