The plans to build a new potato breeding center were proposed by the Interdepartmental Commission for the Implementation of Investment Projects in the Agricultural Sector, under the leadership of the Deputy Governor of the Tomsk Region for agro-industrial complex and nature management, Andrei Knorr.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the experts studied 15 investment projects, including two new ones – on the construction of selection and seed-growing centers.

The potato breeding and seed center will be built in the Tomsk district. It will focus on the creation of new domestic varieties of potatoes, as well as on the development of new technologies for seed production of potatoes and biological means of its protection.

The project is implemented by the agricultural enterprises Kolpakov and Agrofirm Zorkaltsevskaya together with the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture and Peat as part of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture in the Tomsk Region.

Upon reaching the design capacity of the center by 2025, it is expected that 1,370 tons of potato seeds of domestic elite reproduction per year will be sold on the market.

More than 80m rubles (USD1m) have already been invested in the project. In 2020, scientific work is planned, as well as the construction of three modern vegetable stores and agricultural machinery.

“The creation of seed-breeding centers is of strategic importance for the Tomsk region. The implementation of the projects will provide Tomsk farmers with quality seeds and a good basis for increasing the yield in the region,” said Knorr.