DEPARTMENT OF LEGUMES

The main activity of the Legumes Department includes the breeding of plants, mainly from the family of legumes, in order to obtain high-yielding varieties, which have different tolerances to biotic and abiotic stress, and a diverse chemical composition. Breeding takes place in two directions: (1) creation of varieties and (2) pre-breeding, which involves the use of genetic resources and the introduction of new traits into adapted germplasm. The basic breeding programs are: Breeding grain legumes and breeding forage legumes; production and processing of seeds of varieties produced in the department, activities are directed towards the production of sufficient quantities of high-quality seeds of different categories, maintenance and fertilization of seeds, processing and packaging of seeds; cultivation practices – finding the optimal cultivation technology of certain plant species and determining the optimal values ​​for certain agro-technical operations in order to realize the full genetic potential of the fertility of the varieties, activities are aimed at obtaining the optimal cultivation technology, which will have the maximum economic effect and minimal impact on the environment, stress research (biotic and abiotic) – in the function of breeding (resistance and tolerance of selection material) and in the function of monitoring the occurrence of plant diseases, pests, climate and other abiotic factors.

Legumes Department includes Section for Microbiological Preparations, and its main activity is the production and improvement of the quality of microbiological preparations for leguminous agricultural and vegetable plant species, testing the effect of bacterization (inoculation) with effective strains on agricultural and vegetable plant species, selection and characterization of highly effective strains of soil microorganisms (biofertilizers, biostimulators, biopesticides, etc.), monitoring the soil microbiological activity – microorganisms as indicators of soil quality/fertility.