On the results of the Conference “VIR – 130: Plant Genetic Resources” (November 5-9, 2024, St. Petersburg)

On November 8 (October 27), 1894, the Bureau of Applied Botany was created under the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property of the Russian Empire. The Bureau is the predecessor of VIR, a world-famous institute, the director and organizer of which was our famous compatriot Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. It was with the Bureau of Applied Botany that the scientific and technological creation and provision of the food shield of our country began – the famous Vavilov collection of genetic resources of cultivated plants. The conference "VIR-130: Plant Genetic Resources" was held on November 5-9, 2024 in St. Petersburg. The conference served as a platform for discussing the most pressing issues of preserving the genetic resources of cultivated plants and their wild relatives today – from the need to prepare new regulatory acts at the federal level to successes in domestic breeding of various crops and strengthening the role of genetics in ensuring food and technological security of Russia. The conference included a series of 10 events and round tables designed to cover the entire breadth of modern areas of work with collections of plant genetic resources and their application in fundamental science, agriculture, medicine, and industry. Separate events were dedicated to outstanding plant researchers – associates of N.I. Vavilov: G.D. Karpechenko, N.N. Ivanov, A.I. Maltsev, as well as our contemporaries. In total, more than 180 oral reports were presented at the events. The Conference ended on November 8 with a ceremonial session and an extended video lecture “Genetic Resources of Russia: Scientific and Cultural-Historical Heritage”, organized by the Presidential Library jointly with the Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) as part of the “Knowledge of Russia” series. The lecture brought together more than 300 in-person participants and more than 1,500 online. The sessions and round tables held, the discussion of the reports showed that the research carried out in the field of conservation, study and use of plant genetic resources at the modern level meet the directions set by the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation (approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 145 dated February 28, 2024), the national development goals of the Russian Federation (defined by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 309 dated May 07, 2024), the tasks of the Doctrine of Food Security of the Russian Federation (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 20 dated January 21, 2020) and correspond to critical and end-to-end technologies (designated by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 529 dated June 18, 2024).