About VIR

The Institute originated and developed from the Bureau of Applied Botany organised in 1894 under the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property of Russia. In 1917 the Bureau was transformed into the Department of Applied Botany and Plant Breeding, which was in 1922 incorporated into the network of the State Institute of Experimental Agronomy (SIEA). This Department served as a scientific foundation for establishing in 1924 the All-Union Institute of Applied Botany and New Crops (AUIAB & NC), but retained its structural autonomy within the network of SIEA. In 1930 the department of Applied Botany and Plant Breeding of SIEA and UAIAB & NC was reorganised into the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry (VIR). In 1992 this Institute received its current name, and since 1967 has been bearing the name of Academician N.I.Vavilov, a brilliant scientist and the talented director of the Institute from 1921 till 1940.

The N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry is the only research institution in Russia whose activities include plant genetics resources (PGR) collection, conservation and study. This Institute, its accomplishments, and role in maintaining the global ex situ collection are well known world-wide. Its global PGR collection represents plant diversity encompassing 320,000 accessions of 155 botanical families, 2,532 species of 425 genera. For instance, the collection harbours 95,000 accessions of grain crops, over 43,000 of legumes, 52,000 of groat crops, 26,000 of industrial crops, 28,000 of fodder crops, about 10,000 of potato, and 50,000 of vegetables. VIR also maintains a herbarium of 260,000 specimens.

169 thousand accessions promising materials for breeding and donors of most important commercial traits required for breeding of new cultivars and hybrids in different regions of Russia have been deposited in the National Seed Storage Facility at the Kuban Experiment Station.

The scientific network of VIR includes the institute's headquarters with 9 plant resources departments, 13 fundamental research laboratories, and 12 experiment stations in different geographic zones of Russia.