The National Consortium for Breeding and Seed Production under the support of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation will be in charge of the development of national sunflower hybrids, scaling of the production of varieties required to ensure the national food safety, as well as introduction of existing breeding-related developments into the operation of national enterprises.

Quoting Oksana Lut, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture, the establishment of a consortium is an important stage of joint work on the development of domestic breeding, which the state and business have been carrying out in recent years. The association members are the market leaders with powerful production and scientific potential, as well as particular developments in the field of sunflower import substitution. In view of the new challenges facing the Russian agricultural business the work of the consortium will help adapt the agriculture to the changed realities and strengthen the foundation for further development of the industry more quickly.

"Until recently the dependence on imported seeds along with general dependence on foreign genetics has remained perhaps the only bottleneck of the national agricultural sector", Vladislav Romantsev, EFKO Director for Strategic Development, has explained. "The Consortium unites the efforts of the state, business, and national science, i.e. all parties having everything needed to solve this task.

The knowledge, infrastructure, material and communication resources of the members together with the strongest scientific potential of our scientists will provide for the import substitution of the entire sunflower processing chain up to the development of new hybrids. This is the next step to ensure the food safety of Russia, which will also exclude the possibility of any external manipulation of one of the most sensitive and social sectors of the national economy.

As one of the largest sunflower processors in Russia and the exporter of products for its processing EFKO is interested in developing its own sunflower hybrid base, and in the future the seeds of other perspective oil crops: soybeans, rape, and flax."