Исследования 1990-1991 года виявили 77 полезних генов, в том числе, 27 генов устойчивости к болезням пшеници, овца, ячменя, гороха, 9 генов раннеспелости овса, кукурузи, подсолнечника...
Более 60% коммерческих сортов культурних растений виведенних в СССР использовали генетический материал из коллекции Вавилова. В том числе 95% коммерческих сортов злаков...
2500 сортов растений виведенних с использованием материалов коллекции ВИР культивиуются на 60 миллионах гектаров
Following N.I.Vavilov's concept of developing initial material for breeding, researchers of the Institute study plant genetic resources for characters
possessing value for this purpose. As a result of primary evaluation, during 1990 and 1991 around 4,000 sources of useful to breeding characters were
selected, and genetical studies revealed 77 sources, including 27 resistance to pathogens of wheat, barley, oats, peas, etc., 9 forms of early maturing for
Russian condition of oats, maize and sunflower. Fifty-one new sources have been created. VIR specialists and breeders from the breeding centres are always
in close contact, working together within the framework of the breeding programmes. Breeders come to VIR to get acquainted with new material obtained
for the collection, while VIR researchers go to the breeding centres to study breeders's needs and requests for breeding material. In addition, special field
workshops are organized at VIR experimental stations and breeders are invited to participate. At these workshops breeders get acquainted with new
accessions in the field and decide together with the VIR specialists which of the accessions are more promising for breeding programmes. As a result of such
cooperation, more than 60% of commercial varieties have been bred using material from the VIR world collection. In cereals, 95% of all cultivars bred in the
recent period were based on germplasm stored in the collection of VIR. Using materials from VIR's collection the breeders of the USSR have developed over
2,500 cultivars of various agricultural crops. In the 1990Тs many of them are commercially cultivated occupying over 60 million hectares (Sazonova et al.,
1994). Collections of such important crops as wheat, barley, rye, oat, maize, pea, soya, potato, tomato, cucumber, apple, cherry, plum, strawberry, alfalfa, etc.
have been used most intensively.
The comprehensive study and use of new initial material made it possible to considerably broaden breeding programs involving the major crops. Materials
from the collections served as a basis for developing sunflower cultivars with high oil content; the first national heterotic hybrids of maize; potato cultivars
possessing resistance to Phytophthora, aggressive biotypes of potato canker, and nematodes; high-yielding cultivars of cereals and vegetables. A new trend
in breeding dwarf wheat and rye was started; wild cotton species have been used in breeding for caducousness in order to exclude pre-harvest defoliation,
and to serve as sources of gossypol-free seed; tomato forms possessing genes necessary for creating cultivars and hybrids with an increased fruit keeping
ability have been used; cytoplasmic male sterile lines of sugarbeet and other vegetable crops have been introduced into breeding programs.
Upon selecting appropriate sources, it became possible to start rice breeding for semi-dwarfness, of peas for leaflessness and non-shattering of pods, and of
soya for resistance to nematode. On the basis of studies of the world plant diversity, researchers of the Institute have included new aspects in breeding; for
example, nitrogen fixation ability when breeding leguminous crop cultivars of intensive type, resistance to mechanical damage in potato varieties. A new
cereal crop, Triticale has been created and successfully introduced into cultivation by VIR specialists (Sazonova et al., 1994). http://www.vir.nw.ru/history/vir_act.htm#list
