Alexey Morgunov, the OmSAU (member of Omsky Biocluster) project manager for wheat breeding, an employee of the International Corn and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), headquartered in Mexico, was awarded the International Award of the American Plant Growers Society.
The award was presented on October 24, 2017 at the annual meeting of the Society in Tampa, Florida, USA. The International Prize is awarded for the contribution to the creation of more than 50 varieties of winter wheat, which occupy more than 2 million hectares in West and Central Asia from Afghanistan to Turkey. In 2009 - 2014, under his leadership, expeditions were held to collect local traditional wheat varieties in Turkey, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. A unique material has been collected and preserved.
Vladimir Shamanin, Professor of the Department of Agronomy, Selection and Seed Growing, Omsk State Agrarian University:
- Alexei Morgunov's project at the OmSAU, supported by the Russian Science Foundation, aims to search for genes for resistance to diseases and drought in synthetic wheat and their use in breeding in order to increase the genetic diversity of the varieties being created and to increase the harvest steadily over the years. Data from 2016 and 2017 indicate a large potential of hexaploid synthetics of wheat in terms of resistance to stem rust, grain quality and development of the root system. The sources identified for synthetics against resistance to diseases and economically valuable traits are of considerable interest for use in the selection of spring and winter wheat varieties in Russia and in the neighboring countries of the Eurasian Commonwealth.
Information. The American Crop Growers Society has more than 5,500 members from more than 50 countries. The International Prize is awarded every year since 1991 to one member of the society for contributing to the innovation and development of crop sciences on a global scale.
