Kuzmin Valentin Petrovich

Kuzmin Valentin Petrovich (12/05/1893 - 05/08/1973), Doctor of Agriculture sciences, Academician of theAll-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences named after Lenin and the Kazakh SSR, recognized elder of breeders of Northern Kazakhstan, patriarch of New land soil selection. The creator of varieties of many crops that occupied significant areas in the north of Kazakhstan, and during the war years his famous Akmolinka 1 fed bread to hundreds of thousands of people. The area of cultivation of Akmolink 1 variety in 1959 amounted to 3 million 445 thousand hectares.

Talking about the life and work of Valentin Petrovich means talking about the transformation – reconstruction of a wheat plant. He devoted all his life to this painstaking and noble work. Research and development of new problems, constant work on clarifying the direction and methodology of the breeding process, using new achievements of biological science in work, supporting new thoughts and valuable initiative - this is the whole life and work of Valentin Petrovich.

V.Kuzmin carried out selection work on 29 different cultures almost simultaneously.Using the method of selection and hybridization, he developed new varieties of spring soft and spring durum wheat, winter rye, millet, buckwheat, barley, peas, sunflower, flax, hemp, camelina, potato, alfalfa, oilseed poppy, raspberry, etc. The theoretical foundations of breeding, the direction and development paths of the specifics of virgin farming are described in more than 100 scientific papers, his monograph «Breeding and seed production of grain crops in the virgin land», which has become the handbook of most scientists and experts.

V.Kuzmin as early as 1936 laid the theoretical basis for practical selection for the steppe regions of the USSR, developed and put into practice the first unified methodology for assessing varieties and crops in the USSR, and using the variety testing methodology to study previous international experience. Together with scientists of All-Russian Institute of Plant Production named after Williams the ook an active part in the creation of the fundamental selection-genetic multi-volume «Scientific foundations of selection». He studied the problems of the geographical location of crops in Kazakhstan with scientific justification and practical significance, and imagined what effect would bring at least one specially derived variety for local conditions can bring to the whole virgin land.

The fruitful activity of V.Kuzmin is highly appreciated by the Government. He was awarded two orders of the Red Banner of Labor, diplomas of the Supreme Council of Kazakh SSR, two Big and Small Gold medal of theAll-Russian Institute of Plant Production, the medal «For the development of virgin lands», the jubilee medal of I.V. Michurin. He is a Laureate of the State Prize, he was awarded the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the awarding of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal «Hammer and Sickle». The name of V. Kuzmin is forever inscribed in the history of Kazakhstan.