To the 130th anniversary of the scientist and breeder Kuzmin Valentin Petrovich

Kuzmin Valentin Petrovich (05.12.1893 - 08.05. 1973), Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Academician of VASKHNIL and KazSSR, the recognized elder of breeders of Northern Kazakhstan, patriarch of virgin breeding. The creator of varieties of many agricultural crops, which occupied large areas in the north of Kazakhstan, and during the war years his famous Akmolinka 1 fed hundreds of thousands of people with bread. The area of cultivation of the variety Akmolinka 1 in 1959 amounted to 3 million 445 thousand hectares.

To talk about the life and activities of Valentin Petrovich is to talk about the transformation - reconstruction of the wheat plant. He devoted his whole life to this laborious and noble work. Research and development of new problems, constant work on refining the direction and methodology of the breeding process, use of new achievements of biological science in his work, support of new thoughts and valuable initiative - this is the whole life and activity of Valentin Petrovich.

Kuzmin V.P. conducted breeding work on 29 different crops almost simultaneously. By 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, ginger, potato, alfalfa, oilseed poppy, raspberry, etc. Theoretical bases of breeding, direction and ways of development of specificity of virgin agriculture are stated in more than 100 scientific works, his monograph “Breeding and seed breeding of grain crops in virgin land”, which became a desktop book for the majority of scientists and specialists-experimenters.

Kuzmin V.P. laid the theoretical basis of practical breeding for the steppe regions of the USSR as early as in 1936, developed and introduced in practice the first in the USSR unified methodology for evaluation of varieties and crops, methodology of variety testing, having studied the previous world experience. Together with VIR scientists he took an active part in creation of the fundamental selection-genetic multivolume book “Scientific bases of breeding”. He studied the problems of geographical location of agricultural crops in Kazakhstan with scientific validity and practical significance, imagined what effect can bring to the whole virgin land at least one specially bred variety for local conditions.

Fruitful activity of V.P. Kuzmin was highly appreciated by the Government. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, diplomas of the Supreme Soviet of Kaz. SSR, two Large and Small Gold Medal of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition, a medal “For the development of virgin lands”, anniversary 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 Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal “Sickle and Hammer”. V. Kuzmin’s name is forever inscribed in the history of Kazakhstan.
Damsinskaya secondary school and one of the main streets of Nauchny settlement of Akmola region are named in honor of an outstanding scientist - breeder Kuzmin Valentin Petrovich.

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