Agrofirm "Yuzhnaya" and the Kurchatov Institute began cooperation in the framework of scientific and practical work
The National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" and the agricultural company "Yuzhnaya", with the support of the Association "Federal Self-Regulatory Organization of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia", began to conduct joint scientific research in the field of viticulture and winemaking.
The agricultural company is of interest to the institute as the largest viticultural enterprise in the country, which has the widest range of varieties, as well as its own innovative material and technical base.
As part of the cooperation, the Kurchatov Institute and Yuzhnaya will study and preserve the diversity of grape plants, expand their genetic bank, develop, implement and use methods of viral purification of grapes at the stage of seedling production. The National Research Center has been working on genotyping grape varieties for several years. Now it has been decided to carry out this activity more extensively in close cooperation with a large enterprise in the industry. Yuzhnaya and Ariant Group of Companies are interested in performing genotyping work on several cultivated varieties, primarily Sauvignon and Merlot.
“Only by relying on the achievements of modern genetics can we solve national problems in the agro-industrial complex. Expanding the genetic bank of grape plants is a tremendous prospect for the development of the industry. I am confident that in close cooperation with the Kurchatov Institute we will contribute to the development of viticulture and winemaking not only in our region, but also in Russia as a whole,” said Sergei Tarakhno, Deputy General Director of AF “Yuzhnaya”.
Also, as part of cooperation at the site of the Chateau Tamagne Oenology Center, joint work is being carried out to test auxiliary materials for winemaking. The key direction is the creation of new yeast strains for specific varieties and terroirs, and their release in dry form.
In addition, in the course of joint work it is planned to create a unified information interactive system “Atlas of Terroirs”. To do this, scientists and agronomists will carefully study the natural features of various terroirs and develop soil-climatic models of the zones. Russian winemakers and winegrowers will be able to rely on these data in the future when choosing a variety-rootstock combination for cultivation in a particular area. The system will be available to both large enterprises and start-up entrepreneurs. Let us remind you that in the Krasnodar Territory there is comprehensive support for the viticulture and winemaking industry. A register of vineyard lands has been created in the region, which can be used only for their intended purpose: from planting vineyards to placing wine tourism facilities.