CTT Begins Accepting Applications for Bayer Technologies
The selection of germplasm recipients for a range of crops and the search for an operator of the plant biotechnology research and training center have started.
On 2 April 2019, the Centre for Technology Transfer began accepting breeding companies’ applications to receive germplasm as part of technology transfer from Bayer. In parallel, the process to select the organization that will host biotechnology training activities was launched.
Application documents for maize, soybean, rapeseed, and wheat germplasm will be accepted until the end of June. After verification and evaluation of the documents, which will take up to 45 days, a list of 10 recipients will be announced.
“For a number of crops, Russia obviously depends on foreign high-yield seeds. For example, we buy up to 65% of maize seed material. The technology transfer programme will enable domestic companies to quickly master up-to-date marker-oriented breeding methods,” says Alexey Ivanov, director of the HSE-Skolkovo Institute for Law and Development.
“We expect that both state-owned research institutes and private breeding companies will take interest in the programme,” adds the CTT’s director Mikhail Kharchenko.
The CTT has also started the selection of a research institution that will host plant biotechnology training activities. Applications can be submitted until mid-May, one winner will be selected within 45 days thereafter. The tender is open to research institutions with equipped training facilities and adequate teaching staff. There is also a number of special requirements that can be found on the CTT website.
“It is important to Bayer that the transferred technologies be widely used by Russian breeding professionals, which is why so much attention is paid to technology training programmes. Leading Bayer experts will convey to selected professionals their knowledge about up-to-date and effective breeding methods that will increase yields. The trainees will then be able to pass on their knowledge to their colleagues. As a result, a technology base will be formed that will enable the Russian industry to make a qualitative leap towards achieving import substitution indicators and increasing exports of agricultural products,” said Yves Picquet, head of Bayer’s Crop Science division for CIS countries. The technology transfer is part of Bayer’s obligations under a Federal Antimonopoly Service Directive on the Bayer-Monsanto transaction.
“In 2018, the Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a directive that obligated Bayer, among other things, to put in place conditions for the transfer of technology available to Bayer to Russian market players engaged in plant breeding, seed variety and hybrid production, state-of-the-art technology-based farming methods. We are pleased to see that technology transfer to Russian users is becoming a reality. We hope that the selection of participants, though it will take some time, will complete pretty soon. We believe that one of the interesting options could be the creation of a special consortium of research and training organizations in the field of the agro-industrial complex, which will be able to more effectively implement this project and extend the new knowledge that will be received as part of the research carried out by the Centre to as many research and training and companies that are engaged in agricultural production as possible,” said Andrei Tsyganov, deputy head of the FAS.
The application forms and the list of required documents are available on theCTT website.