The meeting of Governor V. V. Radaev with the representatives of agrarian science and the heads of agricultural enterprises on development of agricultural sector.

On the 9th of December 2016, a meeting of Governor V. V. Radaev with representatives of the agricultural science and agricultural producers of the Saratov region was held in Saratov State Agrarian University named after N. I. Vavilov. The topic of discussion was the problems existing in the agriculture of the region and finding their solutions.

According to the Governor, there are objective problems specific to agriculture of the whole country. It is the lack of technical equipment, long-term introduction of advanced technology, poor usage of innovative potential, low labour productivity.

The Governor took the initiative to prepare and conduct a massive training program of farmers on a wide range of areas. The corresponding order was given to the regional Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the Saratov State Agrarian University and institutions of secondary vocational education: "System of professional retraining should cover both universal and narrowly-specialized farmers. With modern technology and trained personnel, we are able to produce much more than 4 million tons of grain".

In his speech on the question "On scientific and human resourcing in the development of agriculture of the Saratov region" the Chairman of the Committee on agriculture of the Saratov regional Duma, the rector of our University Kuznetsov N. I. supported the initiative of the Governor, noting that such a system of regular retraining in the rural areas operated during the Soviet time, but then was unfairly forgotten. According to the Agrarian University, currently about 30% of farmers do not have basic vocational education.

Also at the meeting the issues of selection and seed growing of new varieties of sorghum crops in the arid conditions of the lower Volga region, the use of modern agricultural technologies in agricultural production, promising developments for effective use of irrigated land in Saratov region, the contribution of the scientists of the Saratov Agrarian University in the establishment of a breeding base in animal husbandry and others were discussed.

Summing up the meeting with agricultural scientists V. V. Radaev said: "We still have a lot of reserves in the Saratov region to improve the results. We need to learn how to grow much and efficiently. We need to preserve the diversity of crops. I urge farmers, representatives of science, and all selection centers to move forward as far as possible."