Research Activities of Staff at the Scientific Institute of Selection during the «Federative» Period (1922–1930)

Abstract

his article examines the activities of the Scientific Institute of Selection (SIS) in the years 1922–1930 and its contribution to the development of agricultural science in Ukraine. The aim of the study is to investigate the work of the Scientific Institute of Selection, the contribution of its staff to the advancement of agricultural science, and the influence of the «federative model» of organization on the improvement of breeding technologies in the 1920s. The chronological scope of the study covers the period from 1922, when the research activities of the Scientific Institute of Selection began, to 1930, when the final establishment of the «three-aspect» model of organizing scientific work in the sugar industry took place. This model integrated the agronomic, production, and economic directions, as a result of which the Scientific Institute of Selection was reorganized into a separate selection department of the Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of the Sugar Industry. The research methodology is based on systemic and multifactor analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as historical-genetic and chronological-problem approaches, applied in accordance with the principles of historicism and objectivity. Main results. The article considers the structure of the Institute and the work of its key departments, including the departments of variety studies, agricultural plant anatomy, special crops, and cytology. Particular attention is devoted to research on sugar beet, especially the study of root formation mechanisms and the development of methods for variety identification. Special focus is also placed on leading figures of the Institute, such as V. V. Kolkunov and Y. P. Votchal, who played a central role in advancing breeding technologies and agronomic science more broadly. The study highlights the problems of the federative management model, which complicated coordination between departments and hindered the practical application of results. The analysis leads to the conclusion that, despite organizational challenges, the scientific work of SIS made a significant contribution to improving breeding methods, increasing crop yields, and enhancing the resilience of agricultural plants. The Institute’s research results laid the groundwork for the further development of domestic agronomy and plant breeding.