RUDN University scientists learned to harden off plants for better growth and reproduction
Artificially grown plants after putting into soil rapidly stop growing. They are very small, feeble, unable to reach water with their roots. Weeds shade and oppress them quickly. It did not work.
Artificially grown plants after putting into soil rapidly stop growing. They are very small, feeble, unable to reach water with their roots. Weeds shade and oppress them quickly. It did not work.
Sergey Kornatsky devoted his life to struggle with this challenge and he did find the way out. Growth stops due to natural mechanisms. About 80% of growth happens in the first 6 weeks: in mid May – June.
The scientist understood that to continue growing plants should go through a so called cold period, which can be artificial i.e. in a fridge.
The experiments proved the hypothesis. “I put these plants into the fridge for 2-2,5 months – said Sergey Kornatsky. – After this I plant it again and they start growing together. I use the fridge 3 times a year, I give 3 growth cycles. 6 weeks growth – 2,5 months of rest. This allows to get plants 80-90 cm tall, starting from tiny 2-3 cm.
There is another important issue – plant health. Plants are sometimes sick, they are attacked by viruses and this causes harvest 2-3 times less than usual, which harms plant production. Getting rid of viruses takes hard work and if micro cloning works it will be very good for healthy plants reproduction.
The new list of federal innovation sites (FIS) of the Russian Federation includes 30 new organizations. Among them is the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. This became possible thanks to the development of the Digital Preparatory Faculty of RUDN University.
RUDN rose to the 26th position in the UI GreenMetric 2022 ranking and confirmed the status of the “greenest” university in Russia. The ranking includes 1,050 world universities, of which 52 are Russian.
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia is represented in all 16 subject rankings and in five out of six subject profiles of the Expert Analytical Center ranking. RUDN University showed the best results in the following areas: “Ecology” and “Agriculture and Biological Sciences” — 1st place. “Mathematics”, “Chemistry”, “Artificial Intelligence”, “Renewable Energy” are in the TOP — 5 subject ranking. In total, 152 universities were ranked in 2022 (137 in 2021).