The profile of the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences covers an integrated spectrum of crop research ranging from basic and methodological problems to applied research. The fundamental goal is to develop new generic plant genotypes based on the Eastern and Central European plant gene pool accumulated over the last half century in Martonvásár and using genetic, physiological, cell and reproduction biological, functional genomic, biotechnological, plant breeding methods. The investigations also cover the maintenance of the agroecological equilibrium, the preservation and improvement of genetic variability, durable plant stress resistance, and an improvement in seed safety, all aimed at satisfying the criteria of sustainable development. The Martonvásár Institute has achieved success in many fields of agricultural research over the last 50 years, including the development of the first maize hybrid in Europe, the development of wheat germplasm with improved milling and baking quality, and contributions to research on the genotype × environment interaction. In addition to this complex research program, institute staff play an active part in postgraduate education, in scientific cooperation with Hungarian and foreign institutions and in the practical introduction of scientific results and technical knowledge.
The cereal research group in the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences focuses its research activities on the development of small grain cereal germplasm with improved quality properties and wide adaptability. They carry out extensive work on old Hungarian wheat landraces and variety populations in the framework of genebank research. They have identified new mutant storage protein genes in old Hungarian varieties, thus widening the genetic background for improved technological quality. The team has a laboratory, greenhouse, phytotron and field nursery infrastructure for technological, biochemical, and molecular breeding studies on quality traits, and it has developed 50 common and 5 durum wheat varieties grown in Central and Eastern Europe.
Website: http://www.mgki.hu/maine/
Last updated on 2005-08-09 by Gertrud Linsberger-Martin
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