Federal State Budgetary Institution All-Russian Research Institute of Breeding Fruit Cultures

Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution All-Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding is the oldest horticultural institution in Russia. It traces its history back to 1845, when, at the suggestion of the third department of the Ministry of State Property of Russia, in accordance with the order of the Minister Count P.D. Kiselyov, a tree nursery with an area of 15 desyatins was founded on the left bank of the Oka River, 4 km from the city of Orel. On April 28, 1845, its official opening took place. The main tasks of the nursery were the development of horticulture among state peasants, acclimatization and distribution of useful fruit, berry, ornamental and vegetable crops in the Oryol and adjacent provinces. Already since 1849, the nursery began to supply berry seedlings, seeds of improved varieties of vegetable crops to farms, and a little later – seedlings of fruit crops. The organization of the nursery has led to a rapid increase in the area under the gardens near the Eagle – only in the first 8 years of its operation, they have grown almost 10 times. In the future, the official name and departmental subordination of the institution repeatedly changed, but the main tasks and the pomological orientation of the activity remained, and the functions and influence on the development of horticulture expanded. At the same time, more and more attention was paid to the collection and study of existing varieties, and subsequently to the creation of new varieties that meet the ever-changing requirements of horticulture.