The funds will be partly directed to the salaries of scientists (CVs will be provided on requirement), which have been significantly reduced during martial law. Furthermore, funds will be spent for purchasing computer equipment necessary for the conduct and completion of the scientific research. Since the Institute's Collection of Beneficial Soil Microorganisms contains strains of bacteria and fungi that require special storage conditions, it is planned to purchase refrigeration equipment (a refrigerator and a laboratory freezer) and an electricity generator as a priority. In case of power outages, this equipment will allow not to lose about 600 strains of agronomically valuable microorganisms, which have been obtained for the last 50 years of the Institute's activity. We also plan to purchase nutrient agar for microbiology, which is needed to produce digest media for the cultivation of microorganisms for the collection. Due to the decrease in funding during the war, the Institute is lacking funds to pay for public services, which makes it impossible to maintain proper performance of the institution and conduct scientific research.

About the Institution

The institute is classified as a state property. It is one of the founders of the Ukrainian Soil Partnership, which functions under the auspices of the Global Soil Partnership and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and is also the main scientific institution implementing the scientific research program “Agricultural Microbiology” of the National Academy of Sciences. The mission of the Institute is as follows: coordination, organization, and conducting of scientific research on the problems of agricultural microbiology, and promotion of implementation of their results in production.

The Institute is located in Chernihiv, which had been sieged during the Russian aggression started on February 24, 2022. Until the beginning of April 2022, when the russian troops had retreated, the city held its defense. Shell fragments hit the walls of some buildings of the institution, cracks appeared on the walls and ceilings of some premises, most of the windows were damaged by blast waves from aerial bombs. As a result, the conduct of research, which must be carried out in laboratory conditions, has been disrupted. The collection of useful soil microorganisms, which has the status of the National Heritage, has been in danger of being lost. Today, we conduct researches aimed at substantiating the ways of optimizing the processes of biological transformation of organic matter and correcting the composition of groups of microorganisms in the soils of agrocenoses in order to form their effective and potential fertility, researching the peculiarities of the interaction between microorganisms and cultivated plants. However, these studies require financial resources, the income of which has decreased sharply during the introduction of martial law in Ukraine.

Research Focus / Keywords

agriculture, microorganisms, biological preparations