Representatives of KarRC RAS headed by the Director General Olga Bakhmet visited the Republic of Belarus within the Karelian delegation on December 6-9. One of the main events was a meeting with the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov. The leaders discussed the development of cooperation in the field of biotechnology and agriculture in the framework of the InterAcademy Council of the Union State. The participants arrived at the conclusion about the need to create a joint research program. It is going to be worked out in the nearest future.

As regards the development of individual areas, they considered the implementation of a project on deep processing of peat, joint development of seed potato breeding, studies of Belarusian culture in Karelia. These issues were discussed in more detail during the visits of Karelian researchers to the country's leading scientific and educational organizations, including: NAS Institute of Nature Management, NAS Scientific and Practical Center for Bioresources, NAS Scientific and Practical Center for Potato, Fruit and Vegetable Growing, NAS Institute of Experimental Botany named after K.Kuprevich, NAS Institute of Genetics and Cytology.

The Karelian delegation also took part in events organized at the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Belarus. Some of the areas experts named as promising for cooperation are the establishment of forest crops, forestry mechanization, alignment of the forest age structure, and exchange of expertise in intensive forestry.

As a result of the visit, several cooperation agreements were made. In particular, joint activities will be carried out with the Center for the Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. This includes preparation of joint projects, participation in seminars and conferences, exchange of specialists and research results. Similar agreements on the relevant areas of activity have also been signed with the Belarus State Economic University and the Polesie Agrarian Ecological Institute of Belarus NAS.

One of the priority areas for future cooperation is the study of mire systems. Karelian Research Centre RAS is home to one of the leading mire science schools in Russia. The parties have agreed to implement a comparative study of the mire ecosystem diversity, classification and mapping of vegetation, study of sound use of peatlands, peat deposition and carbon accumulation processes in different types of mires in the two regions. Representatives of the organizations also discussed research of curly birch, biotechnology issues, possible joint activities in the Arctic.

– Karelia and Belarus have many areas of mutual interest in the scientific sphere. We have a great potential for joint work in the study of mire systems, design and application of biotechnologies in agriculture. We have experience in studying ethno-cultural identities. All these and other areas should be expanded and promoted. Our trip to Minsk provided an impetus for such work. We look forward to new meetings with our colleagues next year, where we can discuss concrete projects and research more specifically", commented Olga Bakhmet, KarRC RAS Director General recapitulating on the visit.

Photos by Alexander Morunov / Belarus NAS