Department of Plant Protection

The Department of Plant Protection at the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy is the oldest academic plant protection unit in Russia. It will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020. The Department traces its origins to the creation of the Department of Entomology chaired by Professor V. F. Boldyrev in Petrovskaya Agricultural Academy in 1920.

Ten years later, Department of Plant Pathology was formed, chaired by Associate Professor M. S. Utkin. Department of Chemical Plant Protection chaired by Associate Professor G. S. Gruzdev was formed in 1969. All three units went through several reorganizations throughout their history (see History section for details) until being finally merged into the Department of Plant Protection in 2010.

Currently, teaching and research at the Department are conducted by Professor F. S.-U. Dzhalilov, D.Sc.; Professor O.O. Beloshapkina, D. Sc.; Professor L.A. Dorozhkina, D.Sc.; Professor V.V. Gritsenko, D.Sc.; Professor S. Ya. Popov, D.Sc.; Professor A. N. Smirnov, D.Sc.; Associate Professor N. F. Deniskina, PhD; Associate Professor I.M. Mityushev, PhD; Associate Professor L. M. Poddymkina, PhD; and Associate Professor S. I. Chebanenko, PhD. The Department also employs senior technicians E. N. Orischenko and N. L. Polina, and technician S. V. Dmitrieva. 

The Department staff give lectures and practical classes for undergraduate students from five Faculties: Agronomy and Biotechnology; Animal Science and Biology; Soil Science, Agrochemistry, and Ecology; Horticulture and Landscape Architecture; and Distance Education. They also train Master’s students in Agronomy.

The Department awards Concentration in Plant Protection and Quarantine for students majoring in Agronomy. It also delivers a programme in Integrated Plant Protection for Master’s students. Currently, the Department has ten Ph.D. students in plant protection.

The Department staff authored textbooks and study aids in plant protection, entomology, phytopathology, and chemical plant protection. Several publications won awards and recognitions within All-Russian contest "Agricultural textbook".

The Department staff’s research is directed towards improving existing technologies to reduce pesticides use and enhance existing natural mechanisms of regulating pest abundance. This is done through optimizing of monitoring pest populations, carefully choosing control methods, and understanding population dynamics of pest organisms. An important role in research and student training belongs to the Plant Protection Laboratory.

The main goal of training students at the Department is to prepare highly qualified specialists in protecting plants from pests, diseases, and weeds. Students become knowledgeable in entomology, phytopathology, plant resistance, quarantine, chemical and biological methods of pest control, and other ecologically-based disciplines. Upon graduation, they possess a diverse array of skills that allow developing and applying environmentally safe and effective methods of plant protection.

Education in plant protection received at the Department builds a solid foundation for successful careers in many industries. Graduates serve agroindustrial complex of the Russian Federation in many capacities, work as managers and specialists at agricultural enterprises, at international and national pesticide companies (e.g., Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, Avgust, Schelkovo Agrokhim), at scientific institutes, at agricultural colleges and universities, and at many other organizations. Recent graduates were hired by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Federal service for veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), All-Russian Plant Quarantine Center, and the Russian Agricultural Centre (Rosselkhozcentr). Many international students graduating from the Department work for governments, universities, and research institutions in republics of the former Soviet Union, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt, India, and other countries.

Translated by
Prof. A.V. Alyokhin