Memorandum of Understanding between FAO and Timiryazev Academy. Second round!

On 16 October, during World Food Day, a solemn ceremony was held to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FAO and the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (RSAU-MTAA).

“Food, our daily bread, is the foundation of everything. Food is one of the main public goods. Today, it is necessary to produce more food so that there is enough of it for the growing population. By 2050, there will be almost ten billion of us,” Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison with the Russian Federation, told the faculty and student audience. “This must be done in a way that does not deplete the planet's natural resources. We need to produce more and better, but with less.

This year’s World Food Day is dedicated to water. Water is one of the natural environments and for us, agrarians, it is also a production environment. For example, up to 20 tonnes of water are used to produce one kilogram of red meat. To grow a full orange, from which you can extract at best 70-80 grams of juice, you will need at least 50 litres of water. Water can legitimately be called a food product.

Russia has an enviable supply of clean drinking water and has more than enough water for agriculture. Few countries can compete with it or even surpass it in this respect.

At the same time, we need to realise that water is a finite resource. Contrary to the water cycle optimistically described in school textbooks, in fact, less and less water returns to nature and its quality is deteriorating. This is largely due to our lifestyles – the impact of industrialisation, urbanisation, climate change, especially global warming, and negative processes in the aquatic environment such as eutrophication and acidification of the oceans.

Even if there is plenty of quality water in Russia today, it does not mean that it should be wasted. On the contrary, it should be used as sustainably as possible. There is a lot that can be done in agriculture in this regard. This is, for example, the widespread adoption of sustainable irrigation practices. Drip, dispersed and root irrigation significantly reduce water consumption.

Moreover, let’s not forget that we are all water consumers, and everyone needs from one and a half to two litres of clean water a day to lead a healthy full life.

Probably few agrarian universities in Russia do as much to promote the international agenda as the Timiryazev Academy does. When I was appointed Director of the FAO Moscow Office four years ago, my first working visit was to your university to worship the temple of science and practice.

The relationship between FAO and RSAU-MTAA has been developing steadily based on our MoU. We have a full-fledged cooperation plan. Let me just give you three examples. First, it is the digitalization of the collection of the V. R. Williams Soil Museum. A work on a planetary scale and I do not shy away from saying that. Thanks to digitalization, the soil monoliths stored in the museum have now become the property not only of the global soil science community, but also of humanity.

This year we celebrated World Bee Day together with the Department of Beekeeping and Aquaculture and travelled to Shulgan-Tash in Bashkiria (Russia), home to the Burzyan bee (Apis mellifera mellifera), where we broadcasted to the world from a forum where we discussed the future of the industry and pollinator health.

Third, the most recent example, it is the work to promote the International Year of Millets. Scientists, PhD students and students, including those from African countries, from your Institute of Agrarian Studies, have sown 12 varieties of millet at the training ground. Following the conference, we held the "PRO PROSO" student scientific marathon and inspected the crops. A brochure on millet will soon be published, a large section of which is written by specialists from the Academy.

Photo: ©FAO/Vladimir Mikheev

Today we are gathered not only on the occasion of World Food Day, but also on the signing of the agreement to extend the MoU between FAO and RSAU-MTAA,” Oleg Kobiakov said concluding. “I would like to emphasise that there are not many institutions of higher education in the world with which FAO has a "legitimised" relationship. The Memorandum signed earlier and extended today demonstrates the high level of trust and cooperation between us.”

On behalf of Prof. Vladimir Trukhachev, RSAU-MTAA Rector and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Zhuravlev, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovative Development, addressed the participants of the ceremonial event. He expressed confidence that the extension of the MoU is the key to continuing fruitful joint activities, strengthening international dialogue, and creating a joint scientific and experimental space.

“The Timiryazev Academy is always open to active cooperation with FAO and its Russian Office and is ready to jointly contribute to solving the world food problem,” Alexei Zhuravlev concluded.

Photo: ©FAO/Vladimir Mikheev

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The festive programme at the Timiryazev Academy continued with the presentation of an exhibition of FAO jubilee medals from Oleg Kobiakov's personal collection, which reflect traditions and historical milestones of this international organization. The exposition will run until 15 November on the first floor of the N. I. Zheleznov Central Scientific Library.

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