On 19 November, 2011 at Hilton Leningradskaya hotel the II Forum «Fresh Food Russia 2011» was held to focus on fresh food, prepared food for modern store network. This event, Fresh Food Russia 2011, is only a forum in Russia, where such questions as purchases and storage of fresh food, contemporary solutions for reimbursement and waste recycling, logistics, organization of your own fabrication, control for poor-quality and expired products in store network were discussed. For the first time these possibilities of the Forum give an opportunity to hand over a prize of Fresh Food Awards and carry on negotiations with manufacturers and suppliers of fresh food in retail store network in Russia.

Pre-breeding research on 20 accessions from collection of broad bean (Vicia faba L.) of All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Breeding and Seed Production has been performed. Four traits such as height of plan, height of stem from soil surface up to lowest bean (most important characteristics for mechanized harvesting), number of seeds in the bean, and the size of seeds were taken to be studied. Four promising accessions N 9, N 27, N 33, N 15d-vf18096 that have a set of three valuable characteristics, namely the high seed yield, large seeds, and great height of the stem from the soil surface up to lowest bean have been selected out at previous stage of breeding program.

In the Ekaterina Hall, Moscow Kremlin, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev presented 36 outstanding Russian citizens with orders, medals, and diplomas on awarding honourable titles. Our colleague head of laboratory of plant introduction and seed research, doctor of agricultural science, Peter Fedorovich Kononkov was decorated by the Order of Honour in accordance with official edict N 56 signed by Russian President on 17 January, 2011.

In June, 2011 four candidate research works have been maintained and accepted by the members of thesis committee D220.019.01 to confer a PhD degree and a Doctoral degree

The different varieties of cabbage were assessed to be suitable for processing technology. As result of assessment, the best cultivars and heterosis hybrids have been chosen for this proposes. The canned products were also trialed.

On 25th February, 2011 the jubilee international conference "The Role of Physiology and Biochemistry for Plant Introduction and Breeding of Vegetables, Fruit and Berries Crops and Medicinal Plants» was held in All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Breeding and Seed Production at laboratory of plant physiology and seed research and that was dedicated to 130th anniversary of Prof. Zhegalov's birth; and 80 years since the laboratory of plant physiology and seed research was organized. The major directions of plant physiology and biochemistry research in vegetables, fruit and berries crops that were presented by scientists from the former USSR republics and far abroad were reported in this article.

he results of research on features of propagation of new medicinal and aromatic plant crops, nontraditional and traditional cultures such as Lophantus anisatus Benth, Hyssopus officinalis L. are highlighted in the article. The results that were obtained describe the influence of chemicals for active growth on root formation onto grafts of Hyssopus officinalis L.

On 14-18 June, 2011, XI international symposium on «New and nontraditional Plant Cultures and Prospects of Their Use» was hosted by Institute of Fundamental Problems of Biology, RAS.

The results of many years' research on elaboration technology for carrot cultivation in vertical zones of Central Pre-Caucasus are presented in the article. The integrated estimation of the economic efficiency of this technology has been carried out.

On the base of research results on quality characteristics of candied vegetable marrow, for the first time the standard CTO 45727225-20 has been elaborated to control the quality of vegetable production and to improve the technological discipline in production of candied vegetable marrow.