This paper examines the development of the plant breeding in Russia from the early 20th century to 1940 by which time Soviet plant breeding and agricultural genetics, headed by Nikolay Vavilov (1887–1943), were among the world leaders. In this paper I trace the origins of this development. The focus of my paper is on Dionisy Rudzinsky (1866–1964), Vavilov’s professor during his study in the Moscow Agricultural Institute. Rudzinsky was pioneer in the introduction of genetic theories into teaching and training of agriculturalists.

As early as 1902 Rudzinsky proposed a well-designed program to set up plant breeding stations in every region of Russian Empire. He also established the first state plant breeding station in Moscow in 1903–1908. His idea was to collect there the samples of cultivated plants for breeding research; it resulted in a number of expeditions – both domestic and foreign. Experiments inspired by Rudsinsky at the station showed an innovative approach to the theory and practice of breeding. Selection for disease resistance (1911), work delegated to Nikolay Vavilov, gave birth to the theory of immunity of plants. Another graduate student, Sergey Zhegalov, began genetic experiments (1912) into the hereditary characters of oats. Later in the 1920s Georgy Karpechenko started hybridization experiments of two genera to produce a new hybrid plant, Raphanobrassica.

Even more important were Rudzinsky’s efforts to consolidate the new breeding community. The new discipline acquired specific national forms, as reflected in the newly invented name, selektsiya (from Latin selectio). This name proposed by Rudzinsky is still the only one in Russia to describe the discipline of plant breeding.

The efforts of Rudzinsky and the few other enthusiasts for selektsiya were rapidly fruitful. By the 1940s almost 140 agricultural experiment stations all over the USSR were dealing with plant breeding; the discipline was introduced into the curricula of all agricultural institutes. Nikolay Vavilov and his Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) in Leningrad conducted over 180 expeditions (1920s – 1940) to collect seeds of wild and cultivated plants. VIR’s seed bank, with more than 250,000 samples, was regarded as priceless scientific resource. This success was undisputedly rooted in selektsiya’s theoretical knowledge and its ideology of practical implementation inherited from Rudzinsky.