History of the Department

The Department of Horticulture named after Prof. V.L. Symyrenko is one of the oldest departments of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiP of Ukraine). Its origins date back to 1921, when the Department of Horticulture and Vegetable Growing was established following the creation of the Kyiv Agricultural Institute on the basis of the Agronomy Faculty of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

In 1994, the Department of Fruit and Vegetable Growing was reorganised into two separate units: the Department of Horticulture and the Department of Vegetable Growing. In 2012, the Department of Horticulture was named after Professor Volodymyr Levkovych Symyrenko, an outstanding scientist in horticulture, geneticist, pomologist, and distinguished educator.

The first head of the Department of Fruit and Vegetable Growing was Professor A.A. Piontkovskyi. Between 1926 and 1932, the department was headed by Prof. V.L. Symyrenko, who made a significant contribution to the development of horticultural science and education.

The development of the department’s infrastructure began in 1929, when the institute moved to Holosiievo. Before World War II, the university training farm in Holosiievo included restored monastery orchards, newly established collections of fruit, berry, and vegetable crops, a fruit nursery, greenhouse facilities, and processing units for fruit and vegetable products. Most of these facilities were destroyed during the war.

The restoration of educational activities and research infrastructure began in spring 1944. After 1944, the department was headed at different times by V.M. Markov, O.L. Polishchuk, V.L. Snizhko, H.O. Kabluchko, B.K. Haponenko, and O.Yu. Barabash.

After the reorganisation in 1994, the Department of Horticulture was headed by M.V. Andriienko, P.V. Kondratenko, T.Ye. Kondratenko, I.I. Khomenko, V.T. Hontar, A.M. Sylaieva, and B.M. Mazur.

Study Programmes

The Department of Horticulture is a degree-granting department that provides training for specialists in Horticulture, Fruit and Vegetable Growing, and Viticulture (Specialty 203).

Each year the department graduates approximately 20–25 Bachelor’s students and 10–15 Master’s students.

The department also offers doctoral training (PhD programme) in the field of Horticulture and Viticulture.

Research Activities

The main research areas of the department include:

• breeding of fruit, berry, and underutilised crops;

• investigation of their biological and economic characteristics;

• development of modern technologies for cultivation and propagation.

Researchers of the department have developed six national standards for cultivation and propagation technologies of horticultural crops and obtained more than 30 certificates of authorship for plant varieties and patents for inventions.

Under the leadership of P.Z. Sherengov, head of the specialised research laboratory on breeding of fruit and berry crops and cultivation technologies, more than 80 varieties of fruit and berry crops were created. Among them, 19 varieties are included in the State Register of Plant Varieties Suitable for Dissemination in Ukraine.

Facilities and Research Infrastructure

The main educational and research base of the department is the Educational Laboratory “Fruit and Vegetable Orchard” and the training and production facilities of NUBiP of Ukraine.

In addition, according to an agreement between NUBiP of Ukraine and the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, the department uses the institute’s commercial and experimental orchards of fruit and berry crops as a research base.

Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students conduct research in these orchards as part of their scientific projects. They also have access to the scientific library of the Institute of Horticulture, which contains extensive academic, technical, methodological, and popular literature in the field of horticulture.