The paper reviews current situation in mushroom production as fast developing industry of agriculture. It provides historical information about mushroom species first cultivated in the East (Auricularia spp., Lentinulla edodes, Flammulina velutipes) and in Europe (Pleurotus ostreatus, Agaricus bisporus). The data on the extensiveness of mushroom artificial cultivation and its share in the total volume of world industrial production at present are given. The importance of mushroom products as a new food source under current edible protein deficiency is noted. It is supposed that by 2050 a third of man consumed proteins will be accounted for by the mushroom proteins. The situation of mushroom production in Russia is paid special attention to, as demand for this product here is still exceeds supply. Extensive and intensive ways of artificial cultivation of wood-attacking fungi are compared, the sequence of technological process stages under intensive cultivation of mushrooms is described. The value of edible mushrooms as a source of physiologically active substances for biomedical application is defined. The paper provides the results of evaluation of the prospects of the biotechnological use of some wood-attacking fungi in the cultivation of their mycelium. The activity of glycoproteinoses complex, obtained by hydro extraction from the submersed mycelium of Trametes versicolor fungus as to the correction of white mice immune system is noted. Also recorded is the effectiveness of endopolysaccharide of Gametes ochracea at low temperature conservation of human blood cells. The aspects of artificial cultivation of mushrooms in connection with the problem of agricultural and forest industry wastes disposal are discussed. The conclusion is made about an urgent need for expansion of international ties for a fuller and wider use of mushrooms as a valuable biological resource.

High winter hardiness is an advantage of winter rye over other cereals. This trait is determined by a number of parameters: biological and genetic properties, weather conditions and technological features. The main reasons of failure of winter rye sowings in North-East of European Russia are frost-killing and asphyxiation. Frost-killing is characteristic for beginning of winter with low snow cover and for cold spell in spring. The critical situation with frost damage in the region was recorded in 2009-2010 when soil temperature at the depth of tillering zone site continuously kept at -18 °С day and night. The depth of soil freezing was more than a meter. Winter wheat and triticale were almost completely winterkilled in Kirov region. The failure rate of winter rye Falenskaya 4 in Federal Agricultural Scientific Center of North-East was equal to 17%. Annual damage of rye production in the region is caused by asphyxiation and affection by snow mold (M nivale). On the average damage caused by this disease is 15-20% and in some years even more. Other unfavorable factors of overwintering are shell ice, damping-off and pushing-out of crops. Stability of winter rye production depends on observing the cultivation technology and breeding of highly winter-hardy varieties. Thus, winter resistance is one of the key priorities of breeding programs in North-East of European Russia. The development of such varieties depends on improvement the breeding methods and use of sources of winter hardiness corresponded to region conditions.

The article reviewed the foreign and Russian research of the changes in quality of royal jelly (Apis mellifera L.) caused by paratypic factors. The main quality standards of royal jelly are the total content of protein, sugars and 10-HDA concentration. The total protein and 10-HDA content determine the therapeutic properties of royal jelly. In 12 countries standards for royal jelly have been developed, these criteria do not differ much, but in Russia this standard regulates the product with no regard to modern methods of evaluation and quality standard. The quality of royal jelly is influenced by many factors. Honey bees of different breed origin produce royal jelly with different content of total protein and 10-HDA. Dark honey bees produce royal jelly with an average 0.3% higher concentration of protein and 10 - HDA. A negative correlation between the total gain of royal jelly and 10-HDA concentration has been determined (r=-0.77, p<0.05). The quality_of melliferous plants have a direct influence on the change in the total amount of sugars, protein and 10-hDa in royal jelly. By getting royal jelly from rape and lime bee pastures its quality criteria are higher, compared to apiaries with deadnettle plants. When plants don’t distill nectar, artificial carbohydrate-protein feedings have to be applied. It raises the total sugar content in royal jelly, reducing the quality. During the storage of royal jelly amino acid content varies. According to storage method this index ranges from 20% to 50%.

Expansion of winter triticale acreage in the Middle Urals is limited by a small range of modern varieties adapted to the region conditions. This arises the need for breeding, modeling of this crop new variety being the first stage of this work. The research was carried out in the Udmurt Republic in 2010-2015. Studies of the winter triticale varieties allowed to identify the nature of interrelation between the crop yield, its structure indices and winter resistance. On the average during the years of studies it became possible to establish a close correlation between the yielding capacity of winter triticale with its winter resistance (r = 0.72±0.23), of winter resistance with density of cultivated plants (r = 0.82±0.16) and density of yielding plant stand (r = 0.86±0.17). At the same time winter resistance did not affect the number of grains in the head, the weight of grain in the head, the weight of 1000 grains, the head length and density index. The calculation data were used in modeling of a new variety. A negative correlation between the height of plants with weight of 1000 grains (r = -0.63±0.26) and the weight of grain in the head (r = -0.41±0.30) indicates that an increase in the plant height is undesirable. The similar nature of the head length and density index relation (r = -0.42±0.21) allows to increase the head length and to decrease its density without reduction in yielding capacity of the head. The yielding capacity of the head may be raised by an increase in its grain content (r = 0.95±0.11) and in the weight of 1000 grains (r = 0.85±0.18). Optimal morphological traits (tuft type, presence of waxiness, position of the flag leaf, head necking, pubescence under the head, head and awns color) and biological traits (growing season length, lodging resistance) of a model variety of winter triticale were determined based upon the local edaphoclimatic characteristics.

Soft spring wheat has a wide range of genetic diversity in water deficiency response at juvenile stage of plant development. Fifty-nine collection samples were studied under laboratory conditions. In control variant distilled water was used, in experiment - sucrose solution (9 atm). The relative index of seed roots number is the most information-bearing criterion for estimation of potential drought-resistance level. Based on this criterion 16.9% samples of the studied set are estimated as highly resistant, 50.8% - as resistant ones. Low level of resistance is characteristic for only 5.1% of studied genotypes. The following species were recognized as having high drought-resistance level: ANK-4 (Novosibirsk region, Russia), Vetluzhanka (Krasnoyarsk territory, Russia), Vishivanka (Ukraine), E-737 (Kazakhstan), Cahuide (Peru), Klein Vencedor (Argentina), Musket (Great Britain), NOS Norko (Germany), Ta 3332 (Finland). Cluster analysis divided the whole set of variety samples into 5 groups having different combinations of such parameters as seed germination ability, number of seed roots, the intensity of root development and germ growth both under control and in conditions of physiological drought. To raise the level of potential drought resistance it is possible to use genotypes from remote clusters for crossing.

The study was carried out in 2013-2015 in the Republic of Mordovia on leached medium deep heavy loam chernozem. In a field experiment the effect of pre-sowing application of mineral nitrogen fertilizers (N60) in combination with dressing-applied (N30) on yield and grain quality of covered varieties of oats (Gorizont, Krechet, Eclipse) was studied. The average yield of spring oat varieties without mineral fertilization varied from 2.58 to 2.84 t/ha. Early application of nitrogen mineral fertilizers under cultivation (N60) contributed to the increase in the seed productivity of spring oat varieties by 0.02-0.49 t/ha (Least Significant Difference LSD 0.5=0.12). The combination of pre-sowing application with dressing-applied nitrogen at the tillering stage (N30) led to increase in grain yield of spring oats by 0.18-0.43 t/ha (LSD 0.5=0.20) as compared to the variant without mineral fertilization. On the average in the experience the test weight of oat grain was 480-573 g/l. Nitrogen application for early-spring cultivation provided the increase of this index by 3-84 g/l (LSD 0.5 =6.5), mineral dressing at tillering stage - by 31-74 g/l (LSD 0.5=6.9) At the same time such parameters as the mass of 1000 grains and the degree of grain uniformity were not influenced by the rates of nitrogen fertilizers. Krechet variety proved to be the best among the cultivars studied. It showed almost as high seed productivity as standard Gorizont variety.

The article covers information on the preliminary results of breeding work carried out in the Chuvash Republic in 2002-2017 on production of new high-yielding hops varieties of bitter and aromatic types with high content of alpha acids. The basis of clonal selection method is the production of stable over time introduced population characterized by a high level of polymorphism in the main economically important traits. The method of clonal selection of hops, as a vegetative propagated culture, allows to select plants with tending to positive indicators in a population of one variety or a mixed variety and to fix these characteristics in the progeny in the course of further work. From the high-yielding varieties with high content of alpha acids selected in the collection 7 hops varieties were chosen for further work. Depending on the weather conditions and age of plantings preliminary data on the parameters of the basic clonal selection material were obtained. Two clones with the following parameters were selected. Clone 1-17 of bitter-aromatic type, growing season length is 100 days, the wet hop yield is 4.1 kg per a plant, the content of alpha acids in cones is 9.5%. Clone 6-26 of bitter type, growing season length is 112 days, the wet hop yield is 4.3 kg per a plant, the content of alpha acids in cones is 9.5%.

Provision of stable grain production ensures food security for any state. Wheat is the main grain crop in Kazakhstan. But harsh climate does not allow to get high yields on the regular. Therefore, it is necessary to find grain reserves by introducing other grain crops. Triticale has been focused on here recently though it is not widely spread, and its cultivation technology, including the use of fertilizers, almost has not been studied yet. The aim of the research is to study the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on the yield and grain quality of spring triticale on dark chestnut soils of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan. The object of the research is spring triticale of Amigo variety. In 2015-2017 the rates and time of nitrogen application were studied. The climatic conditions during the years of research differed both by temperature range and the amount of rainfall during the vegetation period. On average for three years the highest yield (1.98 t/ha) was obtained on P60 background in variants: N60 before sowing; N30 before sowing in complex with N30 during the tillering phase. With nitrogen application on P60 background the yield increase was 0.55-0.7 t/ha, the protein content in triticale grain raised from 7.6 to 9.9-10.7%. Increase in fertilizer rates led to rise in grain yields, but payback of 1 kg of acting matter of fertilizer in grain has reduced. The greatest return of 1 kg of the acting matter was obtained by applying N30 during the tillering phase on phosphorus-free background -10.2-10.4 kg of grain. To increase the yield and quality of spring triticale the variant with nitrogen application at rate N60 both by single and dosing application on P60 background is recommended.

The research was done in 2015-2017 in the Kirov region on sod-podzolic middle-loamy soil formed on eluvia of Perm clay. Naked oat of Persheron variety was cultivated after spring wheat. The rates of fertilizers in experiment ranged from 30 to 150 kg of acting matter of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. With increase in fertilizers rates the productivity of naked oat was rising, but yield gain was declining with every next dose. Grain productivity was mainly determined by use of nitric and phosphoric fertilizers and to a smaller degree - by potassium ones. The highest yield was obtained by applying complete minerals at rate N60P60K60, which provided the productivity of 2.41 t/ha that is 1.6 times higher than without fertilizers, and at rate N90P30K30 - 2.52 t/ha. The highest payback from 1 kg of acting matter of fertilizers by the main product was in variants N60 - 5.5 kg, N30P30K30 - 5.7 kg, N60P60 - 6.4 kg, N90P30K30 - 6.9 kg of grain. Each increase in fertilizer rate led to decline in return of grain, at maximum dose of N150P150K150 it was 2.1 kg. The productivity value of naked oat and payback of fertilizers in grain were influenced by weather conditions during the growing season. The highest productivity of naked oat (1.96- 3.47 t/ha) was noted in 2015 because of favorable weather, in arid conditions of 2016 it was the lowest (0.85-2.05 t/ha). Grain quality of naked oat depended mainly on weather conditions during the growing season and harvesting period. The application of mineral fertilizers had minor effect on test weight and weight of 1000 grains, in variants these parameters were 593-640 g/l and 23.2-30g respectively.

The intensity of straw decomposition in crop rotation with and without the use of mineral and organic fertilizers and the effect of straw on the number of microorganisms in sod-podzolic soil were studied. The results of the studies were summarized according to the data of two long lasting stationary field experiments conducted at different time. It was established that the process of straw decomposition in the soil is extended in time and develops in stages. In the year of its application the greatest development was obtained by bacteria which used organic nitrogen. On the first_aftereffect of straw, along with the increase in the number of bacteria using organic nitrogen, the process of its decomposition included actinomycetes, fungi and cellulose bacteria. In the third year the number of cellulolytic bacteria and fungi increased. Solid manure and green manure together inhibited the process of straw mineralization. Microorganisms were originally included in the processing of easily degradable green manure and manure and did not react to a hardly decomposable substratum, the straw, its mineralization was moved to the last stage. Liquid manure when mixed with straw was, in general, equal to nitrogen fertilizers. It provided the development of more fungi and cellulolytic bacteria. Bacteria that consume organic nitrogen under the first crop (peas) developed better when the straw was buried at a depth of 20-22 cm compared to surface deposition to a depth of 14-16 cm. The number of fungi and cellulolytic bacteria did not change at the same time. In the second year under the winter rye, the number of actinomycetes increased with incorporation of straw to a depth of 14-16 cm. In the third year, under barley, the straw embedded into 20-22 cm depth positively affected the development of actinomycetes and cellulolytic bacteria. Thus, the incorporation of straw into the traditional depth of the arable layer of 20-22 cm had no negative effect on the development of aerobic bacteria (actinomycetes and cellulolytic bacteria).

Specific features of embryonic development of eggs isolated from gonads of Trichuris skrjabini nematodes females, obtained during helminthological opening in sheep, were studied. It is proved that during the growth and development of this species of trichurises eggs there are significant changes in the metric indices of their length and width, as well as in the length and width of their lids. It is determined that at 27 °С in laboratory conditions T. skrjabini eggs become infectious during 51 days with survival rate of 80.0±0.82 % (20.0±0.81% of eggs stop in development and subsequently die). The embryogenesis process has six morphologically distinct stages: protoplast (from the 1^st to the 12^th day); blastomeres formation (from the 6^th to the 24^th day); bean-like embryo (from the 12^th to the 33^d day), tadpole-like embryo (from the 15^th to the 36^th day); larval formation (from the 27^th to the 48^th day); and mobile larva (from the 27^th to the 51^st day). The development of T. skrjabini eggs to the infectious stage in laboratory conditions is characterized by their lengthening to 75.7±0.36 μm (by 2.0%, р < 0.05), narrowing to 37.3±0.30 μm (by 2.4%, р < 0.05) and lengthening to 12.2±0.42 μm (by 16.4%, р < 0.01) and thinning to 12.1±0.10 μm (by 5.5 %, р < 0.01) of the egg lids. The changes of egg shell thickness were not statistically significant. Considering the data on the morphological structure and the period of nematodosis pathogens eggs development it is possible to plan the time of taking measures to prevent and control trichurosis in sheep.

The article provides the results of the analysis of historical trends in the development of dairy cattle breeding in 1950-2016 in all kinds of economies: in the Republics of Mordovia, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Mari El, Tatarstan, in Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg and Perm regions (the number of cows, an average milk yield and milk production). To smooth random fluctuations of the time series levels the simple moving average method was used. Regression analysis allowed us to obtain the average annual increase/decrease trends for enlarged periods. The results were compared at the regional level. The study revealed that the relative trends for number of cows in all regions of the Volga Federal District ranged from +1.3 to +2.9% up to 1980, and from -4.2 to -1.2% after 1980. Relative growth rates of the average annual milk yield ranged from +0.3 to +5.6%. Since 1950 up to 1990 in regions under study the total milk production was increasing every 10 years. The highest growth rate was observed in Mari El Republic (4.0%), while in the Udmurt Republic, Tatarstan and Samara region it stayed almost at the same level (+3.0%...+3.2%), in other regions it ranged from +1.8 to +2.9%. Since 1990 the annual decline in milk production was noted in Chuvash Republic (-1.2%), Mari El Republic (-2.1%), Penza region (-3.3%) and Ulyanovsk region (-3.9%). In the Republics of Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Tatarstan and in Saratov region by the end of 2010 the total milk production had increased but in 2015 it declined. At the same time by 2015 in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara regions the tendencies for milk production had increased.

The article analyzes the concept of “tourist destination” in reference to the hunting tourism, speaking of which only a territory inhabited by some kind of game can be called a destination. The paper introduces a relatively new term for the science of game management in Russia, a “tourist hunting destination”. The tourist hunting activity is known to occur and develop in the territorial natural complexes having definite natural and economic characteristics which allow for hunting for certain types of game. To describe them as natural and socio-economic phenomena, the term of “tourist hunting destination” is increasingly used. In the article this concept is given definition and characteristic in view of modern concepts that have been developed on carrying out hunting tourism studies. It is shown that the tourist hunting destination can be characterized as a physical and geographical territory and socio-economic area within the boundaries of the subject of the Russian Federation, where hunting resources are attractive for hunters. The functions of managing the protection, reproduction and regulation of the use of these areas are carried out by authorized federal agencies. The scheme of interaction of the territorial executive authority and economic entities in the sphere of hunting tourism regarding the use of game resources is suggested. The criteria of the tourist hunting destination are proposed. Several phases of development of tourist hunting destinations are identified and the main factors that limit their capacity are determined. It is shown that the most important feature that characterizes the image of a tourist hunting destination is the quality of its hunting trophies and services provided for bagging of game, correlated with the price. It is concluded that the tourist hunting destination is one of the important components in hunting tourism.