Mikhail Mishchenko: There is no place for an agrarian academy in the center of Moscow

There is a corresponding petition on the website Change.org addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in 2016, when a similar situation arose around the academy, stood up for the University and called for ‘leaving it alone.’

For comment, the agency turned to Mikhail Mishchenko, director of Dairy Intelligence Agency (DIA), who expressed his "unexpected" opinion about the present and future of a well-known university in the country.

‘Probably, I will be cursed, but Timiryazev Agrarian Academy should not be here,’ the expert believes. ‘I had such an opinion last time when this issue arose in 2016, and I have the same opinion now. The Academy with its fields and vegetable gardens is located quite close to the center of Moscow, which, of course, is very convenient for the teaching staff and students, since you can get to your place of work and study by metro. However, the question of the effectiveness of all this arises: why is the vast area of land not actually used for its intended purpose? Firstly, we see that the expensive land in almost the center of Moscow is planted with vegetable gardens, and secondly, how many graduates of the academy are going to be involved in agriculture? 

According to Mikhail Mishchenko, some students enter the academy after failing exams at other universities. They receive management degree at the Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy and then go to work in city offices.

As an example, he made mention of the Kuban State Agrarian University in Krasnodar region.

‘In my opinion, based on what I have seen, this is the best agricultural university in Russia,’ the expert said. ‘Let's see what farms it has, where they are located, what level of graduates leave this University and go to work in agriculture. 

Alternatively, the director of Dairy Intelligence Agency offered to sell expensive academy lands and build a new university with modern convenient campuses and new equipment with the proceeds.

‘If the state needs an agricultural university that would train students to work in agriculture, then why not the state build it in Central Russia - Yaroslavl, Tver or Kostroma region, so that people come there from villages and learn new technologies,’ the expert concluded. ‘A modern campus has been built on the Russian Island, in the Far East, why not do it here now?’