Contribution of Jānis Lielmanis in plant breeding in Latvia
In autumn 1922, the Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia delegated agronomist Jānis Hilarijs Lielmanis (1895-1970) to organise and establish the State Stende Breeding Station. For many years, he was a director (1922-1940) and later a researcher (1945-1956) of the State Stende Breeding Station. Under the guidance of Lielmanis, an infrastructure for breeding work was formed and research into the morphological, biological, and economic traits of local plant varieties obtained from different Latvian regions were begun in the station. Already in 1924, breeders started breeding of cereals, peas, flax, potato, and clover, using selection from local and foreign varieties and also hybridisation. Until 1945, breeders in Stende, under the guidance of Jānis Lielmanis, developed 16 plant varieties, in the period from 1945 to 1960 — 19 varieties. Parallel to his work in Stende, Lielmanis delivered lectures on plant breeding at the University of Latvia (1933-1940) and lectures on genetics, breeding, and seed production at the Latvian University of Agriculture (1940-1944, then Jelgava Academy of Agriculture; 1945-1948). In the later part of his life, Lielmanis worked in the Latvian Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture (1957-1970), where he conducted research in crop farming and breeding of red clover using traditional breeding methods, as well as polyploidy and heterosis methods, which was modern for that time. The research results of oat growth and acclimatisation were summarised by Lielmanis in his habilitation paper (1933), and the results of breeding and growth of red clover — in his dissertation thesis. He was awarded a degree of candidate of agricultural sciences in 1957 and a doctoral degree in 1968. He was very principled in his scientific viewpoints; he supervised five doctoral theses written by candidates of agricultural sciences, published 457 scientific and popular-scientific articles, and wrote six books. Taking into consideration the contribution of Lielmanis to Latvian agricultural science, in 1995, the Jānis Lielmanis award was established, which has been received by breeders, breeding groups, and seed producers for their contribution in plant breeding and seed production in Latvia.