The purpose of the article is to study the activities and scientific achievements in the field of genetics and breeding of agricultural crops by Lyubov Kalynivna Taranenko (1938-2017), a Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor, and scientist at the National Scientific Center "Institute of Agriculture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine".

It is recognized that L. K. Taranenko rightfully occupies an honorable place among the prominent figures of domestic agrarian science, being one of the renowned breeding practitioners of the 20th and 21st centuries. The wide range of the scientist's activities in the field of research, her steadfast focus, and organizational abilities in production are traced. The history, directions, methods, status, and prospects of research on the breeding of cereal crops, particularly buckwheat, the development of varieties, and their implementation in production, are analyzed. It is proven that L. K. Taranenko pioneered a method to overcome intergeneric incompatibility in buckwheat to introgress valuable traits from wild species to cultivated forms. The unique scientific developments and research of the scientist have laid the foundation for improving the effectiveness of buckwheat breeding and are the most promising in further breeding of this crop.

The scientific priority of the researcher's results is represented by author's certificates for buckwheat varieties Kyivska, Astra, Lileya, Lyubava, Ukrayinka, Antariya, Oranta, Sofia, which were cultivated on more than 70% of the total buckwheat sown area in Ukraine; some of them have been included in the Plant Variety Register abroad.

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