Editing Trofim Lysenko (section)

===Vernalization===
{{main|Vernalization}}
The issue of the effect of low temperatures on plant development was touched upon by such famous physiologists as [[Georg Klebs]] and [[Gustav Gassner]]. For example, Gassner, based on his experiments, established that if sprouted seeds of [[winter cereal|winter crops]] are exposed to low temperatures, then the plants grown from them during spring sowing will split.<ref name="Heredity">{{cite web | title=11 Онтогенез растений | website=afonin-59-bio.narod.ru | date=2012-02-03 | url=http://afonin-59-bio.narod.ru/2_heredity/2_heredity_individual/her_ind_11.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306071106/http://afonin-59-bio.narod.ru/2_heredity/2_heredity_individual/her_ind_11.htm | archive-date=2012-03-06 | url-status=dead | access-date=2024-05-11}}</ref>

Working at the Ganja breeding station, Lysenko was also able to accelerate the development of plants. Based on his experiments, he developed a technique for germinating seeds before sowing at low positive temperatures, which he termed vernalization.<ref name="Heredity"/>

This technique was supported by a number of prominent scientists in the early 1930s. For example, Nikolai Vavilov saw the main advantage of vernalization in the possible simplification of breeding work, as well as in the ability to control the length of the growing season of plants. In addition, he believed that vernalization could help preserve winter crops from freezing during harsh winters. Vavilov wrote:<ref name="Heredity"/>
{{blockquote|It can definitely be argued that vernalization is the greatest achievement in breeding, because it has made available for use the entire world variety of varieties, which were still inaccessible for practical use due to the usual inconsistency of the growing season and the low winter hardiness of southern winter forms.}}

The main reason Vavilov initially supported Lysenko's work on vernalization was his interest in the potential use of vernalization as a means of synchronizing the flowering of various plant species in the Institute of Plant Industry collection, since Vavilov's team had encountered problems in cross-species experiments that required such synchronization. Vavilov, however, eventually stopped supporting the use of vernalization because the method did not produce the expected results.<ref name="Soifer"/>

Crops with vernalized seeds increased on USSR farms every year. In particular, in 1935, experimental vernalized crops of spring grain were carried out by more than 40,000 collective and state farms on an area of 2.1 million hectares;<ref name="Heredity"/> in 1937, 8.9 million hectares.<ref name="Agrobiology">{{cite web | title=Т. Д. Лысенко «Агробиология» | website=Теоретические основы яровизации (1935) | date=2016-09-16 | url=https://imichurin.narod.ru/lysenko/agrobiology_02.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120100609/http://imichurin.narod.ru/lysenko/agrobiology_02.html | archive-date=2012-11-20 | url-status=live | language=ru | access-date=2024-05-11}}</ref>

However, the mass introduction of vernalization into USSR agriculture ended in failure.<ref name="Soifer"/> Critics of vernalization explained this failure, among other things, by the lack of experimental data on varieties and regions of the Soviet Union. To collect data, questionnaires were sent to collective and state farms. The questionnaire method made it possible to fabricate data, suppress negative results, and was convenient for promoting vernalization.<ref name="Soifer"/> The data obtained by Lysenko and his supporters was published mainly in the journal ''Byulleten yarovizatsii'', published under the editorship of Lysenko, or in the Soviet press. However, these publications were not published in any independent scientific journals.<ref name="Soifer"/>

The agricultural method of vernalization has been criticized by experts for reasons such as the possibility of damage to seeds during the process of soaking, germination and sowing, the labor intensity of this operation, and the greater vulnerability of vernalized plants to [[Smut (fungus)|smut]]. Critics of vernalization in the 1930s included {{ill|Pyotr Konstantinov|ru|Константинов, Пётр Никифорович}}, S. Levitsky (Poland),<ref name="Heredity"/> {{ill|Pyotr Lisitsyn|ru|Лисицын, Пётр Иванович}}, and {{ill|Doncho Kostov|ru|Костов, Дончо}}.<ref name="Soifer"/>

Vernalization of grain crops during [[World War II]] (spring of 1942-1945) and the post-war period did not receive widespread industrial use. ''Pravda'', in an editorial dated 14 December 1958, argued that after the massive introduction of technology on Soviet farms, which made it possible to sow in a shorter time, vernalization of seeds "was not always necessary." However, vernalization, according to the newspaper, continued to produce "remarkable results" in the cultivation of [[Panicum|millet]] and [[potato]]es.<ref name="Soifer"/>