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SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL   www.seedtest.org
ACCREDITATION  •
‘Development of the seed industry in Kyrgyzstan’ 
project.
Laboratory furniture was purchased in 2002, 
and operations began. That year, the laboratory 
was staffed with five people: the Head of the 
Laboratory Elena Tkachenko, two leading 
specialists and two specialists. Also in 2002, 
international seed testing courses were organised 
in Riga, Latvia. At the end of March of that year, 
a course on sample testing according to the ISTA 
Rules was held in Bishkek with the international 
consultant of the TACIS project, Miguel Oliveras 
(Sweden). That same year, work began on 
restoring the seed collection, conducting tests 
to determine seed sowing qualities according 
to the ISTA Rules, and mastering new methods, 
including the calibration of laboratory 
equipment and instruments.
On 22 May 2003, the Central Laboratory became 
an ISTA member. Elena Tkachenko, Head of the 
Laboratory, was appointed a Personal Member of 
ISTA. In May of that year, a two-week seed testing 
course was organised with Monica Frank, an 
international consultant for the TACIS project. 
By December of that year, the laboratory’s 
participation in ISTA Proficiency Testing 
began, and the laboratory’s documents for ISTA 
Training course on seed testing methods using the ISTA Rules, held at RSSI in Bishkek in December 
2008, for participants from the former Soviet Union: trainers Drs Norbert Leist and Andrea Jonitz 
(Germany)
Participants of the training with trainers and staff of RSSI, December 2008

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