VASKhNIL (Russian language: ВАСХНИЛ) was the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Soviet Union (the acronym stands for Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences or V.I. Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences - Всесоюзная академия сельскохозяйственных наук имени В. И. Ленина). Built upon the model of the Academy of Sciences of USSR, VASKhNIL included not only a body of academicians but a vast network of research institutions scattered all over the country with thousands of researchers, plant and cattle breeders.