Lysenko began conducting agricultural research, focusing on ways to improve crop yields in challenging environments. He initially worked at the Azerbaijan Plant Breeding Station in Ganja (then Kirovabad).

Lysenko started experimenting with vernalization, a process of pre-treating seeds to accelerate growth. He incorrectly believed vernalization could cause inheritable changes.

Lysenko publishes his initial findings on vernalization in the newspaper "Pravda", generating considerable attention and portraying him as a 'barefoot scientist' helping the working class.

Lysenko's vernalization methods are adopted on a larger scale in Soviet agriculture, though its efficacy is often overstated and leads to inconsistent results. This wider adoption fueled his rise.