We recently completed the scanning of the majority of IPI's publications from the early days of the institute.
We felt that having valuable literature on dusty shelves does no good... so we have uploaded it to the web.
See the publications on our website which include proceedings, research topics and other crop bulletins from the 60s and 70s. Not all the data is valid, however we believe that easy access to scientific work conducted 30 to 40 years ago remains valuable.
With these new scans, along with Potash Review (1956-1995) which was uploaded in 2010, we can now provide our online users with full access to IPI's K literature.
Dr. Vladimir Prokoshev, IPI Coordinator for the Former Soviet Union (1993-2003) died on 26 September 2011, aged 79.
Born in 1931, Dr. Prokoshev graduated from the Perm Agricultural Institute in 1954 and later worked at the Ramenskaya Agricultural Research Station near Moscow for 22 years. His most fruitful period for his research activities was related to his work at the Lubertsy Agricultural Research Station in the same region of Russia where he did his doctorate dissertation on the Agrochemistry of Potash Fertilizers (in 1984). Dr. Prokoshev's major ideas were accumulated in a book on Potash and Potash Fertilizers (185 pages), which he wrote with co-author, Dr. I.P. Deryugin (Dr. Deryugin passed away in 2010). This publication explains that exchangeable and easily exchangeable potassium (CaCl2-extracted) need to be measured and assessed in Russia to characterize the availability of soil potassium in addition to routine acid extractants. The book also summarized the efficiency of potash fertilizer use for major crops in Russia.
As an expert in his field, Dr. Prokoshev became a member of the IPI Scientific Committee in the late '80s and, in 1993, was nominated by Russian potash producers to serve as a coordinator for IPI activities in the Former Soviet Union. During the ten years he worked for IPI, he initiated many field experiments and published extensively. His work on potash fertilizers in soil and its effect on plant crops in different agroclimatic regions was fundamental and supported scientific, as well as extension and farming communities. His scientific capacity and dedication were greatly appreciated by his IPI colleagues, as well as his modesty and kindness for which he was much loved.
We shall miss him and will cherish the scientific legacy he left behind.
