Some reviews of foreign and Soviet and scientists

    “This meeting exceeded all my expectations both scientifically and socially. As a guest from a Western European country, I can say that the warm welcome and cordial attitude of the cheerful hosts of the conference exceeded my expectations.          The leaders of the conference and their capable assistants showed talent in organizing the Symposium and created favorable conditions for the friendly relations and attention that made our stay here so unforgettable. I learned a lot and most importantly, made new friends in the Soviet Union. I am very happy and grateful for the impressions of the conference and the beautiful ancient inspiring country of Armenia. Thanks a lot!"

Sharpenzeel, Germany

     “The Syrian delegation, having familiarized themselves with your achievements, expresses its admiration and satisfaction, in particular, in the field of amelioration of soda salt marshes using chemical ameliorants and rightly considers Armenian scientists to be the pioneers of this method, which will be applied by scientists from other countries that have such a problem.

In addition to the above, we got acquainted with other advanced research in the field of fertilizer application, mineralogy and other land reclamation issues.

     We highly appreciate and are proud of our friendship with the Armenian people.

     We are confident that the ties of friendship between the Syrian and Arab people and the people of Armenia will continue to develop for the benefit of our peoples.”

Dr. Georges Somy. Head Department of Irrigation and Drainage of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Dr. Farooq Al Shawa. Head of the Department of Land Reclamation, Damascus University

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     “Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues. We express our deep gratitude to the organizers of the symposium, which was held at a high scientific level. We are all full of impressions. We know Armenians from France. But what we saw here was amazing. Yerevan is one of the modern cities in the world with a unique architecture. We are full of impressions from visiting the Institute of Soil Science, a scientific center well equipped with modern equipment. It is amazing how it became possible in ten years of existence to create such an institution, which can be envied by any of the institutions with a hundred-year history.

    The Institute not only develops serious scientific problems, but also provides real assistance to farmers. We are very pleased with our visit to the reclamation station, this is an exemplary scientific institution. For the first time, we saw the practical development of soda salt marshes, the tour was brilliantly organized, the demonstration of convincing scientific data and experimental fields gave us confidence about the possibility of developing soda salt marshes.

     Now, at the University of Paris, I can show students photographs of reclaimed soda salt marshes.

     Monsieur Petrosyan, I don't know how to express my gratitude to you, you are a brilliant organizer and scientist. We understand how much effort has been invested in organizing such an institute and symposium. The hospitality of Armenians is fantastic.

     We will be happy to host you at home"

Jaubert. Academician of the French National. Academy of Sciences Director of the Paris Soil Institute

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    “Your Highness, Mr. President of the Symposium, dear colleagues in the Presidium, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Coming from the northwestern country of Europe, I have the honor to speak on behalf of this continent and I want to thank our Armenian colleagues for the very good Symposium they offered us. This is a very difficult task, but I hope that my sincerity will cover the paucity of words. I believe that in the field of saline soils, and in soil science in general, you have great achievements here. We have heard wonderful reports here and we have seen how much attention was given to all the speakers in an always overcrowded hall. Starting from the reception of guests in Moscow with greetings and flowers, to the arrangement, registration, secretariat, distribution of reports, translations. The organization of the symposium was excellent. Excursions, opera, wonderful work that we saw at the Reclamation Experimental Station and amazing Armenian monuments, landscape, including Lake Sevan and your wonderful cognac.      Entertainment program, melody and sensitivity of Armenian music. The kindness and cordiality shown by our hosts and those who hold high positions and those who are in low positions. I am sure that all this will forever be sealed in our hearts. However, I believe that in addition to scientific achievements, we have achieved the greatest success here in the field of friendship and peace between peoples. Therefore, I want to commend all my Armenian colleagues for what they have done for the success of the Symposium.

     Your Highness and the President of the Symposium, I would like to focus the gratitude of the European countries represented here to the outstanding scientist and the most pleasant person of this meeting, Professor Dr. G.P. Petrosyan. In my words towards him, I put great joy, our most sincere thanks and best wishes for the successful continuation of work in the field of soil science in Armenia and the USSR. Thank you"

Cardoso. Portugal

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    “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to say a few words about my impressions of the Symposium. As we all know, irrigated saline lands worldwide represent one third of the total land area. Another significant fact is that irrigated drylands and semi-desert areas are mainly located in developed countries, where the population develops and improves

these areas. The convening of the Symposium here in Yerevan, in the Armenian SSR was timely, especially in the view that the FAO Representative, Mr. Elgabali, mentioned here. Last week we gathered to confer on the technical problems of land and water use in the Middle East. At that meeting, the main emphasis was placed mainly on the problem of saline soils. That is why I say that our Symposium here in Yerevan is extremely timely, both in terms of how we will cooperate and exchange views both on the issues of the Symposium discussion and on

future activities of the commission for the use of land and waters of the Middle East.

    At the end of the report, I want to express in words what actually cannot be expressed in words. Words cannot express the feelings and hospitality that were shown towards us here in Yerevan. This can be attributed to the excellent preparation of the Organizing Committee, headed by the Minister of Agriculture of the Armenian SSR and Dr. Petrosyan and Dr. Sabolch. Thanks to them, we had the opportunity to meet and exchange views and feel their hospitality. Thank you for everything"

Qadri, FAO, Iraq

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    "Ladies and gentlemen. To all that we have heard here, I want to add again and again the words of sincere gratitude to the Minister of Agriculture of the Soviet Union, Mr. Artyushin, his representative here, the Minister of Agriculture of the ArmSSR. It is a great honor that the Minister of the Republic is here among us.

    We are deeply grateful to Professor Petrosyan and his colleagues and deeply indebted to those who took part in the preparation of the Symposium. First of all, I must mention UNESCO and FAO, but of course many scientists and non-scientists have done their best to prepare the Symposium. Many scientists are soil scientists of the Institute of Soil Science in Yerevan, soil scientists of the Institute. Dokuchaev in Moscow and many in the secretariat, our talented translators, electronics specialists and others. We are indebted to them.

   The fact that outstanding scientists have gathered in Yerevan is a great success. These are people who occupy a dominant position in the field of saline soils. I must sincerely thank you for your patience and your work, for your messages and work in preparing the soil map. I express my gratitude to the compilers of the soil map. Those who contributed and did a lot for the preparation of the soil map are now present here”

     Sabolch I.

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   “I am very glad that I could visit the Institute again and the reclamation work in the fields. Purposeful work and consistency were crowned with complete success. There is no such complex melioration of soda lands as in Armenia anywhere in the world. Therefore, I hope for further dissemination of these results and wish dear G.P. Petrosyan and his staff new successes and happiness.”

Sabolch I.

   “From the moment of my arrival in Yerevan and throughout my stay in Armenia, I was amazed and touched by the courtesy and cordiality with which we were received. I am very touched by the care that the responsible persons of the organizing committee have shown us.

    I followed with great interest all the reports of the remarkable specialists of different nations, but I regret that the lack of time did not allow for longer discussions. I especially appreciated the excursion that we made on Wednesday to the experimental reclamation station, during which we had the opportunity to see the important and effective work carried out by Soviet scientists in the field of development of saline soils.

   On behalf of the Director General of UNESCO, I congratulate my Soviet colleagues on the impeccable organization of this symposium and thank you for the warm welcome.”

Olla, UNESCO

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   “Having visited blessed Armenia again, I was amazed by the growth of culture and prosperity. But as a soil scientist, I was most impressed by the experimental farm of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia, and the institute itself, with its modern equipment and the ability to solve major scientific, theoretical and practical problems.

   I believe with great confidence that the director of the institute, G.P. Petrosyan, most clearly showed what theory is and that the latter is a consequence of solving practical problems. This is the most correct way of developing Dokuchaev soil science.

   I would like to wish the institute and its staff success in their noble and important work, as well as happiness and well-being in solving all the problems that stand in their way. Your »

S.Sonn  

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    “My Armenian friends living in Egypt work in various fields of science, and the most remarkable of them, Dr. Halajyan, has been working in the field of soda salinization of soils for over 40 years. He has many published works on the chemistry of mineral waters, the chemistry of soils with soda salinity, which we always refer to. When I arrived here and saw the Armenians, they reminded me of my Armenian friends from

Alexandria and Cairo, and it seemed to me that I was in Egypt. The same weather, even the sun is almost the same. Onions, radishes, which are always on all tables in any house in Egypt, restaurants and the music that we listened to yesterday at the opera and musical instruments that we played.

Old canon. Everything is very similar. And therefore suggests that between the people of this part of the world and the people of the Middle East there is a close relationship. Much in common in culture and history. That's why I feel at home here.

    As for the impressions of the Symposium, I must confess that the reports of Armenian scientists in the field of saline soils are not very accessible to many of us, probably due to the fact that they are published mainly in Russian. But what I saw both on the field and in the laboratory was done exemplarily by Armenian soil scientists, at the highest level.

    I will try to keep in touch with this very important research, even through the Soviet embassy in Cairo. They can help translate the most important reports in the area of saline soils and we can learn a lot of what you have achieved.

    The organization of the Symposium was at a high level, it is the best we have ever seen at such meetings. Starting today, I have already begun to worry. How will the next UAR meeting go, will we be able in any respect to approach the model that you achieved at your meeting.

Perhaps we will invite some of you to help us organize it. In fact, in the Middle East area, we consider the problem of salinity to be of paramount importance. Neither fertility, nor chemistry, nor physics, but above all salinity. We understand that if we ever succeed in raising soil productivity, we will first of all have to reduce its salinity. Of course, the decrease in salinity is closely related to the level of groundwater and drainage, so they are conditioned. I am sure that you have made great strides in this area.  

     I intend to inform my colleagues about the results you have achieved and the conclusions you have reached in solving these problems.

   I want to note your hospitality. In fact, I want to repeat the previous speaker, my colleague, who mentioned your hospitality. It is not new for the Armenians and for the Soviet people. Wherever you go in the Soviet Union, you are greeted hospitably everywhere.     I assume that this is peculiar to the East? This is not a discovery, not news, it is hereditary. It is not acquired, not temporary, not artificial. Being hospitable is justified by culture, lifestyle. It is also part of the history, art, culture, which I am glad to say have not changed even with modern technology.

    To the Organizing Committee, I wish to express my gratitude for what they have done for the precise and thorough preparation in every detail of meetings, excursions, preparations for the departure of guests. All this takes a huge amount of time.

    And many have probably spent days and nights preparing for this week. Many who worked day and night, typists, secretaries who met and distributed guests, those who ensured the success of this Symposium with their work, remained out of sight.

     As for Professor Petrosyan, he is the brain of the Organizing Committee and the greatest merit rightfully belongs to him.

    His Excellency Minister of Agriculture is in charge of the agriculture of the republic and I am sure that without his support very little would have been done, because we know very well that without the help of ministers little can be achieved. I will not speak about our colleague Dr. Szabolcz, the chairman of the Symposium, who devoted his time and health to social work in this field of science. The best recognition of his merits is the gratitude of his colleagues.

    Once again, I want to thank you all and wish you new meetings. Thank you"

Prof. Elgabali, Minister of Agriculture of Egypt

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   “I feel great joy to be in the beautiful city of Yerevan among sincere friends and brothers and where all the traditions and customs are similar to the traditions and customs of your people in the ARE. This similarity is not accidental, but it just shows that there has been brotherhood and love between our peoples since ancient times.

   I will never forget the days I spent in the beautiful city of Yerevan, where I got to know the life of the Armenian people, their desires and dreams very closely.

   When a person follows the history of Armenia, he admires the magnificent successes and great progress of the Armenian people in a relatively short time, despite the harsh conditions that faced this people, especially at the beginning of the 20th century.

   However, I was struck by one phrase written in a book about Armenia, which says that the real enemies of the Armenian people are "rocks and stones."  This phrase testifies that Armenia is a country of the world and that it has no traditional enemies, and at the same time shows the resilience of the Armenian people in the assimilation of nature for the benefit of man.

   As for the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, in my opinion, this is a symbol of high organization. This institute studies important applied issues that tend to increase soil productivity, which is very valuable for every Armenian.

   I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to visit the soil enzymology laboratory, as this laboratory is currently one of the best laboratories in the world in this field of science.

Finally, I sincerely wish all the staff of the Institute the greatest success for the benefit of the Armenian people. I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit. Long live the Armenian people!”

Hassan Moawad. National Research Center, Cairo (ARE)

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    “From the bottom of my heart I express my gratitude to all the staff of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry. For 10 days, I learned about the achievements in the scientific and practical work of the Institute, which made a great contribution to obtaining agricultural products, about the efficiency and devotion of the people. In addition, I want to express admiration for the hospitality and great achievements in the development of the culture of the Armenian people. Thank you for everything and good luck to you all"

Luis Berasategui, Assoc. University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

   “Dear Doctor Petrosyan. Given your great contribution and international recognition in the field of soil science, I am very pleased to ask you to send an article for "Advances in Soil Science" / Volume 2, 1984 /.

   "Advances in Soil Science" intends to bring together the latest information in a particular field of soil science and publish critical "State of Science" papers that are international in scope and scope. For the sake of brevity, I report that the style and form of the papers are consistent with the requirements of "advancements in agronomy".

    In the first issue, we intend to publish articles on soil salinity and salinity-related issues. Therefore, I propose the following title for your article: "Melioration of saline soils in the USSR." But the title can be changed according to your wishes.

    I hope that you will accept our offer and send the article no later than January 31st, 1985, with a passport size photograph and a short biographical sketch. It is advisable to obtain written confirmation from you. Best wishes"

I.S. Gupta. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India. Editor of "Advances in Soil Science"

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   “I was greatly impressed by both the results of scientific research and applied work aimed at the practical use of these results. All this is highly commendable. Your institute has clearly shown that the technology you have created for reclamation of soda solonetzes-salt marshes can be used on the widest scale in agriculture and has proved its effectiveness when introduced into the practice of collective farms and state farms. All this is an outstanding example of the rational implementation of technologies worked out in laboratories in practical agriculture. I congratulate your institute on these outstanding achievements.”

Prof. Yadav. Director of the Central Research Institute of India for planting soils.

   “It was really a real pleasure to visit the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry. We heard a lot about this institute from other scientists and read a lot in the literature, but now for the first time we were lucky to see what work has been done on the improvement of saline soils.

   This is indeed a great achievement, and above all because this work was carried out in the fields. We have the same problems in India and the visit turned out to be extremely useful for us, because we had the opportunity to exchange views, we received full information about the work carried out by the scientists of the institute. We met with wonderful cordiality and hospitality while working at the institute, visiting various laboratories and visiting the experimental station of the institute. We will remember our stay at the Institute for a long time and wish the scientists of the Institute great creative success in the future.”

India, Director of the Central Research Institute for Soil Salinization Control, Karnal, Yadav

Head of Department of Agrotechnics, Abrol

     “I am extremely grateful to the Center for International Projects for inviting me to participate in your courses as a lecturer, which gave me the opportunity to share my views and talk with you about what is the subject of hard work in India and what is currently happening in my homeland. one of the main directions of attack on difficult saline soils.

     I mean difficult saline soils, which are currently being carried out on a wide front in my country with the aim of providing its population with agricultural products. As a citizen of my country and on its behalf, I would like to sincerely thank the distinguished Minister of Agriculture of the Armenian SSR for the high appreciation he gave to the work of Indian scientists engaged in agriculture and for her kind words in general about our science and about my country as a whole.

    Prior to India's independence, sometime around 1950, the country's total food production was 50 million tons. According to statistics for the year before last, agricultural production amounted to 131 million tons, which is more than enough to meet the demand for food products in my country. Nevertheless, I would like to take into account the fact that the peoples inhabiting India are growing at a very fast pace. Therefore, this is not the limit. In the implementation of difficult technical and scientific tasks in the field of land reclamation affected by varying degrees of salinity, and in the field of the use of saline mineralized waters for irrigation purposes, we have to carry out hard work in order to develop methods and techniques, as well as practical techniques and methods to achieve a great effect in both areas of work.

    I arrived and started participating in these courses at the final stage in Yerevan. In my opinion, these courses were well planned, well-structured and possessed a sufficient breadth of scientific coverage and issues, in the sense that the students were offered knowledge on the whole range from the results of fundamental and basic research and the general theoretical characteristics of certain types of soils to specific laboratory studies, already conducted on an industrial scale in the field, and from this point of view, the courses were built in the most effective way, because private traders had the opportunity to see the most important thing - this is the practical implementation, application and implementation of all these achievements in agricultural practice.

   The most characteristic features of the practical implementation of scientific achievements in Armenia, in the country, the most impressive side of practical work in the field of desalinization of saline soils, is the large scale of the introduction of theoretical achievements into practice and a demonstration in front of the whole people of how they become fertile and begin to contribute to the cause. providing the population with agricultural products of the land, which from time immemorial were considered barren, difficult, impossible for melioration and therefore waste. Now these lands serve for the benefit of people.      

    A notable feature of these courses is that both participants and invited lecturers were representatives of various countries and continents. This made it possible to create the widest range of coverage of scientific and practical issues in the course of the courses. We saw with our own eyes the work that is carried out at the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, headed by the director, Dr. Petrosyan Grant, which is carried out in laboratories and then introduced into field practice. All the work of this institute is an outstanding example of a successful and effective combination of theoretical research with laboratory experiments and then practical implementation. An outstanding feature of the work that is being carried out in areas of interest to us in Yerevan is the scientific cooperation of a number of scientific institutions of the republic, such as the Institutes of Water Problems and Hydroponics, etc.

   I express my deep conviction that it is precisely this cooperation and joint work with other institutions, established, sometimes with redoubled, tireless energy of Dr. Petrosyan, that is the main guarantee that scientific problems will be carried out with an integrated approach and that the solution of these problems will be beneficial for all participants. these developments. And if our courses were crowned with success, then this happened because we received answers to all the questions asked and received clarifications on all those Moments that caused us doubts on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to the fact that not sparing our own time and showing a sincere and uncommon personal interest in what we were doing throughout our stay in Yerevan, Dr. Petrosyan accompanied us everywhere. He was with us in the field, he did not leave us for a minute and never once refused to give an answer or explain something that caused bewilderment or doubt among the course participants. I am extremely grateful to the staff of the Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Socialist Republic and the Center for International Projects, and, in particular, to the head of these courses, Ms. and sincere attitude towards all participants. She went into every detail and showed concern for all the participants.

   And in conclusion, I want to say that for me personally, my stay in Yerevan was inhumanly pleasant and informative, very useful. Therefore, I consider myself obliged to once again thank the leadership of the Center and Dr. Petrosyan for the opportunity.

Speech by the director of the Institute of Saline Soils, Karnal, India, prof. Yadava