To the 115th Anniversary of the birth of A.I. Barayev

“The Institute was everything to me: a place of work, a home and a homeland, a school of life experience”

  These sincere confessions from the memories of the famous scientist, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Lichtenberg Adolf Ivanovich, who worked for many years at the All-Union Research Institute of Grain Farming formed the basis of a note about ours. The main areas of scientific activity of Adolf Ivanovich were agrochemistry and soil reclamation. Author of more than 60 printed works. In 1978 he defended his thesis for the degree of Candidate of Agricultural Sciences «Responsiveness of spring wheat varieties to fertilizers in the Tselinograd region» (Moscow). In 1995 he defended his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Agricultural Sciences «Optimization of mineral nutrition of grain crops in soil-protective agriculture in the blacksoil zone of Northern Kazakhstan» (Almaty). His scientific career has developed so gloriously here, he is proud of having made a feasible contribution to the development and establishment of the Grain Farming Center named after A.I. Barayev.

  He has been living in Germany with his wife and children for the last decades. However, he does not lose contact with his Kazakh colleagues; if possible, he comes to his native village, is constantly interested in how agricultural science is developing in Kazakhstan and, undoubtedly, responds vividly to everything related to the Grain Farming Center named after A.I. Barayev. A.Lichtenberg worked at the Barayev Institute for 32 years, having worked his way from a laboratory assistant to a deputy director of scientific work. Of these, 21 years under the leadership of the first director of the Institute, Academician Alexander Ivanovich Barayev. «The Institute was everything to me: a place of work, a home and a homeland, a school of life experience», the scientist says. In those years, agricultural scientists came from everywhere with great zeal to take part in the campaign to eliminate the ecological catastrophe (wind and water erosion on virgin land). Alexander Ivanovich, the chief agronomist of the country, as he was still called, managed to mobilize scientific minds to raise the achievements of scientists on agriculture and crop production to a new level. In those years, there was a careful selection of scientific personnel, not everyone could get to work at the institute. Lichtenberg A.I. believes that it was he who was lucky to work for so many years alongside Academician A.I. Barayev, and therefore it is not surprising that in his memories, like other colleagues, Alexander Ivanovich appears as an innovator scientist who rallied a large team of like–minded people around him and made an invaluable contribution to the development and formation of the Center of Grain Farming. The academic spirit that reigns in the Center today confirms that the great initiatives of scientists are continuing and moving to a new innovative level.

  More recently, A.I. Lichtenberg visited the Nauchny settlement again, first of all visited his native institute, met with many colleagues who live here. It was necessary to see what emotions he felt when he recalled all his colleagues, what a lot of research work they had to do, almost everyone lived by scientific ideas, worked together and tried to keep the brand of the Barayev Center.

  On the trip, Adolf Ivanovich was accompanied by his son Eduard, who works at FrigorTec. This well-known German company has been producing refrigeration equipment for various applications for more than 55 years. The leading direction is the production of GRANIFRIGOR™ series units for cooling cereals, legumes, industrial crops and oilseeds for the purpose of natural conservation and long-term preservation of the quality of food and seed grains. Today, the German company FrigorTec is trying to use great opportunities for the application of its technology in the largest grain production region, Kazakhstan. E.A. Lichtenberg, represents the interests of the company, is engaged in establishing close contacts with Kazakh agricultural producers for further cooperation.

  This is how the life path of our wonderful colleague Lichtenberg Adolf Ivanovich develops, who by the will of fate found himself in his historical homeland. However, it turns out that he is still attracted to the Kazakh steppes, which have become native and spiky wheat grains.