Boto martin

Boto martin

Boto Märtin (born March 22, 1928 in Pößneck , Thuringia ) is a German crop scientist . He has taught at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena since 1960 and at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg from 1970 to 1993 . His research focus was the cultivation of forage .

Life

Märtin comes from a long-established Thuringian farming family. He had to interrupt his school education because of military service as an air force helper. After graduating from high school and agricultural apprenticeship, he began studying agriculture at the University of Jena in 1947 , which he graduated with a diploma in 1950 . He then worked for a year at the State Institute for Plant Cultivation Experiments in Thuringia. From 1951 he took on an assistant position at the Institute for Arable and Crop Production at the University of Jena. Under the aegis of Clemens Klitsch , he received his doctorate in 1955 with a dissertation on nitrogen fertilization of legumes .

In 1959 Märtin completed his habilitation with a paper on the cultivation technology of alfalfa . In the same year he was appointed lecturer and a year later professor with teaching assignment. In 1962 he was appointed full professor to the chair for arable and crop production at the University of Jena. As director of the institute of the same name, he was also responsible for the Kötschau university teaching and research facility and the Jena - Wöllnitz hop research station .

After the agricultural faculty of the University of Jena was closed as part of the 3rd university reform of the GDR (1969), Märtin was appointed full professor of crop production (specializing in forage ) in the crop production section of the University of Halle-Wittenberg in 1970 . At the same time, he was given a teaching position in the field of forage production at the Section for Animal Production and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Leipzig . After 1990 Märtin was instrumental in the restructuring of the agricultural sciences at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. In October 1991 he took over as acting director of the Institute for Arable and Crop Production, which had been re-established at that time. In 1993 he retired .

Research and Teaching

The research focus of Märtin was the forage cropping . In Jena, he successfully continued the scientific life's work of his predecessor Clemens Klitsch . His main areas of work were "plant production in middle and higher altitudes" and "the basics and possibilities for increasing the yield of the most productive forage plants". In addition to the cultivation of arable forage, the cultivation of potatoes , brewing barley and hops belonged to his agricultural research fields.

In Halle, Märtin was able to establish efficient arable forage research for the central German dry area. Following on from the Jena tradition, the focus was initially on research work on alfalfa and maize . His “Hallenser Ackerfutterschule” soon became the central competence center for alfalfa and forage maize research in the GDR. With dedicated staff he tested in comparative field trials the feeding value of other forage plants and their suitability as catch crops .

Märtin, however, did not regard arable forage production as an isolated specialty, but as a core competence field in the entire field of arable and crop production. The close connection between research, teaching and practice was a central concern for him. He found his work as a teacher at the university to be a special calling. With great commitment he promoted the next generation of scientists. He led 52  doctoral students to a doctorate, six of his students completed their habilitation.

His list of publications includes over 700 publications. Märtin is the author , co-author and editor of several textbooks . He wrote numerous agricultural lesson letters for the students. For several years he worked in the editorial boards of agricultural journals, including the “Kühn Archive” and the “Hopfenbau” magazine. As emeritus, he published several articles on the history of crop production in Thuringia in the history books of the “ Thuringian State Institute for Agriculture ” . Noteworthy for the history of science is his “ History of the Institute for Arable and Plant Production at Friedrich Schiller University Jena ”. In this exemplary documentation with a comprehensive bibliography, he describes the development of scientific crop production at the University of Jena from 1927 to 1970.

voluntary work

Märtin was Dean of the Agricultural Faculty of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (1964–1966) and the Agricultural Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (1990–1991). Among other things, he was active in the Scientific Advisory Board for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at the State Secretariat for Higher and Technical Schools in the GDR, in the central group for the coordination of field experiments at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in the research cooperation group "Forage farming" in the GDR, and in the sections "Arable and Crop Production and Plant Protection" and "Forage Production and Animal Nutrition" of the Academy.

From 1950 he was a member of the bloc party Democratic Peasant Party of Germany , from 1963 to 1972 a member of the party executive and from 1963 to 1971 a member of the People's Chamber . From 1960 to 1978 he was a member of the Presidium and the Central Board of the Agricultural Society . At times he was a member of the GDR Peace Council .

Märtin has received numerous awards for his scientific and social merits, including the GDR Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze (1961) and silver (1988), and the GDR Medal of Merit (1970). He also received medals and plaques of honor from the universities of Jena, Halle and Leipzig.

As an emeritus, Märtin still takes an active part in scientific and social life in his home country Thuringia. Among other things, he is an honorary member of the Thuringian Brewing Barley Association, where he takes part as a jury member in the annual hand rating competitions. On March 31, 2008, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, an honorary colloquium took place in his honor at the Thuringian State Institute for Agriculture in Jena - Zwatzen .

Major works

• The nitrogen fertilization of legumes. A contribution to clarifying the question of the correct measurement of nitrogen fertilization for the most important ripening large legumes . Diss. Agricultural Faculty Jena 1955. Typescript.
• The cultivation technique of the alfalfa . Habil.-Schr. Agricultural Faculty Jena 1959. Typescript.
• Forage crops and their mixtures . In: Agricultural crop production. Edited by Manfred Seiffert. VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1965, pp. 385–487. - 2nd edition ibid. 1968, pp. 378–477.
• Basics of feed production (together with B. Fröbe, D. Roth and W. Kreil). VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1970; 2nd edition 1974; 3rd edition 1978; 4th ed. 1981.
• Small abc forage plants (together with B. Fröbe, W. Rötschke and G. Schulze). VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1972; further editions under the title Small Abc feed production ; 2nd edition 1978; 3rd edition 1983, 4th edition 1988.
• Production of grain, root crops and fodder (together with D. Ebert and H. Lorenz). VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1983; 2nd edition 1985; 3rd edition 1987; 4th edition 1988.
• Feed production (B. Märtin as lead co-editor and main author). Recognized as a textbook for training at universities and colleges in the GDR. VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin 1986; 2nd edition 1988.
• The history of the Institute for Arable and Crop Production at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . In: 9. History booklet of the Thuringian State Agency for Agriculture. Jena 2003, pp. 156-192. Published as issue 10/2003 of the series "Agriculture and Landscape Management in Thuringia".

literature

• L. Schmidt: Laudation. Prof. Dr. sc. Boto Märtin for her 60th birthday . In: Scientific journal of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Mathematical-Natural Science Series, Vol. 38, 1989, No. 1, pp. 133-134.
• The editorial board: Prof. Dr. habil. Boto Märtin on her 65th birthday . In: Kühn-Archiv Vol. 87, 1993, pp. 121-122.
• Günther Breitbarth: Prof. Dr. habil. Boto Märtin retired . In: Agricultural Investigation and Research Institute Thuringia. Jena 1994, 1st history booklet. Publication series Heft 7/1994, pp. 7–8 (with picture) = Agriculture and landscape management in Thuringia.
• Lothar Schmidt and Wolfgang Merbach: On the 75th birthday of Prof. em. Dr. habil. Boto martin . In: The Faculty Messenger. Information sheet from the Agricultural Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Society of Friends of the Faculty e. V. Issue 1/2003, pp. 15-16.
• Lothar Schmidt and Bodo Hofmann: We congratulate Prof. Dr. habil. Boto Märtin on her 80th birthday . In: Faculty messenger of the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg e. V. Issue 2 - 2008, pp. 54–56 (with picture).

Web links

• Literature by and about Boto Märtin in the catalog of the German National Library