DIES PAUL ALVIM

The scientist and founder of the Cocoa Research Center (Cepec-Ceplac), Paulo Alvim, died this morning from Friday (18), at his residence in the city of Ilheus. Alvin was retired, had 92 years and died around 11am. The agronomist was a leading authority on cocoa and coffee in the world.

In recent years, the creator of the Foundation Pau Brazil faced chronic kidney problem, according to Alvin Fatima, daughter of the scientist. The family will report this afternoon, where the body of the scientist will be veiled and time and place of burial. Paulo Alvim Alvim was married to Simone, had six children, six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter and leaves a great legacy to science.

Biography

Paulo de Tarso Alvim spent his childhood and youth in his hometown, Uba (MG), where he did his primary and secondary courses at the College Gymnasium and the Brazilian Mineiro Raul Soares, respectively. Father died when two years of age, their education, as well as his three older brothers, was the responsibility of his mother, who both served for many years in the occupation of seamstress. In 1937, the university entry exams for the course in agronomy at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of Minas Gerais (ESAV), today the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), was approved in 3rd place among 130 candidates. Agronomist formed in December 1940, was invited to become Assistant Professor of Botany at ESAV where, with the support of Octavio de Almeida Drummond in 1943 taught the first course offered in Brazil Plant Physiology for Students of Agronomy. In 1945, a nominee's own ESAV, was awarded a scholarship from the International Institute of Education "course to graduate from Cornell University (USA), where, in January 1948, he obtained his PhD in Plant Physiology with a thesis on "Studies on the Mechanism of stomatal behavior." Upon returning, he began research on fsiologia cultivated plants and on the ecology of savannahs. Demonstrating the close correlation between this type of vegetation and soil chemical characteristics, contributed to the techniques of soil management that allowed the expansion of agriculture in the region of savanna. In 1949, during the 2nd South American Congress of Botany in Tucuman, Argentina, coordinated the movement that resulted in the creation of the Botanical Society of Brazil, currently with over 2,000 associates. His pioneering work in the field of Plant Physiology was soon recognized, resulting in the invitation of the American Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IICA / OAS), which led him to work for 12 years in several Latin American countries, especially in Costa Rica and Peru. Between 1951 and 1955, was a researcher and professor of Graduate Institute in Turrialba, Costa Rica, where he conducted research on crop physiology of cacao and coffee and drove five master's theses. His research contributed significantly to increased productivity of the coffee plantations in that country. Between 1955 and 1962 he worked in the Institute of Lima (Peru), where he collaborated with the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina "in the teaching of Plant Physiology and implementation of their school graduate. During this period directed about thirty students writing theses in undergraduate and / or masters. His research with irrigated crops allowed him to discover the phenomenon he termed "hydroperiod" related to the mechanism of flowering coffee and other tropical species, in addition to having invented the first portable porometer to assess the degree of opening of stomata under conditions Field, known in literature as "de Alvim porometer.

In 1963, he collaborated with the Executive Committee of the Plan of Cocoa Farming (CEPLAC) in the work planning and implementation of the Cocoa Research Center (CEPEC). It was the main lead technical CEPLAC for 25 years (1963-1988), during which the Brazilian cocoa production recorded the biggest increase in its history, from an annual average of 130 000 t / year in 1961-1965 to 380 000 t / year in 1983-1988. In the Amazon, the production that was 2 to 3 000 t / year, increased to 50 to 60 thousand tons / year.

CEPLAC retired in 1989, currently (1995) is President of Brazil Wood Foundation (NGO) devoted to conservation activities and studies on sustainable agriculture in humid areas. As an Honorary Professor at UFBA, directs graduate students in the laboratory of Plant Physiology CEPEC. Published nearly two hundred technical-scientific papers (in journals, book chapters, conference proceedings), five books (as editor and co-author), and delivered hundreds of lectures on national and international Congresses.

Married second marriage with Maria Simone Cerqueira Alvim, a father of six children (Marilia, Paulo Cesar, Silva, Leonardo, Alexander and Fatima) and has three grandchildren (Daniel, Chantra and Nanda). His main hobby is photography.

Committees

Chairman - Organizing Committee of the Symposium on Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture - 1992.

Positions

Researcher Emeritus

Interamerican Institute of Agricultural Sciences

Organization of American States

jan/1979

- present

Awards

Decorations

Commander of the Order of Merit of Bahia - State Government of Bahia - 1975

Commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit - President of the Republic of Brazil - jun/1995

Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit - President of the Republic of Brazil - Aug/2002

Distinctions

Diploma of Merit - Argentine Society of Plant Physiology - 1978

Diploma of Merit - National Institute for Amazon Research - 1978

Researcher Emeritus - American Institute of Agricultural Sciences - 1979

Tributes

"Gold Award" - Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries - Oct/2002

Users

Agronomic Medal of Merit of Brazil - Federation of Agricultural Engineers in Brazil - 1973

Silver Jubilee Medal - Society for the Advancement of Science - 1973

Agricultural Medal Inter - American Institute of Agricultural Sciences - 1979

Medal of the Order of Merit of the Alumni - Universidade Federal de Viçosa - 1980

Awards

Award "Federico Veiga de Menezes - the Brazilian Agricultural Research - 1973

Farming Today Award - Editora Bloch - 1976

Alvaro Alberto Award of Science and Technology - Government of Brazil - 1994

International Prize for Science "Bernardo A. Houssay" - Organization of American States - 1995

Honorary titles

Doctor honoris causa - Universidade Federal do Amazonas - 1985

Selected Publications

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1960. Moisture stress as a requirement for flowering of coffee. Science. vol. 32, p. 354 -

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1962. A new type of porometer for measuring stomatal opening and Its use in irrigation studies. Symposium on Methodology of Eco-Physiology. p. 325-329

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1975. A new monitoring cambium activity is dendrometer and changes in the internal water status of plants. Turrialba. vol. 25, p. 445-447

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1977. Cacao. Ecophysiology of Tropical Crops. p. 219-313

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1980. Comparison between the closed and the Amazon region in agroecology. Symposium on the Savannah, 50. p. 141-160

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1990. Agriculture suitable for continuous use of land in the Amazon. Space, Environment and Planning. vol. 2, p. 1-72

Awards

Award "Federico Veiga de Menezes - the Brazilian Agricultural Research - 1973

Farming Today Award - Editora Bloch - 1976

Alvaro Alberto Award of Science and Technology - Government of Brazil - 1994

International Prize for Science "Bernardo A. Houssay" - Organization of American States - 1995

Honorary titles

Doctor honoris causa - Universidade Federal do Amazonas - 1985

Selected Publications

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1960. Moisture stress as a requirement for flowering of coffee. Science. vol. 32, p. 354 -

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1962. A new type of porometer for measuring stomatal opening and Its use in irrigation studies. Symposium on Methodology of Eco-Physiology. p. 325-329

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1975. A new monitoring cambium activity is dendrometer and changes in the internal water status of plants. Turrialba. vol. 25, p. 445-447

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1977. Cacao. Ecophysiology of Tropical Crops. p. 219-313

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1980. Comparison between the closed and the Amazon region in agroecology. Symposium on the Savannah, 50. p. 141-160

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1990. Agriculture suitable for continuous use of land in the Amazon. Space, Environment and Planning. vol. 2, p. 1-72

Awards

Award "Federico Veiga de Menezes - the Brazilian Agricultural Research - 1973

Farming Today Award - Editora Bloch - 1976

Alvaro Alberto Award of Science and Technology - Government of Brazil - 1994

International Prize for Science "Bernardo A. Houssay" - Organization of American States - 1995

Honorary titles

Doctor honoris causa - Universidade Federal do Amazonas - 1985

Selected Publications

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1960. Moisture stress as a requirement for flowering of coffee. Science. vol. 32, p. 354 -

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1962. A new type of porometer for measuring stomatal opening and Its use in irrigation studies. Symposium on Methodology of Eco-Physiology. p. 325-329

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1975. A new monitoring cambium activity is dendrometer and changes in the internal water status of plants. Turrialba. vol. 25, p. 445-447

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1977. Cacao. Ecophysiology of Tropical Crops. p. 219-313

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1980. Comparison between the closed and the Amazon region in agroecology. Symposium on the Savannah, 50. p. 141-160

Alvim, Paulo de T. 1990. Agriculture suitable for continuous use of land in the Amazon. Space, Environment and Planning. vol. 2, p. 1-72