3rd World Fertilize Congress
The 3rd World Congress of CIEC took place at Heidelberg in 1957. It was a very spectacular event and intensively accompanied by press commentaries with a considerable echo in the public. The congress was held under the patronage of the Minister of the German Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. h. c. H. Lübke. Congress president was Prof. Dr. Ludwig Schmitt, long-standing President of VDLUFA (Association of the German Agricultural Experiment and Research Stations).The main task of this large congress in Heidelberg was to give account of the results of the first century of modern fertilizing measures. 28 leading experts from almost every continent of the world dealt with the problems concerning the increase of soil fertility and its maintenance by fertilization. The effects of macro- and microelements on plant life, their decisive influence on the quality, and the nutritive value of the agricultural and garden pro¬ ducts were the focal points of the discussions as well as the economic effects of modern fertilizing measures.
To be mentioned here is a plenary paper of the Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Dr. A. I. Virtanen, Helsinki with the title: "Our system of manuring in the light of modern nutritional research". His lecture was a high light of the Congress program.
It is also noteworthy to mention that the President of CIEC, Minister Dr. E. Feisst, was honored at this Congress with the „SPRENGEL-LIEBIG Medal“ in Gold, the highest award of VDLUFA conferred for outstanding merit in Agricultural Chemistry.