ARNON (Aharonowitz), ISAAC

ARNON (Aharonowitz ), ISAAC (1909– ), agronomist. Arnon was born in Antwerp, Belgium, where he completed his studies as an engineer in agronomy in 1931, immigrating to Ereẓ Israel the following year. After working as an agricultural laborer, he was appointed inspector of the Agricultural Experimental Station of the Mandatory Government in Acre in 1933. In this capacity he established a chain of experimental services in settlements throughout Ereẓ Israel, and in 1945 was made responsible for all experimental stations for field crops. On the establishment of the State, he founded an experimental station at Neve Ya'ar in the Jezreel Valley. In 1958 he was appointed director of the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research, and in 1964 associate professor of field crops at the Hebrew University. He resigned from the Volcani Institute in 1968 to devote himself to research on plant protection. He was sent to many countries on behalf of the United Nations as advisor on agricultural research and development and served as chairman of the World Food Organization. He also represented Israel on the Scientific Committee of the World Bromine Institute in Berne. Arnon published many books and articles in Hebrew and English about agriculture, including his autobiography, My Life with Plants and Farmers, Memoirs of an Agronomist in Palestine (Ereẓ Israel), Israeland the Rest of the World (2000). He was awarded the Israel Prize for agriculture in 1971.