Loukas T. Pistolis

Lukas T. Pistolis was born in November 1957. He hails from the village of Drymaia in Phthiotis (at the foothills of Mount Kallidromo) and has been residing permanently in Larissa since 1992. In 1983, he earned his Master of Science from the Agricultural Institute of Bucharest (IANB), and in 1988, he obtained his Ph.D. in Agronomy from the same institute. He has published the following books: "Guide to Crop Nutrition and Fertilization. Part One" (1996), "Fertilization of Major Crops in Trikala" (1997), "Weather and Plant Nutrition - The Impact of Weather on Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Issues" (2004), "Foliar Fertilization - Contribution to High and Quality Yields and Environmental Protection" (2008). He was the visionary and scientific advisor for the first comprehensive publications in the specialized press—following the liberalization of the fertilizer market—on crop fertilization (1994) and fertigation (1995). He has also published over sixty papers on crop nutrition and fertilization in specialized journals in Greece and abroad. In his efforts to popularize these topics, he has delivered numerous lectures to farmers and agronomists in Greece and Cyprus, and has hosted a series of programs on regional television channels and ET3. In 1990, he ventured into literature with his poetry collection "Monosandalos," followed by "Poems and Little Poems" (1991) and "Molecules of History" (1999). In 2000, he released his essay "Memes - 20th Century: Urban Ideology in Art and Science." His critical interventions on visual arts, literature, and social issues occasionally appear in daily and periodical press, and his new poetry collection is currently in the works. For most of his professional career, he worked as a scientific director for companies on crop nutrition and fertilization issues (Drapetsona Fertilizers, COMPO Hellas, etc.). For the past few years, he has been working in the GEAL Thessaly and Central Greece department of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food (formerly PEGEAL Central Greece), focusing on soil, irrigation water, leaf, and fertilizer analyses. He hopes—and is almost certain—that his future in active agronomy will remain long until he reaches 79.