Perry Adkisson
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Dr. Perry Adkisson (born March 11, 1929 in Arkansas) is an American entomologist, agricultural scientist, and former chancellor of the Texas A&M University System who is credited with leading the development of Integrated Pest Management. For this achievement, he, along with his colleague Dr. Ray F. Smith, received the 1997 World Food Prize.
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[edit] Education
Adkisson was raised on a small Arkansas cotton and soybean farm. Enrolling in graduate study after serving in the Korean War, he received an M.S. in agronomy from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in entomology from Kansas State University. He did research for the University of Missouri until joining the faculty of Texas A&M University’s entomology department in 1958.
[edit] IPM Research
From his initial research on controlling the pink bollworm, Adkisson's interest grew in studying methods to control other cotton pests that had developed resistance to chemical pesticides. He began to see the expense of continuously developing stronger synthetic insecticides and led research into the insects’ natural enemies and other varieties of cotton.
While he was testing this new holistic system of pest control, a tobacco budworm epidemic attacked the cotton crops of South Texas and Mexico. His new integrated system proved highly effective where chemicals were failing, and as department chair from 1967 to 1978, Dr. Adkisson devoted further Texas A&M resources to exploring IPM programs for sorghum, peanuts, corn, wheat, rice, pecans, and citrus fruit.
[edit] International promotion of IPM
The development of IPM strategies was further boosted when Adkisson began collaborating with Dr. Ray Smith on national and international research and promotion projects in the 1960s and 1970s. Adkisson was a founding member of the FAO Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control, later following Smith’s footsteps by chairing that group from 1992 to 1996 and organizing funding for projects to expand IPM application in developing nations. His considerable administrative abilities also promoted him to a series of high-ranking positions at Texas A&M beginning in 1978, culminating in his being named Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System from 1986 until 1990. He retired from his professorship in 1994.
[edit] Impact of IPM
Since their inception over thirty years ago, IPM programs have saved farmers millions of dollars by reducing reliance on chemicals to fight insects, fungi, weeds, and other pests. More, they have improved production rates and the ecological impact of agriculture – making the world’s food supply at once larger, safer, and more stable.
[edit] Honors and recognition
His list of accolades is impressive, including his 1979 election to the National Academy of Sciences, honorary degrees from the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M, and membership in the International Congress of Entomology since 1992. He has also received the 1980 Alexander von Humboldt Award for outstanding contribution to agriculture and the 1994 Wolf Prize in Agriculture – which, with his receipt of the World Food Prize, makes him the first person to be honored with all three of the world’s major prizes in agriculture.
