Academician Mihail Lupascu, former MP and minister of agriculture and doctor habilitate in agricultural sciences, died at the age of 88. His body will be laid at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova on June 23, IPN reports.

In an obituary, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova says that Mihail Lupascu was the founder of the scientific school of biology of forage crops and harvest programming. He elaborated the theoretical and practical basis for making fodder and vegetal protein and the basis of modeling the phytocoenosis of forage crops and the programing of their harvest.

The scientist made a substantial contribution to creating the fodder making sector as a separate field, which facilitates the implementation of the strategy for developing the agricultural sector on ecological bases.

The researcher served as minister of agriculture of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1980-1985 and as a member of Moldova’s Parliament in 1994-1998. He is the author of about 400 scientific works. For prodigious scientific work and special merits in developing agricultural sciences, Mihail Lupascu was conferred the title of Emeritus Man. He is also a laureate of the State Award of the Republic of Moldova and of the Prize “Gheorghe Ionescu-Sisesti (Romania). He was awarded the Insignia of Honor, the Red Labor Flag, the Order “Lenin” and the Order of the Republic.