STOLLER, SAMUEL

STOLLER, SAMUEL (1898–1977), agronomist. Stoller was born in Moscow and after studying philology and history at   the local university studied agriculture and science at the University of Simferopol. He immigrated to Ereẓ Israel in 1920, joining kibbutz Kinneret. He was one of the first agricultural settlers to do research on progressive farming methods. When banana planting was begun in Ereẓ Israel in 1922 he devoted his research to it, visiting the Canary Islands for this purpose; he also did pioneering research in conjunction with the first plantation of table grapes in Kinneret in 1925 and the date palm in 1933, and was largely responsible for the development of all three. From 1934 he applied himself to agricultural problems in the Jordan Valley and from 1947 headed the Ruppin Agricultural High School in Bet Yeraḥ in the Jordan Valley. A collection of his research papers appeared in 1960. He was awarded the Israel Prize for agriculture in 1965.