ISHS Acta Horticulturae 143: VIII African Symposium on Horticultural Crops
CONVENER'S ADDRESS |
| Authors: | P. M. S. Hassan, P. M. B. Saeed, H.E. Segeiron Elzain Segheiron, R. A.T. George |
| Abstract:
Honourable Representative of ISHS, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is indeed a great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the horticulturists in the Sudan to this Eighth Africa Symposium on Horticultural Crops. We are greatly honoured to convene this symposium and to have all the distinguished national and international scientists. The decision to convene a national symposium on horticultural research and development in the Sudan was made during the Fourth Coordination Meeting of Horticultural Research in August 1982. In September 1982 and during the International Horticulture Congress in Hamburg, both the Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture and the Council of the ISHS agreed to jointly sponsor the occasion as the Eighth Africa Symposium on Horticulture Crops. Today we welcome Mr. R. George who is representing the ISHS on behalf of Prof. Tindall, the able Chairman of the Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture of ISHS. The responses of my colleagues in the Agricultural Research Corporation, Universities, Ministries, private national and international institutions and organizations have been overwhelming as could be witnessed from the programme book. I believe that our getting together today is the best tribute to the founders of modern horticulture in the Sudan: The late Dr. Mohed T. Biely in research; present with us Dr. A.A. Bedri in production, and Professors A.A. Abdalla and S. Abbadi in eduction. We are greatly indebted to them for what we are today. As for the technical side, the financial responses were equally well. On behalf of the organizing committee I should like to sincerely thank the Government of Lower Saxony, Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) who through the Sudanese-German Plant Protection Programme have so generously supported us and supplied the foreign currency component for publishing the symposium. Our thanks are due also to the Sudan Gezira Board, Rahad, Suki, Blue Nile, White Nile and New Halfa Corporations; Ciba Geigy, Baitar, Sudanese Crop Protection, Fison-Boots, Arab-Sudanese fruit and vegetable production companies, the National Council for Research and the Western Sudan Agricultural Research Project. I sincerely hope that this meeting should lay the foundation for a prosperous and healthy society in the Sudan.
I whish you a nice time in Wad Medani. On behalf of the staff members of the Agricultural Research Corporation, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all and to extend my sincere thanks to you for attending this meeting. We feel very much privileged to host the Eighth Africa Symposium on Horticultural Crops in the Sudan at a time horticultural research and development are receiving great attention in this country. Agricultural research in the Sudan started by work on cotton in 1902, and today the Agricultural Research Corporation is responsible for applied research in field crops, horticulture, food processing, forestry, fisheries, pastures and wildlife. While scientific research in the domain of horticulture started relatively late compared to that in field crops great expansion took place in horticultural research in the different regional stations of the Agricultural Research Corporation in recent years. On the production side the country is now in full realization of the impact horticultural development can have in the national economy. Great hopes are focused on this sector for promoting our national food production in the way of abundance for our people as well as for export. The development of the horticultural sector is an important strategy adopted by the Sudan, with its vast resources, to solve the food problem on the regional and international levels. In view of this situation the Agricultural Research Corporation is giving research in horticultural crops all possible support and encouragement. The achievements in horticultural research since its inception in 1965, as shown in the programme of this symposium, call for great optimism. I am especially delighted for the choice of the theme as horticultural research and development in the Sudan, and I would like to commend the participation of experts involved in horticultural production, processing extension, education besides research scientists. This comprehensive structure of the Symposium is the best way to tackle the theme in totality. The participation of scientists and representatives from other countries and organizations offer a unique opportunity for exchange of views and experiences between the Sudan and these countries in their endeavour to promote horticultural research and development. I am especially pleased to see many distinguished scientists from outside the Sudan taking part in this symposium. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all institutions, organizations and persons who helped us in convening this Symposium.
Once again I welcome you all in the Agricultural Research Corporation and I wish you enjoyable and successful sessions. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Eighth Africa Symposium on Horticultural Crops, the theme of which is horticultural research and development in the Sudan. It is indeed a great pleasure that the symposium is being held at the headquarters of the Agricultural Research Corporation, the reputed research institution that has rendered great scientific services towards the development of our agricultural resources. My thanks are due to the International Society for Horticultural Sciences for choosing Sudan as a venue for this distinguished scientific gathering. It has always been the policy of the government to develop our agricultural resources in the effort of economic development. This policy has lately been spelled out in the recently held First Economic Conference. Agricultural research is very basic for the sound development of our agricultural resources. Historically, agricultural development was oriented towards the production of field crops.
Horticultural crops remained the domain of the private sector, grown in small holdings, and traditionally poorly-managed.
This picture has now changed with the increased health and nutritional conciousness and the subsequent monetary returns stemming from increased consumption.
Horticultural crops have been introduced into Rahad scheme, its cultivation intensified in the Gezira, Suki, Hew Halfa, Khartoum and Northern Region.
Horticultural crops have also figured prominently in the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development plans; Sudanese-Egyption Integration schemes; and the food security programmes of the Arab countries.
Horticultural crops, fresh or processed, have now entered into the stage of becoming foreign exchange earners. Dear Participants, A quick glance at the papers presented to the symposium clearly portrays the diversity of horticultural crops, Sudan can successfully grow for local consumption and export, a clear reflection of the diverse agro-climatic conditions of the country.
Utilization of Sudan's comparative advantage of growing horticultural crops in the mild winter months, the potentially high quality of our products, make us competitive in the world market.
Vegetable and fruit export trials proved economically sound.
Efforts should be exerted to strengthen this trend. Dear Participants, Basic structural changes are required in the horticultural production systems to compliment your genuine research efforts if our aims are to be fulfilled. Solutions have to be sought for many problems facing horticultural production. Chief among them: First: Because of the scarcity of labour, a direct result of the recent internal and external labour migration, mechanization of production practices should be experimented on and applied together with application of available information on the use of herbicides. Secondly: Create, strengthen and legislate the link between Agricultural Research Corporation and producers to make full use of the research findings. Thirdly: Explore new foreign markets for our horticultural crops and solve the technical and administrative problems that hamper the export trade. Fourthly: The horticultural crop processing sector should be given more attention to solve its chronic problems. Arab investors have recently taken interest in tapping the agricultural potential of Sudan. We welcome this trend and spare no effort of horticultural crops. The very distinguished scientists gathered for this symposium will no doubt help us fulfil our objectives. I whish you all fruitful discussions and our guests a happy stay in our country. Your Excellency, the Governor of the Central Region of the Sudan, Your Excellency, the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Honourable Ministers, Director General of the Agricultural Research Corporation, Professor Mahmoud S. Hassan, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour, privilege and pleasure for me to be present at this Eighth Symposium on Horticulture Crops, and it is a very happy task for me to participate in the opening ceremony as the representative of the International Society for Horticultural Science. The Fifth Africa Symposium on Horticulture Crops was held in Khartoum in 1977 and it is extremely gratifying that this present Symposium whose theme is "Horticultural Research and Development in the Sudan" is bringing together such a wide range of horticulture scientists mainly from the Sudan. The programme of papers to be presented emphasises the development of horticulture in the Sudan and the level of horticulture activity here. The papers are all concerned with the Sudan and this is especially appropriate as the Sudan is the largest country in Africa. Your agricultural achievements are well known, for example, the Gezira Scheme is world famous. It is frequently observed that horticultural advances in a country follow the successful development of the basic agriculture such as cereals, fodder crops, grain legumes, oil seed crops and industrial crops including cotton. The Sudan is no exception to this and the very active interest of your farmers, growers, teachers and research workers in the development of horticultural crop production, which includes fruit, vegetables and floriculture is very obvious to the visitor. This increased activity in horticultural research and crop production is stimulated by the very important role that horticulture crops and related activities can play in the nutrition and well being of the population. The relatively high value of horticultural produce compared with other crop groups also makes them extremely useful for export as the fresh or processed product. We look forward to a very interesting, informative and stimulating symposium here at Wad Medani during this week. I offer you greetings and good wishes for a very productive and successful meeting from all your colleagues in the International Society for Horticultural Science, especially from those actively working in the Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture under the very active Chairmanship of Professor H.D. Tindall. On behalf of the International Society for Horticultural Science I welcome you all to this Eighth Africa Symposium on Horticultural Crops. | |
