PREFACE

We are all assembled here to-day on a common goal of "FOOD FOR ALL".

I welcome you all colleagues from oversease and local participants on behalf of all the staff of the Department of Agricultural Promotion in the Ministry of National Development.

We strongly feel that as well as the presentation of scientific papers, the interchange of information, ideas and friendship resulting from this Symposium should help to cement our efforts in order to tackle our food problems.

I have one message for all our horticultural producers in Seychelles - the Agricultural Promotion Department through its research and development programme is now in a position to give you a better service. The Ministry of National Development has recently implemented an ambitious outreach programme which will play an active role of demonstration for existing and future farmers. We, the technicians, are very confident and strongly believe that the potential for Horticulture in Seychelles is vast but we also need more land, more access roads, necessary infratructures and financial backing. When this is realised, we would have made a big step forward.

We have now reached a crucial period in our agricultural revolution. It is true that we have readily available technology that may suffice to produce all the food we need but the determination, will and motivation - this is what we require at this very moment.

We must exploit fully our limited land resources by moving up the hillside, and if needs be, develop a system of terracing in certain areas - where horticulture can even be integrated with Forestry.

If we are to progress and achieve this important goal of "Food for All" all sectors involved directly or indirectly in one way or another must join hands and co-operate. We need to involve all people engaged in agriculture - Government, Institutions, growers, and producers, parastatals, cooperatives, marketing system and develop the kind of programmes that makes sense and that will make people move to produce more. We need to co-ordinate our efforts and work as a team. This linkage, Ladies and Gentlemen, is most vital.

The Minister has already acknowledged the various people and organizations who have been very generous in making this Symposium a reality. I also wish to mention others who should also receive a big thank you.

Firstly, I wish to thank the Minister-himself and the Principal Secretary who have given us all the backing over the last three months. Particular thanks go to the Mahe Beach Hotel and the Manager P. Prutnick, FLAGCO who, you will agree, has done a beautiful job in making the venue more colourful, the National Youth Service with their wonderful fruit and vegetable display, NAIL, the body responsible for the processing of horticultural products - they have supplied us with the appetizing guava juice which you will enjoy later in the morning.

We are grateful to the overseas seed companies Begreen, Known-You and Takii who have provided us with a lot of posters and seed samples for distribution and Institutions namely - A.V.R.D.C., I.I.T.A. and Mayaguez Institute of Tropical Agriculture, who have supplied us in the last eight years with a continuous flow of improved germplasm for evaluation.

For your information, we were importing five years ago a huge amount of vegetables from South Africa. We never thought that one day the Seychelles could be self sufficient in cabbage and other vegetables for eight months of the year. The cabbage production is principally due to the screening of one variety showing good heat tolerance, high yield and excellent quality. The variety of five years ago has now been completely replaced.

I do not wish to keep you too long as we have got a long session to-day which might proceed until late in the evening.

On behalf of the Department of Agricultural Promotion, I wish to express appreciation to the Symposium Secretary dr. R.T. Wurster, A. Young, P. Chang-Tsy-Sing, C. Elizabeth and M.C. Hoarau who have put a lot of effort in the organization of this Symposium.

Clifford S. Adam
Convener


OPENING ADDRESS

Members of the Organizing Committee, Ambassador, distinguised scientists, and friends.

First of all I would like to extend to you a most warm and hearty welcome to Seychelles. The people and Government of Seychelles are very happy to receive you here; we are very pleased that this Symposium is being held here because we feel it is an occasion for you, our friends and guests, to know a little bit more about our country and the efforts which the Seychellois people have undertaken in the development of thier country and particularly, as far as you are concerned, in the development of agriculture, horticulture, agro-forestry and related industries.

This Symposium is being held at a very opportune time, since our government has recently launched a drive for production at the national level. Like all the world countries which are facing economic difficulties, we have launched this drive for production, first of all to reduce our dependence on imports and thereby save much needed foreign currency. Secondly, an increase in the national production will promote the development of economic activity, thereby creating employment opportunities, the end result of which will lead to the betterment of the standard of living of the Seychelles people. Of course, production encompasses many fields, it is not strictly reserved for the fields of horticulture of agriculture since it also encompasses industrial development, transforming the products into finished goods. In this drive for production, however, we have realised that agriculture, horticulture, agro-forestry and fisheries have a paramount role to play and it is for this reason, as I have just said, that this Symposium comes at a very opportune time.

We have noticed that, in the recent years, especially in the five or six years preceeding our liberation, there has been a marked reduction in our agricultural production. This is probably due to three principal causes, the first of which was the advent of tourism in the early 1970's. We noticed that agricultural activities, and agricultural production in general was reduced in favour of tourism, of tourist-related activities and the services that are normally related to tourism.

There was, at that time, speculation in land. Many land-owners considered that it was more profitable to sell their land for what were relatively high prices in the hope that those who acquired that land would eventually persuade investors to develop land for hotels or tourist-related facilities.

This speculation in land was one of the causes which considerably reduced our agricultural production but there was also a second factor related to the production system and that was the wage structure in agriculture and related industries. At that time, as employment opportunities were being created in the tourist sector, workers in that sector were being better remunerated and there was no reason why workers should choose an activity such as agriculture which would bring them much less return than employment in the tourist industry. Thirdly, there was what I may call a psychological reason which discouraged or, at least, did not encourage local production not only in agriculture but in other industries also. This can be regarded as a legacy of our colonial past. Unfortunately, we tend to believe that it is better to consume imported products that to consume those that we produce ourselves and we have also tended to believe that imported goods are always of superior quality. We now know, however, that especially as far as agricultural products are concerned there are very few imported items which can be considered of higher quality than those which we produce ourselves. Therefore, due to those three major factors, agricultural production over recent years has been considerably reduced.

All of the Seychellois here remember that, just over 10 years ago, we were exporting up to 6,000 tons of copra a year and now, although our production of copra has recently increased, we have reached approximately one-third of the amount we were exporting 10 years ago. We can say the same for the products of our cinnamon industry (cinnamon bark and cinnamon oil) but the trend in the reduction of our production in agriculture has already changed and is still changing rapidly. This trend has been reversed because the Seychellois people have now resolutely engaged themselves in a new drive for the production which will lead to self-sufficiency in many of the most important local foods including fruits and vegetables.

Having now set our objectives, we are actively pursuing a programme of agrarian reform and rural restructing. More land is being made available and is being released to all those who are ready to work the land and produce food crops. We will also provide all the infrastructure required for this production.

As far as agricultural production is concerned, our objective is to have 3 systems of production. Firstly we will set-up co-operative farms and give targets to all those ready and willing to produce within such a system but they will not only have targets, they will also have the means and the infrastructures required to produce within that system.

Secondly, we are establishing much larger units, bases on a system of State Farms. These State Farms will concentrate mainly on the intensive production of specified individual crops.

Thirdly, we will also provide the means to small individual farmers who are prepared to work the land and make it productive without having to employ too many people to work for them.

We are also aware that the development of agricultural and horticultural crops and products is closely linked with that of the livestock industry. Particularly important is the production of farmyard manure and recent experiments have shown that up to 80% of the chemical fertilizers that we import into this country can be replace by organic manures.

The cinnamon crop can also be used to supplement the need for organic manure and we are actively revitalizing our cinnamon industry; this will be a great asset to producers in the provision of a valuable organic by-product which is made up of cinnamon spent leaves after the cinnamon oil has been extracted.

I have attempted to outline the reasons why we have launched this production campaign and I have also tried to explain very briefly the means which the people of this country will have at their disposal as this campaign becomes a reality. Having said this, I would like now to turn to another subject which is that of research.

Most of the participants in this Symposium are eminent scientists and research workers and I would like to tell you how we, a small Third World developing country, envisage the role of research in our development process. As far as we are concerned, research must be directly involved in the production process. It is part of our basic phylosophy that theory and practice must go together. A small developing country such as Seychelles, with very limited material, financial and human resources, cannot afford the luxury of having what I would call fundamental or pure research programmes which are not directly related to production and development. Fundamental and pure research has been, and still is, very valuable for humanity and I wonder what our world would be today if countless scientists and researchers had not, over the centuries, isolated themselves in their laboratories to carry out this much needed research for the progress of humanity. But, as far as we are concerned, we know that we do not have the resources to launch into this kind of programme. We believe that developed advanced countries, with huge resources at their disposal, are best suited to carry out that form of research and, in fact, we should be thankful to them for what they have done in this field. However, research is important for us. It is important as a vital link in the whole chain of production. That link can sometimes be at the beginning of the chain or at the end, once production has already been actually effected but we conceive research as an essential part of this chain of production. I do not think that it is sufficient to say that research must be production-oriented, it has to be part of the process of production. In this respect. I would like to emphasize that the Soil and Plant Diagnostic Laboratory which I formally opened yesterday, is the sort of research establishment that we need and one that we consider to be an essential part of the process of production.

Since you are involved in various fields of research I felt that I had to exchange these ideas with you because I am also convinced that many of you who come from developing countries like Seychelles share similar views concerning research and research programmes.

Finally, this Symposium will, I hope, be an occasion to further develop and consolidate co-operation among Third World developing countries, especially in the region Eastern Africa and the South West Indian Ocean, particularly among those countries that are represented here. We often talk about North-South dialogue, South-South co-operation but, unfortunately, far too often these remain only words and wishes. This Symposium, I hope, will provide the opportunity for you as researchers, scientists and development workers in your countries to see what we are trying to do here so that we may benefit from your experience. We also hope to learn what you are achieving in your respective countries so that there will, in future, be much more co-operation amongst our various institutes, even amongst the various Ministries who are often involved in similar processes of development. Far too often, we are doing things which our neighbours have done but, because of the lack of communication between us, we waste time trying to achieve what others have already achieved.

I think it is now time for me to conclude my address and it is time for you to start working but, before you do so, I would like to say that it is an honour and a privilege for me to have been asked to come to open your Symposium. Before I do so, I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in organising this Symposium in collaboration with various Departments and Divisions of the Ministry of National Development. I do not wish to cite names because, if I start doing so, I would probably forget some of them.

You know who those are who organised this Symposium and you will thank them yourselves but I do so on behalf of the Seychelles Government. There are also certain organisations that have made a financial contribution towards the organisation of this Symposium and I do not hesitate to name them because I am assured that the list is complete. Among those organisations are the U.S. Agency for International Development, the South-East Consortium for International Development. the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministry of National Development.

Friends, it is a great pleasure for me now to declare your Symposium open.

Mr. Jacques Hodoul
Minister for Natural Development


ADDRESS OF WELCOME

Mr. Minister, Mr. Ambassador, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman,

It gives me great pleasure to represent the International Society for Horticultural Science on this unique occasion of the convening of the 9th African Symposium here in the Seychelles.

First of all, I have been asked to convey to you the greetings of the President and the Secretary-General and their good wishes for a most successful meeting. The Secretary-General had hoped to attend the Symposium but has an alternative commitment which he could not avoid.

I have used the word 'unique' in my reference to this Symposium with conviction. The organization has taken only 10 months and the outstanding exhibits of horticultural produce and equipment reflect the efforts of Mr. C.S. Adam and Dr. R.T. Wurster. The other aspects of the organization, such as the field trips, have also been impressive in their value in introducing Symposium participants to the excellent progress being made in fruit and vegetable research and development in the Seychelles.

Another unique aspect of this Symposium is that, for the first time, the Food and Agriculture Organization has contributed significantly to the costs of this meeting. This is a most generous and welcome form of assistance which has made it possible to extend the scope of the Symposium. I hope that it will be possible to extend the future collaboration between the two organizations. The extremely generous financial contribution made by the USAID programme has been most welcome and without this support it would not have been possible for the Symposium to be attended by so many participants from other countries in the East African/Indian Ocean region. This source of funding also contributed very significantly to the administrative and support services of the Symposium. The thanks of the Society are also due to the many commercial organizations who contributed in various ways to the success of this meeting.

The general objective of the I.S.H.S. is the furtherance of all branches of horticulture by improving international collaboration in the study of scientific and technical horticultural problems. This is achieved through the I.S.H.S. Council, assisted by an Executive Committee composed of the Chairmen of Sections and Commissions. Members of the Council are the representatives chosen by Member Countries. Country Membership is in several categories and I hope that representatives of countries who are not already members will raise the question of membership with their Governments when they return to their own countries.

Another category of membership is the Affiliated Organization which is appropriate to Departments, Institutes and commercial organizations. The Secretary-General is responsible for the implementation of the decisions of Council and the technical activities of the Society are carried out by the various Commissions and Sections representing specialist areas of research and development. The main strength of the Society, however, comes from the individual members, whether or not they belong to specialist Commissions or Sections. Information concerning individual membership is available at the Symposium.

One of the primary aims of the Society is the dissemination of technical information through the Congress Proceedings and the increasing number of Symposia which are arranged between Congresses. The proceedings of these Symposia are published in issues of Acta Horticulturae which has now become one of the leading journals in horticultural science and now has a very wide distribution throughout the world.

Scientia Horticulturae deals with horticultural research over a wide field and all subscribing members of the Society receive free copies of Chronica Horticulturae which contains leading articles on horticultural research and development as well as a great deal of other information such as the Calendar of Forthcoming Events and reports on Symposia and Workshops.

Horticultural Research International is a valuable publication of the Society which contains detailed information on horticultural research institutes in over 61 countries.

The Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture operates through a number of Vice-Chairmen in various parts of the tropics and Dr. Wurster was, in the early 1970's, Vice-Chairman of the Commission for East Africa. He was the Convenor of the (First African) Horticultural Symposium held in Uganda in 1970 and was involved in the organization of three subsequent Symposia.

The other Symposia organized in Africa since 1970 include those in Ethiopia (1971), Kenya (1973), Ghana (1974), Sudan (1977), Nigeria (1979) and the Sudan (1983).

In addition, a Symposium was held in Peru in 1976, another in India in 1979, followed by one in the Philippines in 1980. Plans are now well advanced for the next African Symposium, the 10th, which is scheduled to be held in Ethiopia in January 1984. Dr. Samu-Negus Hailemariam will provide additional details of this meeting during the Symposium. Other meetings already being planned include a meeting in Queensland, Australia on Tropical Fruit Physiology in April 1985 and a second meeting in the Philippines in 1985 also appears likely.

I would like to end this review of the work of the Commission by conveying the sincere thanks of the I.S.H.S. to the Ministry of National Development for promoting this meeting in the Seychelles. In addition to the outstanding contributions made by Mr. Adam and Dr. Wurster, the members of the Ministry staff who have supported them also deserve the congratulations and thanks of the Society. The participants in the Symposium will no doubt benefit considerably from all of these dedicated efforts during the Sessions of the meeting which are now due to begin.

I hope that the efforts the I.S.H.S. is making, through the work of the Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture, will be continued in the future, accompanied by an increasing level of support from existing and new members in the tropical regions of the world.

Professor H.D. Tindall
Chairman Commission Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture
Silsoe College
Silsoe, Bedford
United Kingdom


GREETING

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would very much like to express my thanks to the government of the Seychelles for hosting this Ninth African Horticultural Symposium.

To hold such a meeting on an international scale indicates the degree to which horticulture is developing in the Seychelles.

I also want to thank the International Society for Horticultural Science for sending a distinguished representative and for sponsoring this Symposium.

Through the USAID the USA have participated in developing agriculture (horticulture) in the Seychelles by contributing to the organization and I wish the organizers a very successful meeting.

D. Fischer
Ambassador of the United States of America
Victoria, Seychelles