ISHS Acta Horticulturae 211: The Role of Horticulture in Meeting the Food Demands of AD 2000, XXII IHC
FAO AND HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH |
| Author: | U.G. Menini |
| Abstract:
I feel very honoured and priviledged to take the floor and to bring the greetings of the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to the convenors of this congress and to all the distinguished participants. My honour is even greater, to have the opportunity to speak in the hall of one of the most important and distinguished universities in the world. It is a pleasure for me also to reconfirm the strong cooperation that exists between the FAO and the International Society for Horticultural Science, particularly for strengthening collaboration among national research institutions of the world, and for the dissemination of technical information and research results to scientists and to horticultural development organisations. As it was stressed during the previous Horticultural Congress, and in other workshops and symposia jointly organised with the ISHS, it is worthwhile to recall today the important role that horticulture is playing for the improvement of small farmers' income earning capacity. This is particularly relevant in developing countries, where horticultural products - fresh or processed - are increasingly becoming a factor of improvement in the daily diet, especially in those areas where consumption of products rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins, could combat malnutrition. It is a fact to note that many emerging countries have increased their investments in the horticultural sector and during the last five years the number of FAO programmes of assistance for horticulture, has rapidly increased. At present some 200 horticultural development projects are being implemented, which are distributed geographically in the following manner:
With regard to crops, these projects can be broken down into 28% dealing with fruits; 20% with vegetables; 6% with roots and tubers; 3% with ornamentals; 2% with mushrooms; and 41% with mixed horticultural crops. These figures are destined to increase rapidly in the coming years, if we consider that already a further 150 projects have been identified for possible implementation. | |
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