WELCOME BY THE CONVENER

Welcome to Italy and to Plsa, and thank you for coming to take part in the "International Symposium on Vegetative Propagation of Woody Species". Among the participants from numerous countries, I am particularly grateful for the presence of Professor Scaramuzzi, President of the International Society for Horticultural Science, and of Dr. Davies, representing the International Plant Propagators' Society. Mrs. Van der Borg of the ISHS secretariat also deserves special thanks for her attendance.

At the XXII International Horticultural Congress held last years in Davis, California, the Section Fruit of the ISHS and the Board of the IPPS entrusted me with the task of acting as convener for this Symposium. Naturally, I felt greatly honoured, but also somewhat apprehensive for the relatively little time available for organization. I am therefore particularly satisfied today to note the number and qualifications of the participants, confirming the great interest aroused by the topics included in the programme. I must express my gratitude in anticipation to the various specialists who are to discuss and illustrate these topics during the course of the meeting.

There are three points I would like to stress in welcoming you here, and which I hope you will bear in mind during the next three days.

Firstly, a Symposium on the propagation of woody species has never before been jointly organized by the Section Fruit of the ISHS and the IPPS. This is evidence that the need for closer collaboration between these two international bodies is increasingly felt in a fundamentally important field as regards research on and applications to horticultural crops. Working together makes for a valuable exchange of ideas and information among specialists in different areas - physiologists, botanists, pomologists and nurserymen, the last of which may not often have the opportunity of discussing problems as they see them with those who have a different approach. For this reason, I am delighted to see so many researchers and technicians here today.

The second point to be made is that these meetings give us a more realistic view of the enormous amount of research currently being performed on plant propagation in Italy and in other European countries, and consequently promote profitable contacts among the scientific institutions working in this field.

Last but not least, it must be mentioned that meetings like this one are the most effective means of encouraging and establishing better human relationships among people from different countries.

The Scientific Committee has organized this Symposium on the basis of these three considerations, and I sincerely hope that it will prove fruitful and successful under every aspect.

Before I conclude, allow me to thank all those who have contributed financially to the organization of this Symposium. I would like to mention in particular: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Direction for Cooperation and Development; the National Research Council; the IPRA Special Project; the University of Pisa.

Finally, I wish you all a very pleasant stay here in Pisa, and hope that our foreign guests in particular feel at home and enjoy their visit to Italy. Thank you.

Filiberto Loreti


WELCOMING ADDRESS BY THE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PISA

It is indeed a pleasure for me to welcome you on behalf of the University of Pisa and to extend my personal wishes for the success of the forthcoming International Symposium on Vegetative Propagation of Woody Species.

It is an honour for us to have you as our guests and a privilege to be able to show you the efforts undertaken in, and the importance attached to, this sector here at the University of Pisa. The research staff of the Department which has organized this Symposium have been working on the propagation of woody species for over 30 years and have acquired a wide-ranging and in-depth experience. It is a vitally important sector in today's agriculture, from both the scientific viewpoint and considering its applications in the nursery field. In Tuscany alone - and more precisely in the areas around Pistola and Pescia - more than 5700 hectares of land are currently dedicated to nurseries.

The programme reveals that the most recent developments in plant propagation are to be discussed during this meeting. The presence here of the most qualified scientists in this field confirms the interest in applying scientific knowledge to production processes. I see that most of the papers deal with biotechnologies, a sphere which is opening up vast new research prospects, particularly in the horticultural field in which the majority of you have been involved for many years.

I would like to greet our foreign guests in particular, and thank them for taking part. I am also particularly grateful to the convenor, Professor Loreti, and to his collaborators, for the organization of the Symposium.

Let me wish you all a pleasant stay in Pisa, and may the proceedings prove successful.

Bruno Guerrini


OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE ISHS

On the behalf of the ISHS, I am honoured to open the International Symposium on Vegetative Propagation of Woody Species, promoted by our Society.

Many of you are already members of the ISHS, but still I think our aims should be pointed out, as well as the role and the importance of our International Symposia.

With more than 2,700 individual members belonging to 53 countries all over the world, the ISHS promotes the advancement of horticulture through the improvement of international cooperation in science and technology.

Every four years, the ISHS organizes the International Horticultural Congress; the last one was held in Davis (California), with about 7,000 participants; the next will be in 1990 in Italy (Florence) and the following one in 1994 in Japan (Kyoto).

Structured in 9 Commissions, 4 Sections and 57 Working Groups, the ISHS organizes International Symposia during the four year periods between the Congresses.

Each Symposium deals with a single topic and is organized by a Convener, often with the cooperation of one or more institutions or associations. The proceedings of the Symposia are published as volumes of Acta Horticulturae and represent a record of up to date scientific and technical advances in that specific horticultural subject.

Beside Acta Horticulturae, the ISHS publishes two periodicals, Scientia Horticulturae and Chronica Horticulturae, as well as other volumes of great interest, such as International Horticultural Research (a list of Horticultural Research Institutions all over the world, recently revised) and like the Horticultural Dictionary in several languages (soon to be available).

In very short, this is our ISHS, constantly and rapidly expanding its activities. It is easy to understand that we need greater effort and above all wider cooperation and membership.

Let me welcome all of you to this Symposium, which follows another on "Propagation of Ornamental Plants" held a few days ago in Geisenheim. On the behalf of the ISHS, I want to express warm thanks to the International Plant Propagators´ Society for its cooperation. Our thanks also to the Italian Horticultural Society, to the Italian National Research Council and to the University of Pisa, as well as to the sponsors who offered financial support for this Symposium.

Particular thanks must go to Professor Filiberto Loreti, Convener of the Symposium, and to the staff of his Department for the tremendous work that has been done in organizing the Symposium.

Wishing you success in your work here and a enjoyable stay in Pisa, I want to teach you a beautiful Italian word "arrivederci", addressing to all of you an "arrivederci" at least for the 1990 Congress in Florence.

Franco Scaramuzzi


PREFACE

he vegetative propagation of woody species now constitutes, more than ever before, the basis of the process of the nursery production, and is thus of fundamental scientific and economic importance.

Much research work has been carried out in this field over recent decades, but many aspects still require further study, aspects which, in a good number of cases, still constitute obstacles in the propagation of various species.

Problems linked to graft incompatibility, recent developments in the technique of micrografting and many physiological and technical aspects of propagation by cutting as well as the application of in vitro propagation were the fundamentally important topics considered during the Symposium. The application of in vitro culture as a method of vegetative propagation, for example, has eliminated many of the problems arising from traditional techniques, and promises still more exciting results than those obtained so far. At the same time, however, this technique has opened up a vast and complex field of research requiring a continuous updating of knowledge.

The number of papers collected in this volume is sufficient evidence of the will of scientists, experts and technicians in this field to unite their efforts in the common aim of progress.

This Symposium has therefore represented a valuable opportunity both for debate among experts in the various propagation problems and for a useful transfer of results from research to the nursery application.

It is hoped that the exchange of information has encouraged and brought about new work relationships among researchers studying different propagation methods, making for more prolific results from experiments and a greater understanding of the complex biophysiological phenomena interacting within the various techniques.

The last, but not least important, aim of the Symposium was that of reviewing the situation of knowledge acquired in the different sectors of vegetative propagation, providing new ideas and stimuli for research and thus a valid reason for a further and still more fertile meeting, which we hope can be organized in the next future.

F. Loreti and S. Morini
Dipartimento di Coltivazione e Difesa delle Specie Legnose
Sezione di Coltivazioni Arboree
Pisa University
56100 Pisa, Italy