OPENING ADDRESS

Let me also underscore the commitment of and thank the Group's Chairman, Dr. René Bernhard. To him go the merits for having founded the Working Group as well as having done so much in research into and breeding of Prunus rootstocks and in organising the last three Symposia. We have indeed been lucky to have had so youthful and active a Chairman. Despite his irrevocable decision to retire I am confident that he will continue to make his invaluable expertise available to us.

It has been 12 years since the last Symposium, and, while the Group's Work has been a bit sporadic, circumstances have also conspired against it. A few years ago in Belgium the Symposium had to be cancelled for a lack of participants. One of our tasks, then, over the next three days will be to decide the Group's future, its eventual restructuring by extending its range to orchard management, involving geneticists, breeders, pathologists, physiologists and pomologists, and to find a leader capable of instilling the Group with renewed impetus.

Let me conclude my remarks by thanking Madame Dosba and her collaborators for their hospitality and for all they have done, and will do, make this Symposium a success.

S. Sansavini,
Chairman Fruit Section ISHS
and SOI - Società Orticola Italiana.


WELCOME

Being in charge of the Plum and Prune Genetics Breeding and Pomology Committee for the last time, it's a great pleasure and a deep honour for me to give a welcome to you, all Colleagues and Friends, in the name of this Committee.

The Fruit Research Station in Bordeaux, part of National Research Center Institute (INRA), known as the Grande Ferrade Station, has essentially provided the organization of this meeting.

The management of this Committee is composed of :

Mrs Françoise Dosba, Head of the Station,

Mr Georges Salesses,

Mr René Renaud.

This Committee is far from being composed of many persons because the main part of the organization of this Symposium has been held by the Station which has very limited means.

We could think that Plum and Prune Genetics probably have no importance to our National Chief Administrators considering it as an unfashionable subject. However, it has been proved in several cases, only an unceasing effect allowed very important agronomic results which are to modify the classical notions of exclusive propitious productions zones.

As I said, our means being low allow me to ask you to show some indulgence.

I have to transmit the apologies of foreigner scientists who would have been very pleased to take part in this Symposium, but who taked part already in the Apricot Symposium in Caserta (Italy) last week.

I am personally convinced that we will do some good work together thanks to the original informations that you will bring and thanks to your highly skills and competences.

This Committee has already allowed cooperation between scientists of different countries.

These cooperations seem to me too limited. This is probably due to the lack of dynamism and perhaps the time of the president.

I would like to propose three main subjects in which the cooperation could be developed in the future. I point them out to you in order to think over them during this week and to bring proposals, criticisms in the closing session :

1. To have a range of authentic and virus-free control clones for our breeding program on varieties and rootstocks and for our germplasm.
2. To study the possibility to international trials for therootstocks as the end of the selection.
3. To study the possibility to extend our Committee to the study and creation of interpecific hybrid rootstocks in Prunus genus.

As far as this last point is concerned, I specify that certain problems set to breeders of the rootstocks have more chances to be solved by the interspecific hybridization than by selection in a given species.

The example of Prunus Bessyi or Prunus spinosa could be taken. In these species, unperfection cannot be eliminated by intraspecific hybridization only.

The interesting characteristics of every botanical species could be given only through these interspecific hybridizations.

I would be a pity to count only on the genetical manipulations.

In the fields of interspecific hybridizations, our experiment has been proved very positively and can lead to some optimistic view.

It can be very useful to realize a list of specific qualities to different species of Prunus.

In parallel, the research on graft incompatibility could allow us to know more rapidly the factors linked to the rootstocks and those linked to the varieties.

As a conclusion, I thanks to the great dynamism and activity of a certain number of you for the improving of the quality of plums which will recover the lead of the markets competing with peaches and grapes.

I wish you a nice stay in Bordeaux, not too warm and not too wet.


René Bernhard,
Chairman,
Plum Genetics Working Group, ISHS.