OPENING ADDRESSES

Dear Colleagues!

Permit me to greet you first in the name of our Research Institute that has had the honour to organize this symposium.

The walnut is a beloved tree of Hungarians. We believe that people who plant a nut tree in their garden have a good spirit not only for themself but for their children and grandchildren, as well. So became the walnut tree sort of a symbole of the family home in this country.

We already studied that for today the new cultivars shortened the time required for fruiting, the improvement of growing and harvesting technology resulted in that the nut hus now a place in commercial plantations, too. We suppose that this symposium would be an excellent occasion for scientists from so many parts of the world to change views, technics and knowledge for this multilateraly useful fruit tree.

Perhaps you know that Hungary is on way to revaluate its past. We are all of us interested in the future of this country. One can not forecast today what will become our nation in the next menthes or years, but, I am sure that the hungarian hospitality, the open harted character towards any people of the world will be the same for ever.

Permit me please some words abaout our Institution which will be your host for the next few days. Nevertheless, the Institute has celebrated its 40th anyversary this year, it might be considered a straight successor of research in horticulture that started in the beginning, of this century. Number one task of the institute is the breading and selection of fruit bearing plants and their rootstocks. Researchers working in any of our four Research Stations, placed in different fruit-growing regions of the country, are responsible to improve the fruits produced in their locality. In fact, the nut breading program was commenced in Eszterhá, a little village in the North-western plants and their rootstocks. Researchers working in any of our four Research Stations, placed in different fruit-growing regions of the country, are resposible to iprove the fruits produce in their locality. In fact, the nut breading program was commenced in Eszterháza, a little village in the North- western corner of the country, in the thirties. After the second world-war this work has been continued on a greater extent in Erd-Elvira Experimental Station, a locality You will visit too. The bild up of our Institution, the name and specialties of scientists are all given in a leaflet, in your bag. I would like to add to it that the research work done here in the last decade enlarged considerably the lists approved fruit varieties. We preserve our varieties among other cultivars in our virus free mother plantations, and we propagate them in our commercial nurseries.

I hope that all of the participants of this symposium will become our advocate in the international nursery market. We are a eaiting your lectures with great expectations. By the way, I promise you that we are going to do our best to inform you in the field of nut growing. I hope, all of us, gests and hosts shell be more rich in new ideas by the end of our meeting than at the beginning.

I wish you good work in the lecture hall nice excursions and a pleasant stay in our country.

A. ZSITVAY, Deputy Head of the Agricultural Department,
Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Budapest


Dear Mr. President!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Honoured Symposium!

May I take the opportunity to welcome all the participants of the 1st International Symposium of Walnut Production in the name of the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Hubgarian Republic and personnally in the name of the Minister, Dr. Csaba Hütterr. It is a great honour and pleasure for the whole Hungarian agriculture, and especially for the Hungarian horticultural scientists and producers to give a home for this symposium for the first time.

In Hungary the horticultural production has always been in the centre of interest. It is true that we carry on horticultural production on cca. 8 percent of the 6,5 million hectare of cultivated fields, that is on a half million hectare of fields, but on this territory we produce 20 percent of the agricultural products. The horticultural production shows great variety in the country. Between the two extremes points - farms having thousand hectare of fruitgarden or vineyard and the gardeners working on territories of some square meters-almost all transitions can be found. The considerable part of the population is in connection with the horticulture not only as a consumer but as a producer. Annually 60 percent of the horticultural products is produced by small private farms.

Our horticultural production has a great deal in the export, too. The Hungarian red pepper and the Hungarian wine, fruit and vegetable reach to the great number of the European countries, and even if in a smaller extent we can meet them on the shelves of shops of farther continents, too. The 22–24 percent of our total food export is given by the fresh and processed horticultural products.


Ladies and Gentlemen!

I should like to present in brief the situation of the three main horticultural branches separately, namely the vegetable production, the fruit production and the wine-growing in Hungary.

Annually 1 million amd 800 – 1 million and 900 thousand tons of vegetables are produced. Our most important cultivated vegetables are the following: green peas, tomato, onion, cabbage, green paprika, red pepper. The field-production surface is about of 100 thousand hectares. The vegetable forcing is carried out on nearly 4200 hectares, 60–80 hectares of which are green-houses, 3000–3200 hectares are plastic green-houses and on 1000 hectares the vegetable forcing is carried out under frameless film covering.

Almost 40 percent of all the produced vegetables is consumed fresh or domestically preserved, nearly 10 percent of them is exported as fresh goods, and the remaining 50 percent is processed. The export of the processed vegetables has also great importance. 75 percent of the export is given by canned vegetable, about 18 percent - by frozen goods and 7 percent - by red-pepper.

We produce annually 1 million and 700 – 1 million and 800 thousand tons of fruits. Our most important fruit is the apple with its two-third proportion. The quantity of apple harvest is more than 100 kilogram per 1 person. Beside it the production of pear, sweet and sour cherries, plum, apricot, peach, raspberry, strawberry is significant.

According to the statistics the territory of orchards is 94 thousand hectares, it shows a steadily declining tendency.

20 percent of the produced fruits is exported as fresh goods, 30 percent of them is freshly consumed or domestically preserved by the inhabitants and 50 percent of them is processed.

Our wine-growing territory has been gradually decreasing, now it amounts 141 thousand hectares. Regarding the wine-growing area Hungary takes the 15th place of the world ranking list.

90 percent of our total viniculture is consumed as wine, or in the form of other alcoholic drinks. 8–9 percent of the viniculture is utilized for eating, the further 1–2 percent is used for the production of soft drinks.

350 works, 40 wine cellars and 200 thousand families take part in the production of wine. Nowadays 60 percent of it is produced by the small-scale producers.

The local wine-consumption in Hungary shows a declining tendency similarly to the world-wide. The consumption per person, which was 35–38 litres for many years, nowadays has decreased to 25 litres.

Honoured Symposium!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I should have liked to give you a short summary on the horticultural production of our small country, mainly with the purpuse of clarifying the position of our walnut production. Certainly I haven't spoken about the walnut production itself, it will be discussed during the symposium by much more competent lectures like me.

Finally let me wish you a successful meeting and a lot of useful experiences and pleasant time to the study tours.

Thank you for your attention!

I. GERGELY, Director
Enterprise for Research and Extension in Fruit Growing and
Ornamentals, Budapest


Ladies and Gentleman!

I would like to greet you cordially, and to say a few words on behalf of the organizing committee of the Symposium.

A few years ago Mr. I. Cürkan, director of the Research Ins- titute for the Fruit Growing of Moldavia, outstanding spetialist in walnut production conveyed the suggestion to organize a symposium on walnut. He was who proposed our country as the scene of the symposium, since there is relatively easy access to Hungary both from the East and from the West. We have accepted the idea with pleasure and felt the task most interesting.

All the hungarian orchard specialists were also interested in the symposium to be. Permit me to give just a few thoughts to understand our terms to the walnut:

• The walnut is a native species in Hungary. Though the the surface of commercial walnut orchards is just about 2500 ha, the number of the walnut trees in backyards, road sides etc. totals some 4,5 millions, serving for provide the population.
• During the last years domestic and foreign demand has increased considerably. For the time being we can sell any quantity of high quality nuts we can produce.
• Decades of hard research work of the late Dr. Porpáczy and of Dr. Szentiványi has led to important results in the breeding of walnut:

• late leafing cultivars, thus less injured by late spring frosts,
• early fruiting and heavy yields cultivars bearing on lateral buds, and
• winter hardy cultivars, which is an important feature here in the Carpatian Basin.

Production of nursery trees on commercial scale has been worked out aswell

• by the Moldavian bench graft method which will be shown to you this week
• and by our method of budding which is seen on one of the posters.

The symposium on Walnut Growing elicited great international interest too. I would like to thank the help of ISHS organs and aspecially the valuable help and advices of Mr. S. Sansavini. 101 participants from 21 countries answered the first circular, and the registered number of lectures and posters was 70.

As you can see of the program leaflet, we tryed to arrange the time table of events so that everybody may take part on every event, since we know that most of the specialists would like to hear the lectures of the other sections too. We have arranged for out-door programs too, wanting to show you our research orchard and nursery, and one of the best commercial walnut plants. In addition to this you may do a repeated visiton Friday morning to our research farm Elvira, where collegue Dr. Szentivanyi shall wait with great pleasure for participants interested more closely in what one has seen there.

When arranging for all the circumstances of the Symposium we wanted to avoid costly solutions. That's why the Symposium's seat is the modest council hall of our institute and not some splendid congress center, and why the neighboring school provides for housing and food for reasonable prices. The majority of the organizing staff are not professionales, but our collegues, and partly students of the University for Horticulture, who have undertaken this job passionately.

Lastly I would like to thank you for coming and for preparing all those great lectures and posters, and want to wish you useful and pleasant symposium-days and a good time in Hungary.

S. SANSAVINI the chairman of ISHS Fruit Sectiom have sent a a letter to the participants.
European Economic Comminity


OPENING ADDRESS

It is with great pleasure that I extend to all of you at this first Walnut Symposium the greeting of the ISHS. It is an important event, and follows up the other recent initiatives on Walnut in France and Turkey. There is keen interest among the Fruuit Section's members in all nut species, particularly as regards Mediterranean countries and in America. It is for this reason that the ISHS, in accord with the various proposals out forth, decided to establish an interdisciplinary and intercommodity Nut Working Group. It will work in close collaboration with the 'Agrimed Group', which heads almond research in the EEC.

Let me also underscore that the task of a Working group is not simply to organise periodic symposia. It is mainly to pursue, compare and coordinate research the projects approaches and methodologies - being conducted thoroughout the world. In this start-up stage, it is therefore important for the group to elect a chairman of distinguished scientific standing and who is willing to lend his support to the various nut species on the agenda.

In this sector there are numerous initiatives being promoted and legitimate commercial interests are also involved. It is our task to maintain the scientific links among the researchers who look to the ISHS to provide this connection and coordination. The group's activity can also contribute eventually to the planning and the participation in future international research projects in association with the EEC, grower organisations, or private concerns.

I should like to thank Dr. Istvan Gergely and the other Organising Committee members, whose initiative has made this Symposium possible.

Their work is a tribute to the Budapest Extension and REsearch Enterprise, to Hungary and to the ISHS and its members who have responded so well to this Symposium. Let me conclude my remarks by wishing everyone a very successful Symposium.