OPENING ADDRESSES

As convener of the 7th International Symposium on Timing Field Production of Vegetables I wish to extend my cordial welcome to all of the more than 70 participants coming from 24 countries.

We are greatly honoured by the presence with us of many distinguish guests and among them especially:

• Prof Carlos Portas from Lisbon, Portugal the Chair-mán of Section Vegetables of ISHS
• Mr Eugeniusz Chylek - Director of the Department for Science, Education and Progress in Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy
• Mr Tadeusz Glogowski - Director of the Department of Plant Production and Food Processing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy.
• Mr Wlodzimierz Binder - The Mayor of Skierniewice
• Dr Stanislaw Kaniszewski - Director of the Research Institute of Vegetable Crops in Skierniewice -who offered his very valuable help in organizing this Symposium

The short frames of this address do not allow to mention, by name and function other honourable guests: scientists, growers representatives of seed, chemical and horticultural trade companies, cooperating with us for every day and also for the sake of this Symposium. I welcome cordially all of you and express my joy and gratitude for your coming.

At the same time I wish to offer my most sincere thanks for the assistance that was provided to us by Mr Van der Borg the Secretary General of the ISHS. We have also with us a quite large group of our sponsors, who supported generously our Symposium. I wish to extend to them my sincere thanks.

Scientific activities of our Symposium include fundamental and applied research in areas related to timing of the field vegetables, with special attention to crop establishment, growing techniques, evaluation of new cultivars, the use of plant and soil covers, plant nutrition, plant physiology and physiological disorders of vegetable plants. The motto of our Conference is "Ecologically friendly growing techniques for good yields of high quality vegetables".

We will do our best for creating a good atmosphere for scientific and personal contacts. We request your understanding for all the shortcomings and any of the errors that we may have committed. We hope that away from your homes you will make yourself at home in Skierniewice for the time of this Symposium.

I declare the Symposium opened.

Dr. Jan Rumpel
Convener of Symposium

Honourable Professor Portas,
Distinguished Participants and Guests
of the 7th International Symposium Timing Field
Production of Vegetables.

I welcome warmly all of you and wish to assure you that the municipal corporation of Skierniewice and myself enjoy very much your visit in our town.

Skierniewice a town located in central Poland is bound tightly with Poland's history and culture. It is about here where the great composer Fryderyk Chopin was born, here was the home of Wladyslaw Reymont - the famous writer who for his novel Peasants received the Nobel prize, here too lived the famous polish painter Józef Chelmonski.

This is a rich in cultural traditions region of West Mazovia and Skierniewice is the district capital, a city with a history dating back to the 14th century.

Three years ago when I took up the duties of city Mayor my principal objective was to open the city with its intellectual potential to the western countries. This activities are supported by both Horticultural Research Institutes located in Skierniewice as well as by scientists from East and West.

Thanks to the international contacts continued by our institutes together with their own research and broad extension work our region turned in the last three decades of years into one of the foremost advanced in the production of fruits and vegetables. Today about 25 percent of the exported polish onions are produced in the district of Skierniewice and we appreciate it very much.

I believe that you Ladies and Gentlemen will enjoy you stay in Poland.

I wish you a very successful meeting and many pleasant memories of the days spent in Skierniewice.

Wlodzimierz Binder
Mayor of Skierniewice