FOREWORD

Firstly I would like to thank you all for responding to our invitation to meet in izmir, and for your scientific support through the presentation of your papers, posters and your future discussions.

I would like to make a special mention of the International Society and thank Mr. Van der Borg, the General Secretary of the Society, and Professor Sansavini, Chairman of the Fruit Section, for sponsoring the necessary technical assistance.

Similarly, I would like to greet Professor Paunovic, as the founder and honorary chairman of the Working Group on Apricot.

I have the pleasure to greet and specially thank Mr. Kutlu Aktas, the Governor of Izmir, Mr. Yüksel Çakmur, the Mayor of Izmir and Mr. Zafer Keskiner, the Mayor of Salihli, Professor Refet Saygili, Rector of Ege University, and Professor Numan Sungur, Dean of the Agricultural Faculty, for their support in every stage of our preparations.

I would like also to thank all financial supporters such as CIHEAM, FAO, Turkish Ministry of Agriculture, TÜBITAK, Agricultural Bank and Association of Exporters Union.

My personal thanks must also go to all those people and institutions who have supported us, and in particular to my colleagues and the members of the Scientific and Organizing Committee.

It is a great pleasure to host the X^th International Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline. I wish a great success at this symposium and a pleasant stay in Turkey, particularly in Izmir.

This symposium takes place in Turkey where apricot production is one of the most important branches of agriculture. Moreover, Turkey is the leading apricot producing country of the world. For the last three years annual production has been measured as 340.000 tons from the 10.239.000 trees on average.

The Apricot crop, under economical interest, is traditionally grown in the region of Malatya. Although apricot is a very sensitive species among fruit trees it finds the best ecological conditions in this province. Yearly production of the area is about 150.000 tons of fresh, 30 to 40 tons of dried apricot.

Even though, the Malatya region has the most suitable ecological conditions for apricot and has some adapted varieties such as Hacihaliloglu, Hasanbey, Soganci and Kabaasi etc. there are some important problems in the growing of apricot such as damage from springtime frosts and difficulties in controlling Monilia laxa (Sclerotinia laxa) especially after rainy days of springtime.

Probably, you want to ask me : "If Malatya is such an important apricot growing place in your country why did not you organize this symposium in this town? ". My answer will be easy : "Since Malatya is located in the Central Eastern Anatolian Region, to reach this place would give some problems to you and especially to the organizing committee of the symposium" . Moreover, probably for most of you this is the only opportunity to visit Turkey. Taking this into account, we wanted to give some information in a general horticultural and touristic view of Turkey. This is the reason why we are meeting in Izmir.

Now i would like to talk as an official representative of the Working Group on Apricot Culture of the International Society for Hoticultural Science.

As the chairperson, I would like to emphasize some other main points. It is pleasant to see such as large group of experts from 22 different countries in this hall. This situation is of great importance in terms of providing an oppurtunity of discussion for solving all important problems of apricot.

As you know, up to now, many valuable varieties which possess high economical importance have been created by the traditional breeding methods. Some of them even have been able to show tolerance to ecological conditions as well. Likewise, the reasons for some biological problems have been found and solved. The control of some important pests and diseases has been attained by using effective methods. The research carried out on propagation, rootstocks, orchard management and new training system such as tatura treillis for high-density plantings are also other examples of spending scientific efforts for apricot.

However, there are still many problems. Some of them are carried over from the past and other have arisen just recently. The consumers request apricot fruits not only with quality and nutritional value but also without residues of chemicals. As the result of this situation, biological agriculture has been developed. To get successful results in this field will also serve for a clean environment.

We noticed that valuable scientific research has been carried out on getting apricot varieties which are resistant to some important diseases. A very good example of these effors is breeding apricot resistant to Plum Pox Virus (Sharka). There are other examples as well. Even, we are happy to see that the studies on Regeneration of Transgenic apricots, transformation of Apricots with the B-Glucuronidase (GUS) gene or with the PPV. cp gene have been achieved to some degree by using related biotechnological methods. In this connection, all apricot plant materials which are resistant to pests and diseases are of great importance as the gene source either for the activities of traditional breeding or biotechnology. To attain this point, the scientists in countries such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, where enormous genetic material of apricaot is present must be stimulated to work on testing disease resistance to find valuable genetic material for this purpose.

As you know, there is evidence that a recently discovered organism causes some damage in apricot flower buds and therefore affects productivity. This is an indication that some unexpected problems may arise in future as well.

In the same way, although many of the biological problems of apricot have been solved, still some subjects connected with fertilization biology remain unclear. There are numerous examples of this sort. Future research on apricot may be directed to the biochemical and physiological basis of some phenological or morphological problems. The relationships between disease resistance and phenolic compounds or the interaction between Capnodis resistance and prunacin content may be given as examples the achievements in this respect. To intensify on methods that will be valuable as early screening techniques in breeding or in apricot growing will allow us to save time.

Such an international collaboration is particularly valuable.

The exchange of experinces will not only enable us to avoid working on the same problems in several countries but also can, and will be stimulating in Horticultural Sciences. The EEC project on apricot lead by Mr. Audergon can be given as a very good example of such a collaboration .Thus, many problems can be with dealt with altogether by the same group. As the chairperson of the working group I got the chance to participate in all their meetings, and personally I am thankful for getting this chance and congratulate them for their success. It would be superfluous to list here all benefits of International collaboration for all participating nations. these benefits are thanks to the International Society for Horticultural Science. The main purpose of this society is to provide cooperation in every field of horticultural research by means of its working groups and commissions.

However, at this symposium, today we find the oppurtunity to exchange scientific findings, unconventional discussions between colleagues and personal contacts between specialists. Moreover, at this symposium today we also find many good friends coming from all over the world whom we are pleased to see again.

Valuable scientific contributions in the course of 3 days work of the symposium will be of great importance for the scientists who work on apricot, apricot growers, exporters, shortly all the people who are interested in various fields of apricot.

Finally, I wish success for this gathering and hope to meet again at at the XI^th Symposium that will be held in 1997.

Prof. Dr. Ruhinaz GÜLCAN
Convenor of the Symposium
and
Chairperson of the Working Group


OPENING ADDRESS

It is indeed a pleasure for me to extend to you the greetings of the ISHS and, especially, of the Fruit Section, which here is represented by Ruhinaz Gülcan who has chaired the Apricot Working Group these past four years and is the convener of this symposium at Izmir, the tenth of the ISHS apricot symposia and the first to be held in Turkey. The Group's longevity and its activities are to a great extent bound up with those of S. Paunovic, one of its founder members, former chairman and today honorary Chairman.

Yet the history of the Apricot Working Group is much more than the story of its most noted exponents. I cannot help but mention at this juncture the group led first by Dr. Morvan and then by Z. Klement, which for over a decade and in a number of important studies documented apricot 'decline' and methods of control in Europe, including its concomitant fungal, bacterial, viral and, via grafting incompatibility, genetic causes.

Perusing the summaries of the papers and posters to be presented at this Symposium, I have come away with the impression that, apart from genetics, breeding and plant health, issues like crop management and quality, pomology, eco-physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and processing are today claiming the increasing attention of specialists in apricot.

One of our first priorities should be the creation of an apricot gene data bank for geneticists and breeders. It will also serve to upgrade regional programs that all too often suffer crop impoverishment because of inbreeding, given that it is necessary to cross genotypes far removed genetically from one another to enhance variability. Fifteen years ago it was Crossa-Raynaud who first pointed to linkage as the best way to upgrade crop enhancement in this sense.

The second item on this agenda is a more thorough knowledge of apricot ecology via the physiology of plant and fruit development in varying environments. The marked and documented genotype x environment interaction in apricot needs to be studied in greater depth, ascertained and applied to improve the crop and define its growing areas.

Then, too, the growing threat of Sharka must be checked. While the countries of Eastern Europe, where the problem is most severe, must take the leading role in combating and preventing the spread of this disease, the other countries must take the lead in preventing its appearance and helping to find a remedy by identifying resistant or tolerant genotypes for breeders.

The choice of rootstock and the marked interaction of stock and rootstock continue to represent an unresolved issue, given the fact that we can rule out right from the start that a universal rootstock, such as in apple, can be found for apricot.

There is great need today in those segments of the fruit growing industry that are most receptive to the issues of consumer health and environmental protection to disseminate the principles of integrated fruit production (IFP) via crop management guidelines and grower regulations so as to ensure that the consumer public is offered healthy produce of top quality. This approach is all the more germane to apricot as it is a species requiring less treatment than others. It is no longer enough to produce apricots typical of a given area. It is time to move forward, and for us this is an ethical imperative even before a necessary revision of research aims.

The pronounced market competitiveness of today's world demands that in many areas crop management research must strive to reduce orchard depreciation costs. Whence the need to orient growers to higher density orchards than formerly and tree canopies of reduced upward development. Thus, revision is in order from spacing to row architecture, from soil management to tree and crop management.

As a final item, I would like to suggest a marketing integration plan for the main growing areas, for these are increasingly closer in terms of import-export trade even if somewhat distant geographically. We must try to extend the harvest calendar via genotypes and crop management techniques (including greenhouse wherever feasible) so as to offer consumers fresh produce over the longest span of time. Researchers can make timely suggestions on how to promote apricot consumption throughout the world.

I cannot close my remarks today without saying a few words about the ISHS Apricot Working Group. Under the guidance of Ruhinaz Gülcan, the Group has renewed itself and enrolled new members. Today there are over 150 apricot specialists world-wide, and it is our task to ensure that more and more of them become Group, and ISHS, members. The enrolment of new members from astern Europe is especially welcome, as in the past there had been some difficulty in joining, corresponding and participating in the Society.

Let me end these comments by warmly endorsing Ruhinaz Gülcan's idea for a WG newsletter. I should like to wish you all a very successful and fruitful Symposium, and warmly thank the University of Izmir, the Organizing and Scientific Committees, and Ruhinaz Gülcan for their unstinting efforts and for their commitment in seeing through press the publication of the Symposium proceedings in the ISHS Acta Horticulturae.

Silviero Sansavini, Chairman, ISHS Fruit Section