PREFACE

Invited papers, offered oral contributions and posters were considered equally regarding publication in Acta. The manuscripts were peer reviewed by at least two members of the Editorial Board and amended according to the referees suggestions prior to acceptance. The Editorial Board could not accept all manuscripts submitted for publication.

The papers are presented in 8 chapters dealing with specific subjects. However, this arrangement should only be regarded as a general guideline since some papers may pertain to more than one chapter.

The editors acknowledge the cooperation received from the members of the Editorial Board on reviewing the manuscripts which was a significant contribution for the improvement of the overall quality of this publication.

The Editors


OPENING

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee I welcome you to the joint ISHS Symposium on Brassicas and Ninth Crucifer Genetics Workshop. We are very pleased with your presence in Lisbon and we hope that the program of this conference can match your expectations.

These brief words of welcome are especially addressed to our guests from abroad. However, since I can also see in the audience many young Portuguese participants, I address a special word of encouragement to them and the wishes that this conference can open new perspectives and stimulate their interest on brassicas.

The idea of this meeting started to germinate in 1987 when I first discussed with Professor Paul Williams, at Wisconsin, the possibility of organizing a Crucifer Workshop in Portugal. We continued to work in this project during the last seven years in close cooperation with the Portuguese Horticultural Association.

Now, that the dream come through and we have the first Crucifer Genetics Workshop to be held outside North America, I acknowledge Professor Paul Williams for his initiative. I am also very happy to see him for the first time in Portugal, where he will have the opportunity to see Galega kales almost as tall as the famous one he kept in his laboratory for quite a long time.

We also received full support from the Section of Vegetables of the International Society for Horticultural Science, here represented by Professor Carlos Portas, who gave a decisive impulse for this first ISHS Symposium devoted to brassicas. Why to organize such a meeting in Portugal?

Cole crops are of great economic importance and have a long tradition of cultivation in our country. There are also several research projects on brassicas going on at this moment, some of them with interesting international cooperation. And, at last, I will remember the Atlantic vocation of Portugal, through which Portuguese coles reached Africa, South and North America. Following the way opened by Portuguese coles some centuries ago we expect this conference can provide an opportunity for interaction and co-operation between scientists from Europe and throughout the World.

We have prepared a scientific program encouraging debate and dialogue. The number of oral papers was restricted and the papers arranged in parallel sessions dealing with specific subjects. Particular attention and plenty of time was allocated to posters.

These options introduced severe limitations in the organization of the scientific program. Therefore, I apologize the participants whose contributions could not be arranged according to the author's original preference.

There is an effort for combining science & technology with art & culture during this meeting. Within a few minutes, the opening lecture by Professor Zeven will deal with crucifers and the Flemish painting. This evening there will be a piano concert at the University Library. On Friday we will have fados and folk dances during the Farewell Dinner.

We are in Lisbon, the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1994. However, the social activities in the program are just an escape from the full and intense scientific program of the conference. We believe the participants will appreciate to go away from brassicas at the end of a hard working day. Except if these brassicas are served as a delicious Portuguese kale soup.

I want to use this opportunity for acknowledging the cooperation of various persons and institutions in the organization of the symposium. The members of the scientific committee and specially its Chairman, Dr. Ian Crute, for the precious help on the preparation of the scientific program. The authors of oral papers and posters, for the preference on presenting their contributions at this conference, specially the invited speakers and the chairpersons of oral sessions, who were willing to accept these extra responsibilities. However, I also acknowledge the other participants, whose presence and active participation will contribute for making the symposium/workshop a live forum for crucifer science and technology.

A special acknowledge to Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian for allowing us to use this excellent conference center and to several other institutions that provided financial help, without which the organization of the conference would have been quite difficult. A particular reference to the seed companies for their active support of the Crucifer Field.

Finally, my public acknowledge to the members of the Organizing Committee, specially Dr. João Dias and Dr. Eduardo Rosa, for the cooperation I received during the preparation of this meeting.

We wish you a pleasant and useful stay in Lisbon. For some of the participants it is just the continuity of previous contacts and experience. For others is something new to be acquainted with. We just hope that for all of you it was fruitful to come and it is worthwhile to return in the near future.

Thank you and "obrigado".

António Monteiro, Chairman of the Organizing Committee


ADDRESS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ISHS SECTION OF VEGETABLES

Mr. Representative of the Minister of Agriculture, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) provides an adequate forum for scientists of different fields of specialities, even from different scientific societies, who should meet in order to discuss actual problems of crop growth and production, land utilization and food supply, with strict disciplinary approaches, to allow useful results. And I am very pleased with the fact that Brassica production has become the subject dealt with at this very special, as the first, symposium, owing to an initiative taken by our always active Board and Council member Prof. António A. Monteiro.

Production of the most important food plants grown all over the world - and Brassica do belong to such plants - is more and more placed in locations providing an ecological optimum for the growth. Great technical progress has made commodities as abundant and cheap as possible. However, we must take care of keeping, even improving, the quality of the products, the sustainability of agricultural systems and the positive effects on the environment. Under such pressure the convenors of this symposium prepare a most interesting program, on which we can congratulate them.

Let me start with the kindest regards of the ISHS Section of Vegetables to the organizers and to the participants of the symposium. Our special thanks goes to all involved on preparing and arranging this meeting: to Dr. A. Almeida Monteiro and his colleagues of the scientific and organizing committees, to the Portuguese Horticultural Association, to the Cruciferous Genetic Cooperative, to many authorities, to many entrepreneurs, and to the institutions and holdings which have generously supported this symposium. We have also to thank the technical University of Lisboa and its College of Agriculture and Forestry, and a great number of persons who have been assisting the convenor. Many of us know the tremendous work necessary for preparation.

I am convinced that we will experience very interesting lectures and discussions during the next days to come and also we expect the results of the la mise-au-point of the interesting idea to organize a wide experimental field outside Lisboa.

It has become a tradition of ISHS symposia that an official representative of the society informs the participants about the ISHS (and simultaneously invites to membership). At present, the ISHS Council is composed of the official representatives of 46 country-members. More than 300 organization, e.g. are affiliated institutes and libraries and 3,400 individuals from around 90 countries are members of the Society. Members are kept informed of activities by four issues a year of Chronica Horticulturae. Papers delivered at symposia are published in special issues of Acta Horticulturae. Members are also informed about addresses of specialists and institutes from all over the world by a directory, the “Horticultural Research International”, now in the fifth edition. The scientific and technical work on specific fields of horticultural sciences is carried out by the Sections for Fruits, Viticulture, Vegetables, Root Crops, Ornamentals and Aromatic and Medicinal Plant, and by ten Commissions involved with overlapping fields of specialities. Symposia (20 to 30 per year) take place in different countries. Every four years, international horticultural congresses are organized by the ISHS, the next one at Brussels, in 1998.

But now let us return to Portugal. For the next days to come, we will be provided the opportunity of discussing specific Brassica problems and establishing and maintaining personal contacts. I hope that there are no difficult linguistic barriers but mutual understanding beyond all orders, as it is an old tradition of the ISHS. Hearty thanks for coming. I wish the symposium to become a success.

Carlos A. Portas, Chairman of the ISHS Section of Vegetables.