ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gempler's Pest Management Supply

N.M. Bartlett Inc.

Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association

Ontario Apple Marketing Commission

Plant Health Technologies Inc.

United Agri Products

The Committee thanks the Harrow Research Centre and its A/Director, Dr. Al Hamill, for their support of the Workshop and assistance in the preparation of the Program and related literature. Mrs. Susan Duransky is especially thanked for her diligent wordprocessing skills and her patience with the conveners in the preparation of materials for the workshop.

The Committee also thanks Brock University for its hospitality and the staff of the Conference Services Department for their assistance in organizing the Workshop.



REPORT OF THE BUSINESS MEETING

The business meeting of the ISHS Working Group on Fire Blight was held on 10 August 1995 in conjunction with the 7th International Workshop on Fire Blight in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman, Dr. Peter Psallidas and minutes were recorded by the Secretary, Dr. Gordon Bonn.

Opening remarks by Dr. Psallidas included a review of the activities of the Working Group. These were the communication of research on fire blight through presentations at meetings such as this one and the publication of a newsletter by Dr. van der Zwet until 1992.

A discussion of the meeting site for the 8th Workshop followed with background information from Dr. Timur Momol. The delegation from Turkey that includes Drs. Momol and Saygili would organize the meeting in hotel facilities at Kusadasi, Turkey, also the site for the 1994 meeting of the Mediterranean Union of Plant Pathology. Dr. Aldwinckle presented a slide show with pictures of interesting places in and around Kusadasi. Workshop delegates accepted the Kusadasi, Turkey location for the next Workshop to be held in October 1998.

At this point the Chairman and Secretary of the Working Group were selected. Dr. Bonn would serve as Chairman and Drs. Momol and Saygili as Co-Secretaries, respectively for the three-year period ending at the next business meeting. Drs. Momol and Saygili will work together in organizing the next Workshop in Turkey.

A discussion of the site for the 9th Workshop brought forth two proposals. Dr. Hale of New Zealand proposed a meeting in February 2001 and presented some slides in support of the NZ location for the meeting. Dr. Paulin brought forth a proposal from Dr. Keck to hold the meeting in Austria. The decision on the 2001 meeting site will be determined at the 8th Workshop.

Following a presentation by Mr. Lightner, the Working Group supported the concept of using the Fire Blight Users Group on the Internet as a replacement for the newsletter. The Users Group is being supported by the Appalachian Fruit Research Station (USDA) which also maintains the library of fire blight information.

W. Gordon Bonn
Secretary of the ISHS Working Group on Fire Blight


OPENING ADDRESS

Dr. P.G. Psallidas
Chairman, I.S.H.S.
Working Group on Fire Blight

It is a great honor and pleasure for me to welcome you at the 7th International Workshop on Fire Blight which has been organized by the Working Group on Fire Blight under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) and in co-operation with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

First of all I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who contributed in the organization of this Workshop and gave us the opportunity to meet again here in Canada to communicate our results on fire blight research and to discuss our plans for the future.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Brock University for its hospitality to accommodate our Workshop and enabling us to make use of its splendid facilities. We feel very honoured that Professor Cheel representing the President of the University addressed our Workshop.

We extend our thanks to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, for their co-operation and help to organize the Workshop. The presence and the addresses to the meeting of the representatives of the above organizations, Dr. Northover and Dr. McFadden-Smith are highly acknowledged. I would also like to thank Moyer Farms and Mori Nurseries for their hospitality during our tour.

Let us say a special word of thanks to Dr. Bonn and to the other members of the Organizing Committee, Dr. Hunter, Dr. McFadden-Smith, Dr. Northover and Mr. Walker for the hard work they have done to organize this Workshop here in Canada. We know how hard and responsible the work is to organize such an international meeting. Gordon we highly appreciate all your hard work that started during the previous Workshop in Athens, when you so successfully presented the candidacy of Canada to host this Workshop. We all are really indebted to you for your personal efforts. Of course we realize that a number of other people were equally involved in the preparation of the meeting, to all of them we extend our sincere thanks.

Our Working Group was initiated by Professor Hellmers 18 years ago. By that time fire blight had invaded northwestern Europe and became a serious problem for the pome-fruit orchards and nurseries as well as the ornamental nursery and the landscape industries. Creating the Fire Blight Working Group under the aegis of the ISHS, Prof. Hellmers expected to bring together scientists actively engaged in research on different aspects of the disease in order to communicate their results, exchange ideas and coordinate their efforts against the common target. Now 18 years later being one of the first members of the Group, I can say without any doubt that our Working Group has been a successful one and has met the expectations of its founder.

Through successive Workshops scientists from countries without experience in fire blight as well as young scientists have learned from the experts in the subject. It is a merit of these Workshops that close friendships develop between people from different countries and I am sure that I express the feelings of all of you if I say that we are like a family helping each other in many ways.

Many things have changed since the first Workshop. Fire blight has spread to almost all European countries, and new methods have been developed to study different aspects of the disease. Methods based on molecular biology and biotechnology have been employed in studies on detection, pathogenesis, and resistance, just to mention some of them. Computerized systems for predicting disease epidemics have been commercialized. All this progress, step by step, is reflected in the six previous Proceedings of our Workshops.

However, in spite of the enormous progress that has been achieved in fire blight research, there are still fundamental questions to be answered, especially on epidemiology, detection, resistance and control. We still do not have a convincing answer to the question of how Erwinia amylovora spreads long distances, neither can we explain disease outbreaks. Also, we do not have effective bactericides to control the disease.

Looking at the programme of the Workshop, we see that the six sessions cover the whole field of research on fire blight, from practical experimentation and field applications to fundamental research. We need both types of research to reach our goal which is the effective control of the disease. Let me express my wish that some progress towards the answer to these long standing questions will be reported during the works of this conference.

Keeping with the tradition of our group, we should plan to meet again in about three years. From the previous Workshop in Athens, the Turkish Delegation has expressed its willingness to host the 8th Workshop in Turkey, having withdrawn its application in favour of Canada for this one. The Turkish Delegation has renewed, through Dr. Timur Momol, its candidacy. If there are other suggestions, please pass them to the Organizing Committee. The final decision will be taken during the business meeting at the end of the Workshop.

May I end this opening address with the certainty that this Workshop too, like the previous ones, will be a step forward to our knowledge about fire blight. I am sure that the presentations of research results will stimulate fruitful discussions and exchange of ideas.

I wish you a successful Workshop and pleasant stay.