ISHS Acta Horticulturae 446: VI International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
| Authors: | D. D. E. Yarborough, D. J. M. Smagula, Norman E. Looney, K. Pliszka |
| Abstract:
The VI International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture was held in Orono, Maine U.S.A. on 12–17 August, 1996. The meeting was attended by 115 scientists from 15 countries. The meeting began with a two day tour of wild blueberry fields and processing facilities. First visited was Wyman's, a fourth generation family owned business, which operates over 2,800 ha of blueberry fields and has the ability to individual quick freeze (IQF) 400 metric tons a day. The next visit was to observe mechanical harvesters on 320 ha of wild blueberry fields managed by Cherryfield Foods, Inc. The first day ended at Blueberry Hill Farm, the wild blueberry experimental research station, where all had the opportunity to hand rake blueberries for themselves. The next day included a tour of Bartletts Maine Estate Winery which produces 6,000 cases of fruit wines from Maine fruits, including wild blueberries. A visit to a smaller IQF freezer and a Fresh Pack Cooperative packing operation concluded the day. The meeting opened with remarks from Dr. Norman Looney, Chair of ISHS Fruit Section, and by Dr. Kazimierz Pliszka, Chair of the ISHS Vaccinium working group. A total of 87 papers were presented. A special session on Vaccinium pollination opened the conference followed by oral and poster sessions on Breeding, Plant Development, and Genetics; Cultural Practices and Plant Growth; Pest Management; and Plant, Soil and Human Nutrition. Six invited papers discussed the status of Vaccinium crops world-wide, including wild and cultivated blueberry, cranberry and lingonberry. The formal session concluded with a lobster banquet at the University Ornamental Gardens and an address by University of Maine President Dr. Frederick Hutchinson. The tours continued with a visit to Cranberry World in Plymouth, Massachusetts and an Ocean Spray Processing plant. The next day tours of the Ocean Spray Agricultural Research Facility and the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Experiment Station and local cranberry bogs were conducted. Thirty scientists continued on to a post-conference tour of wild blueberries and cranberries in Quebec Province, Canada on 19–21 August. At the business session we elected Dr. Elden Stang, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin, as the new chair of the Vaccinium Working Group. Dr. Kazimierz Pliszka was recognized for his efforts as chair of our group since 1984. Following a presentation by Ruperto Hepp, the group decided to have the next symposium in Chilean, Chile. We look forward to attending the next symposium in Chile in December of 2000. We thank the program chairs and reviewers, Kenna MacKenzie, Connie Stubbs, Nick Vorsa, Frank Caruso, Walter Litten, Jim Ballington, Jim Spiers, Creighton Gupton, Carolyn DeMoranville, Joan Davenport, Max Austin, Eric Hanson, Frank Drummond, Dave Lambert and Paul Cappiello for their efforts in producing a professional conference and proceedings.
We wish to give specials thanks to June McCormick for her efforts in organizing the registration at the conference, without her support the conference would not have run as smoothly as it did, and Gale Jameson for reformating and making changes on the manuscripts.
We also wish to thank the Maine Blueberry Commission for their financial support of the meeting. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you, on behalf of the International Society for Horticultural Science, to the 6th International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture. This meeting continues a series that began in July 1967 in Venlo, Netherlands when Prof. G. Liebster opened the First Symposium on Blueberry Culture in Europe. This was followed by symposia on "Vaccinium Culture in Europe" in Germany (1976; Acta Horticulturae 61) and on "Vaccinium Culture" in Poland (1985; Acta 165), USA (1988; Acta 241) and Australia (1993; Acta 346). As indicated by the name change and by the locations of the last three symposia, the interest in Vaccinium research now encompasses much more than blueberries and is proving to be as great outside of Europe as within. The ISHS is very pleased to be the sponsoring Society. We are also very proud of the fact that the volumes of Acta Horticulturae that have arisen from these meetings provide an excellent record of nearly 30 years of research on these valuable and intriguingly diverse crops. As a significant North American producer of cranberries and wild blueberries, it is highly appropriate that this symposium is being held in Maine, USA. I am pleased to note that the combination of pre- and post-symposium tours will provide an excellent introduction to the cranberry and blueberry industries of the region. Scientists from other States and Provinces are here to share their knowledge and experiences with colleagues from Europe, Asia, South America and Oceana. My sincere congratulations to the conveners for assembling a truly international group of researchers and an interesting scientific program. The formal presentations, combined with informal discussions, tours and social events will result in new knowledge being shared, interpreted and incorporated into existing stores of horticultural knowledge and experience. This is the strength, the attractiveness, of small, commodity- or discipline-oriented symposia. It has been my experience that the 20 Fruit Section Working Groups are particularly adept at organizing such meetings. This present symposium is one of twelve similar-size meetings sponsored or co-sponsored by Fruit Section Working Groups in 1996. Some, such as the 3rd International Strawberry Symposium (Veldhoven, Netherlands) and the 4th International Congress on Hazelnut (Ordu, Turkey), are very crop specific. Others involve several Working Groups or topic areas. For example, the 6th International Symposium on Integrating Canopy, Rootstock and Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems involved three Fruit Section Working Groups, took place over 10 days and involved two meeting sites (Washington and British Columbia). In all cases, however, the over-riding aim is to bring the right people to the right place to share information, get better acquainted, and ultimately to advance horticultural science and technology. I strongly encourage everyone here to initiate and maintain membership in the ISHS since it is through the various ISHS publications, especially Chronica Horticulturae, that you can learn about these meetings. I would remind you that small symposia or congresses such as this can be especially valuable to our younger colleagues wishing to gain experience, recognition, and develop their leadership skills. I have seen many young scientists move to positions of increasing influence as a result of regular participation in ISHS symposia and workshops, the Society's quadrennial International Horticultural Congress (next in Brussels, August 2–7, 1998), and by becoming involved in the leadership of ISHS Working Groups, Sections and Commissions. Again, maintaining annual membership in the Society is the best way to stay informed of all of these opportunities! Finally, a few words about the volume of Acta Horticulturae that will arise from this meeting and be published and distributed by the ISHS. This book will have great value to the participants as a permanent record of the event and, as such, it must be our goal to include all of the talks and posters and to complete the preparation of the Acta as quickly as possible. However, the Acta must also be thought of as an important product for sale and distribution to libraries, to individual scientists unable to attend this symposium, and increasingly, to producers and others in industry and commerce. Post-Congress sales of Acta help to sustain the operations of the Society. The reputation of all ISHS publications is influenced by the quality of each volume. It is with these realities in mind that I look forward to working with the conveners and the editorial committee to ensure that this Acta is an accurate and complete record of what was presented, and is carefully edited to remove errors and ensure clarity of presentation and adherence to the prescribed format. The ISHS Secretariat will see that it is attractively and professionally published. I am pleased and proud to represent a Society so clearly dedicated to the advancement of horticulture in all of these ways. However, I am especially proud of the dedicated individuals that make the Society work. I want to mention, in particular, Dr. Kazimierz Pliszka, Chair of the Vaccinium Culture Working Group since 1982 and a driving force behind this and three previous symposia. Dr. Pliszka has been a tireless champion of the importance of research and development in the improvement of Vaccinium culture worldwide. His contributions to horticultural science are widely recognized and greatly appreciated. However, his dedication and contributions to international networking, using this Working Group and its periodic symposia as the vehicle, have been equally impressive. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Kaz Plizska for his many years of service to the Vaccinium research community. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and strong leadership provided by the co-conveners of this present symposium, David Yarborough and John Smagula of the University of Maine. I strongly believe that organizing and hosting an international conference is one of the most generous contributions that one can make in the course of a professional career. It is important that the benefaction of these scientists receives the recognition it deserves. Finally, I extend my sincere thanks and very best wishes to all of you who made the effort to come to Maine for this event.
Your enthusiasm and active participation will make this a meeting to remember. Welcome to all of you, who came to participate in the Sixth International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture. Once again our meeting is taking place in the United States of America. This time in Orono, Maine. North America is the native land for four Vaccinium fruit crops. One of them is the wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton). The State of Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world. Welcome to Orono, arrivals from faraway countries (continents) - Australia, Europe, Chile and Japan. Especially warm welcome to the participants of the Symposium from Australia and New Zealand. These two countries were hosts of the 5th International Symposium on Vaccinium culture in January 1993 with attendance of 65 people. Dr. Kevin A. Clayton-Greene with organizing committee did very fine work. So, the participants who were lucky to have financial support to attend the meeting in the antipodes, were fully satisfied. Australia and New Zealand - are a land of the blueberry industry with the potential “off season” markets overseas. We had a very nice tour across a kangaroo country from Coff's Harbour to Sydney. But I have not seen any kangaroo - female hired as a berry picker. Finally we had a very fruitful session at the Queen's College (University of Melbourne). Dr. Kevin - many thanks to you, to Dr. Graeme Frith and Mrs. Teresa Patterson and your collaborators. Special thanks go to Mr. Naranda Patel from Ruakura Research Center, Hamilton, New Zealand. Touring New Zealand “Blueberry Eden” on the Northern Island, it was quite hard to take a picture of the kiwi-bird, but easy to photograph bushes of highbush blueberries. Thanks for your efforts to show us the most beautiful spots of the country and a great blueberry industry under the constellation of the Southern Cross. All of you are invited to present your work and report on your research on the highbush blueberries and other Vaccinium Crops. Let me greet the authorities of the Maine University and distinguished Representatives of the State of Maine and the USDA. I hope you will excuse me for having limited myself to very general greetings. I would like to briefly relate the past of the Vaccinium Working Group. In 1964 at an ISHS Conference of the Fruit Section at Wilhelminadorp the Netherlands, Professor Dr. Günther Liebster of Munich Technical University, Germany, today the Honorary Chairman of the Vaccinium Working Group suggested that a research team for blueberry culture in Europe be created. It was named “Blueberry Culture in Europe”. The first symposium was held in Venlo, Netherlands in 1967. It was a two-day event with approximately 30 participants from 12 European countries and some representatives from North America. However, there was a lack of own experience and trial. For this reason, members from the following 12 countries: Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Sweden Switzerland and Germany decided to carry out a cultivar trial. Some detailed results you can find in the Acta Horticulture 165 (1985). In the spring of 1971, our Working Group was renamed to “Blueberry and Cranberry Culture in Europe”. The Second Symposium was held in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany. Over 50 people attended that meeting. For some years now, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, the cultivation of lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) has been tackled. Once again the Working Group was renamed by giving it the final designation a “Vaccinium Culture” The Third Symposium took place at the Warsaw Agricultural University-SGGW, Poland in 1984. Nearly 70 people from the West and the East joined that meeting. Regardless of the political situation at that time. Some of you have interesting recollections of the Warsaw meeting. The fourth International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture took place in America - the native land for blueberries and cranberries - “all the American fruit”. Meeting began at the Michigan State University, East Lansing and ended with scientific paper sessions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Over a 130 people joined this meeting. Dr. Elden J. Stang of the University of Wisconsin-Madison was a convener. The Symposium indeed succeeded in its objectives. Looking into the future (XXI century) we should elect a new Chairman of the Vaccinium Working Group. I held this post in 1982 during the XXI International Horticultural Congress in Hamburg, Germany. So, I am a servant of the V WG for fourteen years. Prof. Gerhard Bünemann of Hanover Technical University, Germany, at that time - Chairman of the Fruit Section, ISHS initiated “revival” of the Working Group. Our symposia became really international and most of your scientific papers are printed in Acta Horticulture. It was nice and pleasant to be chairman of such a very active group. Thinking about the VII-th Symposium, I have two candidate - countries: Chile and France - both with very young blueberry industry. Dr. Norman E. Looney, acting Chair ISHS Fruit Section, of Agriculture and Agri- Food Canada Research Centre, Summerland, BC will take care of the election, just after the scientific meeting. This year people of the World enjoyed Centennial Olympic Games, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a great event, an idea taken from the ancient Greeks. But in 1994, North American Blueberry Research - Extension Workers celebrated “Blueberries: a Century of Research”. I took part in the Conference. History of Blueberry Research tell that the first USDA Blueberry Research Station was located in Washington DC on the land, that is the Pentagon, today. Ending my speech I would like to read a poem “Blueberries” written by Robert Frost (1874–1963) a famous American poet. “You ought to have seen what I saw on my way, To the village, trough Patterson's pasture today: Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb, Real sky - blue, and heavy, and ready to drum In the cavernous pail of the first one to come! And all ripe together, not some of them green And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen! I don't know what part of the pasture you mean”. This poem is dedicated to the future blueberry researches and plant breeders. On behalf of the honorary Chairman of our Working Group Professor Günther Liebster and myself, I wish you a pleasant stay in America. Please enjoy a mild summer time in the beautiful state of Maine and in the Quebec - a province of Canada, where we will take a tour to see blueberry/cranberry industry. I am deeply grateful to the American hosts for their hospitality and efforts to make this Symposium a success. Special thanks go to the conveners Dr. Dave Yarborough and Prof. Jack Smagula, who did enormous work to make our stay pleasant and fruitful in research achievements. Thank you very much for your attention. | |
