WELCOME ADDRESS OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY

Let me first of all underscore with these brief remarks the signal role that horticulture has for millennia played in a country like Italy, which takes great and rightful pride in such a time-honoured tradition. For here, at the centre of the Mediterranean Basin, a crossroads of civilisations, cultures and markets, the plants and seeds which first flowed from East to West borne upon the migratory impulses of peoples today ride the tide flowing largely from West to East of increased exchanges of knowledge and trade.

Agriculture, and with it horticulture, has always been, and continues to be so even today, at the very core of the forces driving economic and social development. It is surely no accident of history that the ancient Romans raised their grains in the soils of the farthest-flung lands of the Empire yet nurtured horticulture in their villae. Even then the Roman hortus was the epitomy of civilisation, an aesthetic blending of pleasure and nutritional value, of well-being, a symbol of patrician status. Horticulture remained linked for centuries thereafter to the upper social classes or to cloistered monasteries—the preserve of those few who were free of the constraints of hunger and had the wherewithal to enjoy all the fruits and wealth of nature. While this idyll of bygone eras has vanished, it is unfortunately true that there are today large segments of the world's peoples who cannot benefit from the cornucopia of horticultural produce because they still must stave off hunger and famine.

Though the rapid spread of horticultural produce is largely due to trade and liberalised policies spurring it, research too is a harbinger of much well-being for it has played a key role by continuously introducing innovations that, with the support of the private sector, spill-over far beyond national borders,

Rome, 17 June 1998


OPENING ADDRESS

The World Conference on Horticultural Research being held here in Rome over the next few days is practically coincident with the dawn of the third millennium, surely a timely moment to look back on what research in horticulture has accomplished heretofore and to look ahead at the advances it is preparing. Needless to say, the last few decades have witnessed pronounced changes in the horticultural industry in Europe and throughout the world—changes that have essentially been driven by the ever growing demand for quality produce at competitive prices and by the concomitant expansion of trade.

Europe has become a priority market for horticultural produce not only from North Africa and the Middle East but from the world over, including areas that only a few years ago had not even had a foothold in the global marketplace. Indeed, what we are seeing is a pattern that is increasingly being repeated—the across-the-board and growing demand by consumers for fresh produce the year round, no matter what the season.

The effects of the recent WTO Uruguay-Round accords and the future enlargement of the EU will have a decided influence both on markets and the competitiveness of produce itself. It is therefore axiomatic that everyone must invest more in the human resources underpinning scientific research. Today a conspicuous share of the necessary efforts in this direction is being earmarked for biotechnology—an ancient art of mankind that has been practised since time immemorial to produce beverages, food and even medicine. Indeed, the many disciplines that come under the umbrella of biotechnology are the most emblematic examples of a new attitude towards industrialisation itself: the drive to understand the mechanisms underlying biotechnology and to develop first and foremost new ways of enhancing the quality of life.

The most pressing concern in this area today for both Italy and the European Union is the risk of being out of touch with the increasingly rapid advances being made in other countries and regions of the globe—North America, Japan and Chine foremost among them. There is an urgent need to ensure an adequate future to innovations in biotechnology, a necessity that can only be met if we have an entrepreneurial class that is capable of managing high-tech enterprises in emerging industrial sectors.

There is too the priority issue of safeguarding the environment and human health. In this connection, organic farming or, better, sustainable agriculture is a key stimulus in our attempts to reduce chemical inputs in modern production systems. A leading, if not pioneering, role in precisely this sense has been, and continues to be, played by both the integrated management and the biocontrol of pests.

Another side to biotechnology is germplasm or plant genetic resources, an inexhaustible spring to which modern horticultural research can return time and time again so as to preserve and improve existing varieties as well as to develop new ones. Whence the commitment of the Ministry for Agricultural Policy to preserve indigenous germplasm—not to mention that such a policy is but a coherent response to the agreements reached at the Rio de Janeiro World Summit Meeting in 1992. Whence, too, the particular attention this same Ministry will devote to the working sessions of the WCHR, for we are confident that horticultural research will play a fundamental role in meeting the demands of the industry and consumers alike.

Let me conclude my remarks today by recalling a paradox: while production systems the world over are capable of providing food for everyone, there is still the tremendous problem that certain societies have in gaining access to food. This is an issue we all must ponder during the next few days of working sessions. For research can help provide the ways and means to help eradicate malnutrition by upgrading those production systems that are deficient or by introducing effective one where they are totally lacking.


OPENING ADDRESS

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I extend to you the greetings of the three national unions UNAPROA, UIAPOA and UNACOA, which represent the member associations of horticultural and citrus crop growers of Italy, and our wishes for a successful World Conference on Horticultural Research. Given the formidable challenges facing our sector, let me add that the WCHR could not have come at a more timely moment, and particular thanks are due to Professor Silviero Sansavini, the working group chairs and all the researchers who have worked so hard with him over these past few years to bring to fruition such an important meeting for horticulture in general and Italy's industry in particular.

The more than 150 thousand growers nation-wide who are the backbone of our member associations have, needless to say, a special stake in the innovations and findings stemming from scientific research. The relatively brief growing season of fruit and vegetable crops in general and the fast-paced changes in supply and demand in particular make growers especially receptive to new developments in breeding and genetics. If well-targeted and suitably exploited, new cultivars can be highly advantageous to both growers and consumers in an increasingly global and competitive marketplace.

Enhancing and promoting quality, employing environmentally friendly production protocols in growing crops and providing efficient extension services to maintain proper crop quality standards are the strategic guidelines for development of our members' holdings. Indeed, because of the conspicuous investment and management required by an industry such as ours in an advanced economy, our produce can only be competitive and successful in today's marketplace if it comes with a label attesting the quality of its production process.

In this connection too research is a cornerstone, and it must be more involved in issues directly bearing on marketing and competitiveness. A first step in this direction is building closer ties to growers, packers and the end-users of innovation, including the big supermarket chains and consumers.

Even the European Commission has recently aired the conviction that scientific research plays a key role in breeding and in enhancing produce quality and its competitive profile. Indeed, in seeking to stimulate innovation, the Commission has laid out a blueprint for the EU's next research and technology development programme in its Action Plan for Innovation, which focuses on the following key strategic factors:

• Bolster research carried out by the private sector
• Enhance entrepreneurial skills based on advanced technology
• Boost cooperation between universities and private enterprise
• Enhance measures to safeguard intellectual property rights (IPR) and initiate business start-up programmes

Setting up services designed to spur development through research institutions represents a step forward in bringing the world of academic research closer to the needs of business. Yet the fundamental weakness here can still be seen in the lack of a connection linking the research process to the driving forces of such a system—the market. What is needed in this sense is to move beyond the mere concept of 'technology transfer' in that organising research via a 'top-down' approach is far from a system designed to spur innovative development and, as such, one that is more closely enmeshed in the dynamics of the marketplace. In other words, supporting private enterprise means progressing from a model of development services (which nonetheless remain viable for emerging economies) to one of consulting and management organisation.

Italy's hortindustry places great store in the work of the WCHR-as to the findings of research and of experimental work and as a chance to lay out together a new blueprint marked by close cooperation between the research and production sectors at the service of the country, the consumer and private enterprise. It is to be hoped that, like certain other countries which have had the foresight to do, our country too will realise the importance of building a system of solid links between the research sector and its end-users. It is this same spirit of engagement that the government and the entire agricultural industry must pursue in their ongoing rounds of consultations so as to identify those instruments that are best suited to enhance cooperation and bolster the synergies among the industry's sectors. Let me add in conclusion my very best wishes for a successful Conference.


INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Distinguished Scientists, dear Colleagues and Friends.

In my intervention, I will try to introduce a few key issues that pertain to the strengthening of research programmes on horticultural genetic diversity conservation and its sustainable utilisation in the context of food and agriculture. But first, please allow me to give some general background to the policy and strategy lines which have been guiding international efforts in recent years on plant genetic resource conservation.

Biodiversity is a popular way of describing the diversity of life on earth: it includes all life forms and the ecosystems of which they are a part. Genetic diversity in agriculture enables crops and animals to adapt to different environments and growing conditions. The rural poor depend upon biological resources for an estimated 90% of their needs.

Within the Plant Kingdom, around 350.000 species have been classified, out of which about 80.000 have been found to be edible. In the course of histOry, mankind has utilised about 7.000 of these plant species for food. Today only 150 plant species are cultivated and, of these, the so-called major crops can be contemplated in about 30 plant species which are producing about 95% of the world's calories and proteins. About 75% of food consumption comes from only 12 plant species and 5 animal species. Half of this food comes from only 4 plant species (rice, maize, wheat and potato) and 3 major animal species (cattle, swine and poultry).

Over millennia, men and women farmers have developed within each domesticated food species thousands of landraces and breeds adapted to local conditions and needs. This "human-made" agro-biodiversity is now seriously endangered.

The clearing of land for agriculture, overgrazing of grasslands, cutting and burning of forests, unsustainable logging and fuel wood collection, indiscriminate use of fertilisers and pesticides, over-watering of crops, overexploitation of fisheries, draining and filling of wetlands, poor water management, urbanisation and pollution of air and water, all figure prominently as causes of the degradation of our biological resources.

If the individuals we conserve from any one species contain only a small fraction of the total species gene pool, then their ability to adapt to changing circumstances in the future will be severely limited. For instance, among horticultural crops, the genus Malus is probably the case most often cited in relation to the threat of genetic erosion, with the world's apple industry being now largely based on two varieties and a few of their progeny, and with an estimated 85% of the 7,000 cultivars formerly known and described having been lost.

Planned conservation and utilisation of local plant genetic resources is of prime importance for food security, as it permits small-scale farmers of developing countries to have permanent access to seed and planting material adapted to their region. Disasters cause the loss of local varieties or genotypes, hence leading to the erosion of genetic diversity. Therefore, conservation of and access to these resources are most important in disaster-prone areas, as farmers of these regions often lose all of their seed stocks during disasters.

The cost of conserving biodiversity is high, but almost certainly far less than the cost of allowing its degradation.

Plant breeders and biotechnologists rely on genetic variation in landraces, primitive cultivars and wild forms to produce better adapted and higher yielding crop varieties. The application of modern biotechnologies is helping to overcome some of the limitations of conventional breeding, enabling wild diversity to be more readily incorporated into new crop varieties. Therefore, it is vital that a wider range of germplasm, including the wild relatives of domestic species, is conserved - both ex-situ and in situ-so that it will be available in the future as a resource for adapting crops to new and changing environmental conditions and to sustain agricultural production and development.

The member countries of FAO have agreed on the need to develop a global system which might ensure the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as the just and equitable sharing of the benefits and responsibilities derived from them.

However, despite the useful progress made so far, some major questions are still currently being debated in the FAO fora that deal with plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, i.e.:

• Who owns plant genetic resources?
• Whose responsibility is it to conserve them?
• Who benefits from their use, and how should those benefits be shared?
• How can the benefits of biotechnology be directed to the largest number of people and countries?
• What measures can be taken to prevent modern, intensive agriculture, with homogeneous varieties, stamping out the world's rich inheritance of plant germplasm conserved in the heterogeneous local varieties in farmers' fields?

In June 1996, the FAO Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources, which was attended by 150 countries and 54 inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations, was held in Leipzig, Germany. The Conference adopted a Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation of Plant Genetic Resources, together with the Leipzig Declaration, and it also considered the first Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources.

With regard to horticultural crop germplasm, conservation strategies involving farmers more directly need to be considered, particularly for populations of wild crop relatives, wild food plants, and farmers' domesticated landraces and traditional crop varieties. Home gardens in many parts of the world are examples of on-farm germplasm conservation efforts for which farmers deserve to be given greater support.

The incidence of chronic undernutrition is unacceptably high in many poor countries. Food production will need to be increased by about 60% in the next thirty years, and most of this increase should occur in developing countries in order to keep pace with the expected demographic growth. It should therefore be recognised that research programmes should also include activities on topics addressed to improving the productivity of those traditional crops that may not be considered remunerative from the economic viewpoint of industrialised countries but which represent a sustainable source of food for populations in poor agricultural regions.

It is not possible to think that the required increase of production can be achieved only by increasing the yield per hectare, with indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

To reach the objective of increased food production, certainly it is necessary to explore opportunities for diversifying the crop base of agriculture, which in turn can be reached as an outcome of the sustainable exploitation of our plant genetic diversity. In this regard, horticultural crop development could indeed represent an important component of a global plan of action for improving food security, provided that coordinated research policies and adequate investments are addressed to improving the productivity of traditional and subsistence horticultural crops.

Not enough work is done to preserve crop genetic diversity and particularly horticultural genetic diversity. In fact, only 16% of the accessions currently held in agricultural plant germplasm collections are of horticultural species, which is indicative of the vast amount of research work which still needs to be done. This is why FAO has very much welcomed the initiative of the ISHS and the ASHS to organise a World Conference on Horticultural Research, and encourages the participants to use this forum for identifying and proposing concrete solutions and a globally coordinated plan of action for the development of horticultural crops for food and income.


Rome, 17 June 1998.