ISHS Acta Horticulturae 495: WCHR - World Conference on Horticultural Research
PROMUSA: A FIRST EXPERIENCE OF GLOBAL PROGRAMME IN HORTICULTURE |
| Authors: | Emile A. Frison, Wanda W. Collins, S. L. Sharrock |
| Abstract:
Horticulture may be defined as the (generally) small-scale cultivation of fruit and vegetable crops. A very wide range of plant species can be included as horticultural crops, ranging from those that are of purely local significance, cultivated predominantly for home consumption, to those which are of major commercial importance on a global scale, citrus fruits and tomatoes for example. Despite the fact that horticultural crops are of great importance for both food and income security for rural communities world wide, horticultural research has received scant attention at the international level. The potential role that horticulture may play in alleviating the suffering of the more than 800 million people who remain undernourished has thus never been fully explored. International efforts have essentially been focused on a small number of globally important agricultural crops. Significant investment in international research on these crops has taken place through the establishment of the International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs), which played a key role in preventing mass starvation in the '60s and '70s through the green revolution. However, the significant progress made has been limited to only a few crops and generally for production in favourable environments. Little impact has been made in marginal areas or on the large number of fruit and vegetable crops, which although less globally important, are of great importance at the local and regional level. The world continues to face the major challenge of increasing food production in a sustainable manner and improving family farm income in order to ensure household food security, While at the same time conserving the natural resource base. More attention to the large number of species which play an essential role in food security and income generation at the regional and local level is required. However, due to the large number of species involved, the IARC approach is clearly not practical. New mechanisms to bring about international activities in horticultural research are required. Researchers, extensionists and end users must work together in a participative manner to increase production and productivity in a sustainable fashion, and to allow the benefits to reach the poorest and most needy of farmers. International horticultural research may be considered an important sub-set of international agricultural research and as such, fits within the global agricultural research system. The vision of a global system grew out of the recognition of the scale of the challenges facing international agricultural research and of the need to make the most effective use of limited resources by building on strong cost-effective partnerships. A comprehensive global research agenda has thus been elaborated and a significant challenge to the global system will be to devise instruments to effectively address such an agenda and bring partners together to implement research activities | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
