ISHS Acta Horticulturae 564: IV International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops
PREFACE |
| Author: | editors |
| Abstract:
The Fourth International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops was held 13th-18th, August 2000 in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first time that this meeting was held outside continental Europe, following as it did earlier meetings in Spain (1996), Italy (1993) and Poland (1989). Good participation from North American researchers provided a unique opportunity to widen international participation in this Mineral Nutrition Working Group. The meeting venue was the Penticton Lakeside Resort located on the southern end of Lake Okanagan, a large fresh water lake occupying the valley floor of the Okanagan Valley, the major temperate tree fruit growing area in southern interior British Columbia, Canada. In keeping with the tradition established previously in Spain, the Symposium attempted to include a wide range of temperate fruit crops including tree fruits, grapes and small fruits. The opening session on Monday 14th August, featured welcoming remarks from Dr. Norm Looney, Chair of the Fruit section of the International Society of Horticultural Science (ISHS), Dr. Gerry Neilsen, Chair of the ISHS Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops Working Group, Glen Lucas of the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association and Jim McFerson of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. An overview of the tree fruit industry in Pacific Northwestern North America, including the American states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho and the Canadian province of British Columbia was ably presented by Tim Smith of Washington State University (WSU) at Wentachee. The keynote scientific lecture was delivered by Dr. Frank Peryea, WSU - Wenatchee, and featured a look beyond traditional nutrition management concerns by assessing AHeavy metal contamination in deciduous fruit orchards@. Ninety scientific professional from 24 countries and 6 continents made 48 oral and 20 poster presentations during the week. Oral sessions were organized by Dr. Denise Neilsen around themes which included Nutrient Cycling in Fruit Trees, The Relationship between Fruit Quality and Major and Trace Nutrients, The Relationship of Roots, Rhizosphere Characteristics and Soil Biology to Fruit Tree Nutrition, Diagnosing Nutrient Status, Field Response to N Fertilization, Effects of Production Systems on Fruit Nutrition, and Foliar Nutrition. This proceedings is the result of the manuscripts received and accepted after evaluation by the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board would like to express appreciation for the review efforts of several individuals, especially Dr. Michael Colt, University of Idaho. On the Friday following the scientific sessions a special seminar sponsored by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission was held. It was entitled AWorld overview of important fruit industry soil, nutrient and water problems and how they are being addressed@. Chaired by Dr. Essie Fallahi of Idaho, it was designed with a commercial emphasis and was attended by approximately 100 technical, extension and grower representatives from the Pacific Northwest fruit industry. Three field tours were held in association with the meetings. A pre-Symposium tour of Washington State, hosted by Dr. Frank Peryea proceeded from Seattle, USA to the meeting venue in Penticton, Canada. An impressive range of US orchards were visited in the Yakima, Quincy, Mattawa and Chelan regions. On August 15th, a mid-conference tour organized by Dr. Eugene Hogue, visited Agriculture Canada's Pacific Agri-Food Research Station at Summerland, BC for an overview of research programs in Biotechnology, Food, and Horticulture and Environment. The Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC), has two facilities, located at Summerland and Agassiz, British Columbia. It is one of 18 Research Centres which comprise the Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The PARC Summerland laboratory was established in 1914 as a Dominion Experimental Farm. Additional details concerning this site can be obtained from the Web Site: http://res.agr.ca/summer/parc.htm. Research plots viewed at the Summerland site included those involving research on sweet cherry and apple breeding, stone fruit disease control, nitrogen and water management, sweet cherry nutrition and effects of mulch application. This tour ended with a much appreciated outdoor barbeque complete with local wines and beers in the Ornamental Gardens. On August 17th, a field tour of the south Okanagan Valley was organized by Dr. Bill Wolk of the Okanagan-Similkameen Co-op in Oliver. Three commercial orchards were visited where local orchardists discussed recent developments in high density apricot and apple production, super spindle Fuji and Gala, nursery management and organic tree fruit production. The Sterile Insect Release (SIR) facility at Osoyoos and enology and viticultural operations at Inniskillin winery and vineyard in Oliver were also visited. At the business meeting held on the Wednesday during the Symposium, discussion primarily concerned future activities and leadership of the Working Group. Planning is well underway for an 'International Symposium of Foliar Nutrition of Perennial Fruit Crops' to be held September 11-14th, 2001 in Merano, Italy under the able leadership of Massimo Tagliavani and Wolfgang Drahorad. It was further proposed by the participants that Dr. Tagliavani assume leadership as the next Chair of this Working Group and it was strongly recommended that the next full meeting of this group (the Fifth) be held in South Africa, in January 2004 with Dr. John Woolridge as Convenor. The Organizing Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank the authors for their contributions and the scientific value of the presented works that made possible the success of the Symposium. The Editorial board appreciates the effort authors have put forward to prepare, submit and revise submitted manuscripts. Everyone looks forward to the opportunity to continue sharing knowledge and discussing results in the next full meeting of the group to be held in South Africa. Summerland - August, 2000
Denise Neilsen, PARC - Summerland
Editors
This volume of Acta Horticulturae is the Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops.
Invited and keynote speakers and selected authors of offered oral papers and posters had the opportunity to submit their manuscripts for publication in this volume of the series Acta Horticulturae.
The ISHS Board of Directors | |
