Abstract:
This volume of Acta Horticulturae is the Proceedings of the “VIth International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal”. 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.
Submitted manuscripts were reviewed by the Editors and amended according to the referee suggestions prior to acceptance.
The ISHS acknowledges the cooperation received from the Editors on reviewing the manuscripts which was a significant contribution to the overall quality of the publication.
The ISHS Board of Directors
FOREWORD
The IVth International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal and the IVth General Meeting of the FAO International Technical Cooperation Network on Cactus Pear (FAO-CACTUSNET) were held under the patronage of H.E. the Minister of Agriculture of Tunisia and the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) in Hammamet, Tunisia from 22 to 28 October, 2000. They were organized by INRAT (Institut National de la Recherche Agonomique de Tunisie) in collaboration with FAO (Food Agriculture Organization), ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas), SLP (System Wide Livestock Program), and IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources research Institute).
H.E. Ameur Horchani, Secrétaire d’Etat à l’Agriculture chargé des ressources hydrauliques and H.E. the Governor of Nabeul opened the meeting.
The representatives of international organizations attended the opening ceremony.
Mr.
Abdelbaki Bacha, president of UTAP (Union Tunsienne de l’Agriclture et de la Pêche), chaired the closing ceremony.
The event was attended by 135 participants from 24 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Syria, Tunisia, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uzbekistan.
Many countries attended for the first time.
This International Congress, which followed the 1996 meeting held in South Africa, focused on the place and role of cacti in arid environment.
The future of arid and semi-arid areas of the World largely depends on the development of sustainable agricultural systems based on the use of appropriate crops.
Suitable crops are those that successfully cope with water shortage, high temperature, variabilities, poor soils, and easy management to provide food and forage to poor farmers and herders.
Opuntias fit most of the above described requirements.
In addition, Opuntias play an important ecological role in combating desertification as well as producing fruits and vegetables for human consumption, forage or fodder for livestock, biomass for energy purposes, cochineal for carmine production, and numerous by-products (beverages, vegetarian cheese, drugs, cosmetics). They also provide shelter and food for various wildlife species in arid environments.
The programme covered different topics including History, Socio-economics, Genetic Resources, Fruit Production and Post harvest, Agroindustrial transformation, and Forage and Rangeland.
Fourty three oral presentations and 20 posters were presented and discussed.
The Congress was a great success in terms of participation, scientific innovation, and sharing of knowledge and experience.
The importance of cactus in the agriculture of arid areas was underlined once again, particularly by stimulating greater interest of North African and West Asian countries.
We believe that the result of this effort is scientifically sound and we wish a great future for this growing scientific community, based on a deep sense of friendship and common interest in supporting the utilization of cactus for sustainable use of marginal lands in arid and semi-arid areas, with poor environmental and economic resources.
Ali Nefzaoui
Convenor
General Coordinator of the FAO-CACTUSNET
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