ISHS Acta Horticulturae 74: Symposium on Plum Genetics, Breeding and Pomology
OPENING ADDRESS |
| Authors: | Dr. Branko Jovanovic, S. Nimani, B. Velisav, P.D.S.&s. Paunovic |
| Abstract:
Ladies and gentlemen, Let me greet you with great pleasure on behalf of the Yugoslav Organizing Committee, to mark the beginning of the Third International Symposium on Plum genetics, breeding and pomology. The importance of this Symposium is expressed, beside other things, by the fact that representatives from thirteen countries with thirty-six papers take part in it. Also, I am glad to greet you on behalf of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and on behalf of myself, wishing you great success of this Symposium, as well as of everyone here, to contibute to the development of plum production through the exchange of professional and scientific knowledge. Your work and the work of your collegues, as well as the work of all plum manufacturers marks common efforts to produce more, to produce better. Significant results are achieved in this field. I hope they will be even better in the future. Let me to inform you briefly about the fact that SR Srbia has very suitable climate conditions for the development of fruit production in general, particularly plum production. In Yugoslav plum production Serbia takes place with 70%. In total fruit production, in our Republic, plum takes place with 65%. Comparing with all other kinds of fruit, plum is one of the most frequent fruit on the individual estates (98%). But, plum production on these estates is extensive with bad sort combinations. There are plum plantations, too, where the newest agrotechnique is applied and the best results are achieved, which proves our capability for modern intensive fruit production. Plum is our most important fruit and a very significant factor of our economy. In our Republic, it is mostly grown in mountainous regions. Great deal of individual estates realizes the biggest part of its income by selling plums either fresh or manufactured. We plan to improve the existing planted plums with various combinations.
This is just a bit about production, plans problems, connected with plums in our Republic. I do hope your scientific and professional work will contribute to solve many problems in the field of plum production. Convinced in it, I greet you all once again, wishing you a great success. It gives me great pleasure to greet you in the name of the Federal Committee for Agriculture of the SFRJ and to wish all the participants of this 3-rd International Symposium on Plum Genetics, Breeding and Pomology success in their work. I especially want to express great satisfaction because of the presence of Dr. Rene Bernhard, the Chairman of the International Working Group for plum genetics, breeding and pomology. I should also like to thank the International Society for Horticultural Science and its Working Group on choosing our country for the host of this international gathering. My thanks are also due to the town of Cacak, the host, and its President of the Communal Assembly, Velisav Bogicevic, as well as to the Fruit Research Institute at Cacak, one of the main organisers of this gathering, alongside with the Alliance of Agricultural Engineers and Technicians of Yugoslavia. I would also like to thank the Yugoslav Organizing Committee, which did their best during the preparations and made it possible for this gathering to work normally, as well as to the other Yugoslav social-political and work organizations which, as donors, financially supported this Symposium. Now I would like to point out the benefits of choosing our country as a host of this Symposium, among which two are the most important ones: the first reason is that Yugoslavia has an extensive and developed plum culture and the second one is that our country is a socialist, self-managed and non-aligned community of nations and nationalities, based along the principles of socialist democracy and active, peace-living co-existance. Yugoslav policy is imbued with numerous threads of the struggle for peace and cooperation among all the nations of the world, so that this Symposium also makes a part of the woof in weaving the strugle for peace. I know that the International Society for Horticultural Science is based on similar principles and I expect you, the scientists, to be the heralds in spreading of brotherhood and alizing it by your presence here and by mutual acquaintances. Returning to the Yugoslav plum growing, I want to let you know that plum has been grown on the territory of our country for more than 2000 years. The planned spreading of plum dates back as early as 18th century and the intensive drying of prunes began in the middle of of the 19th century. In late 19th century and the beginning of 20th century the average annual exports of plum amounted to 80,000–100,000 tons of dried prune and a smaller quantity of plum fruits for fresh consumption. Nowadays, our plum orchards account for 20 and 25 per cent of the world and European plum production, respectively. Namely, 73 million of bearing plum trees out of the total of 83 million of plum trees in Yugoslavia, give an average annual production of 790,000 tons or 55.5% of the total fruit output and its annual products value equals more than 1 milliard new dinars. Current structure of cultivars, in which standard Pozegaca participate with 40–45%, local rakija cvs and the cvs for processing into juices with 52–57% and the world standard and our new cultivars with 3 per cent, will continue changing in favour of our new cultivars, such as Cacak's Early, Cacak's Beauty, Cacak's Best, Cacak's Sugar and Cacak's Fruitful and the selections of Pozegaca prune and other world cultivars. Through introduction of our new plum cultivars we expect not only the increase of output to approximately 15,000 kg/ha, but also higher-quality plum products, for the demands both of Yugoslav and foreign market. The export of about 20,000 tons fresh fruits, 20,000 tons dried prune and 5,000 tons of plum processed into rakija brandy is expected, which equals 2,000 000 hl. Our engagement in the enhancement of plum output and products is in accordance with the demand for the increase of food, not only in our country but in the entire world as well. Today, world production of various fruit crops amounts to 120 million tons. On the world markets bananas are mostly sold (over 6 million tons) as well as fresh citrus, mainly orange (over 6 million tons), followed by apples (2. 5 million tons) and pears (600,000 tons), whereas the quantity of the other fruits is considerably smaller, plums belonging to this latter group, too, for the world production of plums amounts to only 1.1 – 1.3 kg of plum fruits per capita. The shortage of plums Prunus domestica is very marked or even there are no plums at all on the markets of all the world regions having warm climate. In other words, world market is short of many fruit species, which particularly holds true of the developing countries markets. Due to the very small total production of fruits in the world, and particularly due to its bad structure, the increase of the world production by about 6 per cent is being planned, which means the output of another 70 million tons of fruits in 1985 in relation to 1975, including plum, in which our country also participates. As for our country, this does not refer only to plum, but to other agricultural products as well, the achievements of Yugoslav science in agriculture being great and very imprtant. Much has been done in respect of selection and breeding of new plant cultivars and domestic animals breeds, disease and pest control, introduction of new technology of growing, harvesting, processing and finishing of products, transportation and storage. Nowadays, the total range of agricultural production is twice as that as in 1939. As for the fruit growing, a new, high-quality approach to and the settlement of problems connected with fruit production deserves mentioning, so that there is a great many of holdings which multiplied their plum output tenfold, and the stable yields have been obtained in the newly-established orchards (e.g. with apple 300–500 q/ha, with pear 250–450 q/ha, peach 250–350 q/ha, plum 150–300 g/ha, sour cherry 80–150 q/ha, etc.). Hoping that this brief information about the objectives and trends in our agriculture will be of some benefit to you, I would like once again to wish you, in the name of our country, the host of this gathering, all success in your work. I have a great pleasure in greeting you in the name of the citizens of the town and commune of Cacal, the host of the 3-rd International Symposium on Plum Genetics, Breeding and Pomology, as well as wishing you success in you work and pleasant stay in our town and its vicinity. I would especially like to greet the directors of the International Society for Horticultural Science as well as all the responsible people in our country to which my thanks are due for choosing our town for the host of this significant gathering. I believe that this choice is not accidental and that greatest thanks are due to the Fruit Research Institute at Cacak and to its research workers- the recipients of the highest Yugoslav tribute, the AVNOJ Award, who made the name of Cacak known everywhere in the world. We, the inhabitants of Cacak, consider the Symposium to be of an exceptional importance, especially in respect of making new acquaintances and the promotion of science and praktice in the domain of plum production. Cacak, the host of this Symposium, with his 50, 000 inhabitants, or, more precisely, with 105, 000 of people living in its near vicinity, has alwys struggled for the brothership and friendly cooperation among all the towns and nations of the world. In Cacak, the backbone of which are metal-processing industry, agriculture and traffic, there exist also chemical and building-material industry and the so-called small trade. In respect of social activities, the main stress is put on education and the development of high learning institutions, followed by the promotion of scientific research and cultural institutions. Agricultural-industrial combine "Cacak" disposes of very good capacities for processing, finishing and storage, and the construction of some new ones is underway for the needs of the produced meat, milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables. Agro-industrial combine "Cacak", alongside with its associated agricultural producers and cooperators, disposes of approximately 44,000 hectares of agricultural land, 7000 ha of which is under fruit culture (which equals 15,5 per cent), and within the framework of fruit-growing, the output of plums accounts for 85 per cent, or over 2 million plum trees. In fact, Cacak is located in a basin with approx. 15,000 ha under plum or about 5 million of trees, with the average annual production of 100,000 tons and more, which equals 20 Million U.S.A. dollor worth. It is quite a pity that symposia like this one last for such a short period of time, for besides our wish to show you our plum culture, we should like you to get to know our cultural-historical institutions and monuments, in which Cacak with its surroundings abounds. Hoping that you will be able to spare some of your free time for the places of interest, let me once again welcome you whole-heartedly and thank you for your presence, wishing you all success in your work and pleasant stay in Cacak. It is with great pleasure that I inform you that the Alliance of Agricultural Engineers and Technicians of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Society for Fruit Science, at the proposal of the Yugoslav Committee for Organization of the 3-rd International Symposium on Plum Genetics, Breeding and Pomology held in Cacak, have presented CHARTER to the prominent research and technical workers for their merits in the many year work on the advancement of science and practice in the field of Yugoslav plum production.
At this moment, when we are summing up 30-year-long results of the work on the promotion, modernization and reconstruction of plum growing, namely on the finding out of the best solutions in the plum production, processing and turnover, it was suggested to say THANK YOU to the recipients of CHARTER. Introduction The programme of the Symposium anticipated excursions for women and other member participants of the Symposium.
The excursions were held for participants which were organized during the work of the Symposium and after.
On visiting the fruit plantations, besides the responsible guides of the Yugoslav Committee for the organization of this Symposium, experts of the visited plantations also participated in giving the necessary explanations, including professional interpreters. Excursions during the work of the Symposium Ladies excursion was held on August 16, 17 and 18, 1977 and visited the following: In Cacak - Nadezda Petrovic gallery; Museum of the Revolutionary Youth; Orthodox Church built by Stracimir in XII century; Public Museum, Memorial Park and Monastery in the vicinity of Cacak; Museum - Mausoleum of Karadjordjevic dynasty and Karadjordje Palace in Oplenac-Topola; Sumarice in Kragujevac; Memorial Park in Kraljevo, then Monastery Zica, Vrnjacka banja (a spa) and Monastery Ljubostinja. The transportation and guide were free of charge. Post-Symposium excursions These excursions were held for all participants, including ladies, on August 19, 20 and 21, 1977, and visited the following: In the Cacak region: Fruit Research Institute and its experimental farms; Factory "Cer" for prune drying equipment; Private farms of Janko Savicevic, Lipnica and Vucko Mitrovic in Konjevici; PIK "Takovo" and its plum orchards as well plum brandy factory and Monument of Yugoslav-Norwey and Yugoslav-Russion soldiers in Gornji Milanovac; PIK "Srbijanka" and its plum orchards and plum orchards of Private farm in Valjevo; Factory with very modern dry prune equipment and for plum brundy in Osecina; the IX Yugoslav economic manifestation "Day of Plum", Plum brandy factory and Plum orchards of Private Farms, and Castle of Husein-Beg Gradašcevic "Dragon of Bosnia" etc. in Gradacac and its region. Although four official languages were used at the Symposium: English, French, Russion, and Serbo-Croat, which were simultaneously translated, the submitted papers have been published in the English language only. In the preparing the papers to be published, most reports were published exactly as submitted, and with other ones, corrections were mainly those of technical nature, such as grammatical, or idiomatic, but strictly keeping to the original meaning. Bigger corrections were sent to the respective author in order to get his agreement, and they were always accepted as satisfactory. The summaries were published before the Symposium in the Book of summaries (Acta Horticulturae No 74A) in the English, French and Serbo-Croat languages. The proceedings of the Symposium have been published in one part of Acta Horticulturae No 74 which covers: Plum Improvement; Genetics; Selection and Breeding; Pomology: Cultivars and Rootstocks; Virus. Financial facilities for publishing the submitted papers were granted by the Yugoslav Committee for the Organization of Symposium and the International Society for Horticultural Science. For the preparation of the published material, my hearty thanks are due to Ogašanovic Dobrivoje, M. Sc. of the Fruit Research Institute, Cacak, and to Ir.
H.H. van der Borg, I.S.H.S. - Secretariate. | |
