OPENING ADDRESS

The ISHS-Working Group and the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization agreed to organize their present meetings on fireblight partly successive, partly jointly and partly separately in such a way that each organization will be able to direct to its own task and own duties, but also with the aim to benefit from eachother.

The ISHS-Working Group in fact is a research group and the researchers have their own responsibility. They have to provide information on the pathology, on the epidemiology, on techniques in handling the disease and on the development of control measures. Plant quarantine, eradication programmes etc. belong to the duties of the national plant protection services or similar organizations for which, as far as the European and Mediterranean area is concerned, EPPO has a coordinating and advisory task.

The papers presented at the ISHS meeting deal with detailed research subjects. They are considered to be of interest and importance for colleagues-researchworkers, whereas the participants from plant protection services might be interested as well to provide a firmer basis for their discussions on measures, on actions to be taken against fireblight etc.

On the other hand we feel that the reserach work will be better directed to the primary need for information in the circles of plant protection services. Therefore it seemed the organizers of the ISHS-Working Group Meeting of great importance to reserachers to listen to the topic at the EPPO-meeting on 29 November, whereas the first part of the morning session on 30 November is organized as a joint ISHS/EPPO meeting.

Fireblight has already a long history, it has been studied extensively in the USA but nevertheless much about the disease is still unknown and it is still a disease which is hard to control. Until 1957 the struggle against fireblight was practically limited to the USA and Canada and in the twentieth also to New Zealand.

The occurrence of fireblight in Europe (1957 Great Britain, 1966 first finding on continent of Europe) caused an upswing of fireblight research in Europe. The one way traffic USA-Europe for knowledge of and experience with fireblight rapidly altered into a two way traffic.

This is the background for the initiative, taken at the meeting of the Plant Protection Commission of ISHS during the Int. Horticultural Congress held at Warsaw in 1974 to establish a working Group on Fireblight.

Prof. Hellmers, Copenhagen, was willing to act as chairman and until last spring Prof. Hellmers has taken much effort to give shape to the Working Group. He also has taken the initiative for the present Meeting of our Working Group.

We all deeply regret that Prof. Hellmers passed away on the 8th April this year. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for the work

On the other hand we feel that the research work will be better directed to the primary need for information in the circles of plant protection services. Therefore it seemed the organizers of the ISHS-Working Group Meeting of great importance to researchers to listen to the topics at the EPPO-meeting on 29 November, whereas the first part of the morning session on 30 November is organized as a joint ISHS/EPPO meeting.

Fireblight has already a long history, it has been studied extensively in the USA but nevertheless much about the disease is still unknown and it is still a disease which is hard to control. Until 1957 the struggle against fireblight was practically limited to the USA and Canada and in the twentieth also to New Zealand.

The occurrence of fireblight in Europe (1957 Great Britain, 1966 first finding on continent of Europe) caused an upswing of fireblight research in Europe. The one way traffic USA-Europe for knowledge of and experience with fireblight rapidly altered into a two way traffic.

This is the background for the initiative, taken at the meeting of the Plant Protection Commission of ISHS during the Int. Horticultural Congress held at Warsaw in 1974 to establish a Working Group on Fireblight.

Prof. Hellmers, Copenhagen, was willing to act as chairman and until last spring Prof. Hellmers has taken much effort to give shape to the Working Group. He also has taken the initiative for the present Meeting of our Working Group.

We all deeply regret that Prof. Hellmers passed away on the 8th April this year. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for the work which he got started and extended in a bright and pleasant way. His name will remain connected with this Working Group. It will form a stimulus to proceed with activities of the Working Group in a proper and useful way.

You will realize that quite a number of colleagues have been working intensively, although partly behind the scenes, in the preparation and organization of the current meeting. It will not be possible to mention all who have contributed, but I want to make exceptions for Dr. Hockenhull, our secretary, Mr. Mejneke and Dr. Mathys and his staff.

Last but not least I want to thank all who prepared a paper to present at this meeting.

May I finally express the sincere hope that we will have a very useful and pleasant meeting!

G.S. Roosje
Chairman ISHS Working Group
on Fireblight