Chronica Horticulturae volume 49 number 2 (2009) · 2009-05-18 · CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 49...

ChronicaHORTICULTURAE

A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE

Volume 49 - Number 2 - 2009

Symposia and Workshops

Horticultural Highlights

ISAFRUIT - Increasing Fruit Consumption to Improve Health • Banana in Africa:Harnessing International Partnerships to Increase Research Impact • Chestnut •Protea • Organic Fruits • Persimmon • Tomato in the Tropics • Berry Productionin Changing Climate Conditions and Cultivation Systems • Sap Flow •Postharvest Unlimited 2008

Green Roofs and Living Walls • Dogrose: Wild Plant, Bright Future • TheVineland Research and Innovation Centre is Launched in Canada• EnergySaving Greenhouses • Bioreclamation of Degraded African Lands with WomenEmpowerment

CONTENTS

ChronicaHORTICULTURAE

Chronica Horticulturae© ISBN: 978 90 6605 390 8 (Volume 49 – Number 2;June 2009); ISSN: 0578-039X.Published quarterly by the International Society for Horticultural Science, Leuven,Belgium. Lay-out and printing by Drukkerij Geers, Gent, Belgium. ISHS© 2009. Allrights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced and/or published in anyform, photocopy, microfilm or any other means without written permission from thepublisher. All previous issues are also available online at www.ishs.org/chronica.Contact the ISHS Secretariat for details on full colour advertisements (1/1, 1/2, 1/4page) and/or mailing lists options.

Editorial Office and Contact Address:

ISHS Secretariat, PO Box 500, B-3001 Leuven 1, Belgium. Phone: (+32)16229427, fax:(+32)16229450, e-mail: [email protected], web: www.ishs.org or www.actahort.org.

Editorial Staff

Jules Janick, Science Editor, [email protected]

Kelly Van Dijck, Associate Editor, [email protected]

Peter Vanderborght, Associate Editor - Production & Circulation,[email protected]

Editorial Advisory Committee

Jules Janick, Purdue University, USA, Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee

Isabel Ferreira, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisbon, Portugal

Kim Hummer, USDA ARS NCGR, Corvallis, USA

Hilde Nybom, Balsgard-Dept. Crop Science, Swedish University of AgriculturalSciences, Kristianstad, Sweden

Robert K. Prange, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Kentville, Canada

Anthony David Webster, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Membership and Orders of Chronica Horticulturae

Chronica Horticulturae is provided to the Membership for free: Individual Membership60 EUR per year (developed countries) or two years (developing countries), 50 EUR peryear/two years for members of affiliated national societies, or Student Membership30 EUR per year. For all details on ISHS membership categories and membershipadvantages, including a membership application form, refer to the ISHS membershippages at www.ishs.org/members.

Payments

All major Credit Cards accepted. Always quote your name and invoice or membershipnumber. Make checks payable to ISHS Secretariat. Money transfers: ISHS main bankaccount number is 230-0019444-64. Bank details: Fortis Bank, Branch “HeverleeArenberg”, Naamsesteenweg 173/175, B-3001 Leuven 1, Belgium. BIC (SWIFT code):GEBABEBB08A, IBAN: BE29230001944464. Please arrange for all bank costs to betaken from your account assuring that ISHS receives the net amount. Prices listed arein euro (EUR) but ISHS accepts payments in USD as well.

Acta Horticulturae

Acta Horticulturae is the series of proceedings of ISHS Scientific Meetings, Symposia orCongresses (ISSN: 0567-7572). ISHS Members are entitled to a substantialdiscount on the price of Acta Horticulturae. For an updated list of available titles, goto www.ishs.org/acta. A complete and accurate record of the entire ActaHorticulturae collection, including all abstracts and full text articles is available onlineat www.actahort.org. ISHS Individual membership includes credits to download 10full text Acta Horticulturae articles. All Acta Horticulturae titles – including those nolonger available in print format – are available in the ActaHort CD-ROM format.

Scripta Horticulturae

Scripta Horticulturae is a new series from ISHS devoted to specific horticultural issuessuch as position papers, crop or technology monographs and special workshops orconferences.

The Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology (JHSB)

The JHSB, a "partner" refereed research Journal of the ISHS, is a leading peerreviewed, citation-rated Journal of international stature, reputation and eminence. Itpublishes high-quality original research findings in horticultural science and biotechno-logy to a world-wide audience. JHSB is an English Charity owned by its Trustees for thebenefit of horticultural science and society-at-large, on a not-for-profit basis. Availableonline at www.pubhort.org

The ISHS has a number of collaboration agreements with other Journals. Additionalinformation can be seen from the PubHort website.

A publication of the International Society forHorticultural Science, a society of individuals, orga-nizations, and governmental agencies devoted tohorticultural research, education, industry, andhuman well-being.

ISHS • 2

� News & Views from the Board3 ISHS: Science and Service, I.J. Warrington

� Issues5 Green Roofs and Living Walls, M. Trépanier, M.-A. Boivin,

M.-P. Lamy and B. Dansereau

� Horticultural Science Focus8 Dogrose: Wild Plant, Bright Future, G. Werlemark

� Horticultural Science News14 The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre is Launched in

Canada, T. Humphrey and J. Brandle19 Energy Saving Greenhouses, J.C. Bakker

� The World of Horticulture24 Bioreclamation of Degraded African Lands with Women

Empowerment, D. Pasternak, D. Senbeto, A. Nikiema, S. Kumar,F. Dougbedji, L. Woltering, A. Ratnadass and J. Ndjeunga

28 New Books, Websites29 Courses and Meetings

� Symposia and Workshops30 ISAFRUIT Forum - Increasing Fruit Consumption to Improve

Health31 Int’l Conference on Banana in Africa: Harnessing International

Partnerships to Increase Research Impact33 IVth Int’l Chestnut Symposium35 IXth Int’l Protea Research Symposium36 IInd ISOFAR Conference on Organic Fruits & XVI IFOAM Organic

World Congress38 IVth Int’l Symposium on Persimmon39 Int’l Symposium on Tomato in the Tropics41 Workshop on Berry Production in Changing Climate Conditions

and Cultivation Systems42 VIIth Int’l Workshop on Sap Flow44 IIIrd Int’l Symposium Postharvest Unlimited 2008

� News from the ISHS Secretariat46 New ISHS Members47 In Memoriam48 Calendar of ISHS Events52 Available Issues of Acta Horticulturae

Cover photograph: Dogrose hips (Rosa canina). See p. 8. Photo byK. Rumpunen.

ErratumIn the paper entitled “Horticultural Economy of Guangxi Province,China” that appeared in Chronica Horticulturae 49(1):23-27 an errorwas noticed in the caption of Figure 3D. This caption should be “Mr.Zhang Mingpei (left) (Leader, Guangxi Ministry of Agriculture) talkingwith a tomato farmer”.

CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 49 • NUMBER 2 • 2009 • 3

ISHS: Science and Service

NEWS & VIEWS FROM THE BOARD

Ian J. Warrington, ISHS Vice-President

Ian J. WarringtonThe scientific activities of the ISHS are theheart of our Society and they continue to growin both strength and diversity. Recent reports atthe Executive Committee meeting held inBangkok, Thailand from the Chairs of theSections and Commissions, confirm that theprogram of symposia for the next four years isvery strong. This builds on activities that havegrown in scale over the past decade.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

In the late 1990s and for the first half of thecurrent decade, the Society hosted 30-32 sym-posia per annum while for 2008 this had grownto 46 and for 2009 will be 42. This program hasresulted in an impressive growth in the numberof Acta Horticulturae that have been or arescheduled to be published by ISHS (Fig. 1).

This growth and diversity of scientific confer-ences has not been associated with any reduc-tion in the content of the resultant Actas (Table1). In fact, quality has increased over that sametime period in response to increased attentionby the editorial committees associated witheach symposium.

The status of papers presented in Acta remainsas a point of contention amongst some of thosewho present at ISHS symposia because ActaHorticulturae is not included in most citationindexes. However, it must be recognised thatActa Horticulturae is not intended to be a scien-tific journal – rather it is a series of conferenceproceedings that is heavily used by the scientificcommunity as a valued and unique source ofhorticultural information.

The interest in Acta Horticulturae can be bestassessed by accessing the ISHS website atwww.pubhort.org/actahort/citationstatistics.htm.The most consulted article has been accessed46,595 times, the top 20 articles more than10,000 times each, and the top 100 articlesmore than 5,000 times each since the launch ofthe PubHort website. These impressive numbersneed to be provided to those who fail to see theimpact of this series! One article was down-loaded 85 times and those in the top 100 weredownloaded 37 or more times. In the firstmonth of 2009, the Society hosted some32,295 downloads from the archived Actaholdings. These are outstanding numbers forany publication. However, the ISHS Board doesrecognise the pressure that authors are underto secure recognition for their publications andwill continue to seek ways of having Acta

Horticulturae more formally recognised bythose managing citation services.

PARTNERS

The Board has continued to form and encour-age the development of close partnerships witha number of organisations and societies whohave an involvement with research and activi-ties that are similar to those encompassed bythe ISHS. Information on the various partner-ships involving the ISHS is available athttp://www.ishs.org/partners. The number andcomplexity of these relationships have to beclosely and consistently monitored and promot-ed if they are to provide mutual benefits. It isrecommended that the incoming Board of theISHS assign a dedicated “champion” to ensurethat these relationships are maintained andnurtured.

International Centre for AdvancedMediterranean Agronomic Studies(CIHEAM). A number of meetings have beenheld with senior staff from CIHEAM in recentmonths and various initiatives have beenadvanced between CIHEAM and ISHS.Initiatives discussed that have relevance to theExecutive Committee have included:(1) identifying ISHS members who would beprepared to be examiners for the CIHEAMMasters degree qualification; (2) invitingCIHEAM to consider how ISHS might beinvolved in CIHEAM-supported training initia-tives; (3) co-involvement in databases that listexperts in defined fields who could be contact-ed for specialist knowledge (in a controlledway); (4) involvement of CIHEAM in IHC2010;(5) involvement of CIHEAM as cosponsors ofISHS symposia in the Mediterranean region;and (6) attendance of a CIHEAM representativeas an observer at Executive Committee meet-ings.

International Society for MushroomScience (ISMS). Initiatives with ISMS includethe inclusion of ISMS publications on thePubHort site and assistance from ISHS to devel-op an ISMS publication website.

European Association for Potato Research(EAPR). This organisation has 300-350 mem-bers in 65 countries. The ISHS has contracted toprovide Secretarial support to this organisationand will seek to establish an even closer collab-

oration with the EAPR. It is hoped that this willserve as a model for other regional potato asso-ciations.

International Association of HorticulturalProducers (AIPH). ISHS and AIPH have recent-ly developed a set of banners that can be dis-played at AIPH-sanctioned international horti-cultural exhibitions. These banners give mes-sages about the importance of horticultural sci-ence education for supporting the nursery andlandscape trades. A stronger presence of theISHS is planned for at exhibitions such as RoyalFlora Ratchaphruek 2011 in order to advocatethe importance and relevance of horticulturalscience to the public in general.

International Peat Society (IPS). This part-nership was formed in 2005. Joint symposiawere held in Angers in 2005 and in Nottinghamin 2007 and a further in the series will be heldin North Carolina in 2009. The ISHS will co-sponsor the International Symposium onSustainability of Peatlands that will be held inCanada in 2011.

International Society of Citriculture (ISC).The joint Section on Citrus (chaired by Dr. GeneAlbrigo) is a direct result of this partnership. TheSecond International Citrus and BiotechnologyConference will be held jointly under the aus-pices of the ISC and the ISHS in November2009.

PUBLICATIONS

The PubHort platform managed by ISHS isintended to be the key electronic database forhorticultural publications. Information aboutthese joint publication activities is available athttp://www.ishs.org/pub/otherpub.php. Inaddition to hosting our own publications (ActaHorticulturae, Chronica Horticulturae, ScriptaHorticulturae) we currently host a number ofhorticultural publications as follows:

Journal of Horticultural Science andBiotechnology (JHSB). This relationship is pro-gressing very well indeed. Prof. Geoff Dixon isthe ISHS representative on the JHSB Board oftrustees. The on-line services are now beingprovided by the ISHS Secretariat as part of thePubHort service. In 2008, total downloads for

ISHS • 4

Volumes 74 through 84 was 6,774. Membersof the ISHS are invited to put themselves for-ward to be considered as Associate Editors ofthis prestigious scientific journal by contactingthe ISHS Vice President or the ExecutiveDirector.

Fruits. The ISHS continues to “recognise”Fruits as a key journal for fruit science.Agreement has been reached to host thearchives of Fruits on the PubHort website.

Horticulture Reviews and Plant BreedingReviews. The association with Wiley-Blackwellcontinues. The ISHS Secretariat is exploringways of enabling whole article downloads fromthe PubHort site rather than the current 8-pagegrouping.

Journal of the American PomologicalSociety. The archives for Volumes 49 through62 have now been scanned and 493 articleswill soon be available for downloading to thePubHort website. Back issues of the journal willnow be scanned and added to the existing files.

Proceedings of the International PlantPropagators Society. An agreement betweenIPPS and ISHS was signed in early 2008. Allback issues of the IPPS Proceedings have nowbeen scanned and it is anticipated that archiveswill be ready for downloading by mid 2009.

REGIONAL AND WORLDHORTICULTURALCONGRESSES

The ISHS has “recognised” two recent regionalhorticultural meetings – the First Symposium onHorticulture in Europe (Austria) from 17-20February 2008 and the first Asian HorticulturalCongress (Korea) from 11-13 December 2008.The first All African Horticultural Congress willbe held in Nairobi, Kenya from 31 August-3September 2009. The Board extends an invita-

tion to all ISHS members to attend the 28thInternational Horticultural Congress in Portugal(Lisbon) from 22-27 August 2010.

RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE

The Society has two important prestigiousawards that can be used to recognise thosewho have made meritorious contributions toeither the ISHS or to horticultural science – theHonorary Members and Fellows, respectively.Please give consideration to nominating thosewho you believe would be worthy recipients ofsuch recognition. Further information is avail-able at http://www.ishs.org/awards/.

SERVING THE SOCIETY

A number of important positions within theISHS will become vacant in the lead up to theInternational Horticultural Congress that will beheld in Portugal in August 2010 (IHC2010). Key

amongst these, in the context of the scientificprogramme of the Society, will be the electionof all Section and Commission Chairs and ViceChairs. While some current office holders willbe eligible for re-election, all positions will beopen for nomination and processing throughthe formal election process. The new round ofnominations will commence in November 2009and members of each Section and Commissionwill vote for those standing for office within theSection/Commission.

All five positions on the ISHS Board will berenewed at the time of the Council meeting atthe Lisbon Congress. Four Board members willhave completed two terms and cannot standfor re-election. While the position of Presidentis not constrained by geographical location andone other position will be filled by an ‘at-large’candidate, according to present Society rulesthree positions are reserved for representativesof a specific region. These regions are theAmericas, Europe, and the rest of the world(Australasia and Africa). It is also important tounderstand that specific Board responsibilitieslike vice-president, publications, and financesare allocated after the new Board is in place.The ex-officio position for the 2014 CongressPresident will be filled by Dr. Rod Drew ofAustralia.

It is a privilege and honour to serve the ISHS inthe various ways. I encourage all of you to con-sider standing for office in one of the positionsoutlined above. You have something unique tocontribute from your perspective, your experi-ence and your energy. In turn, I can assure youthat the rewards from collegiality, contributionand experience will be more than sufficientcompensation to you for your involvement.Please make this commitment to the ISHS – thepre-eminent horticultural science society in theworld!

Year No. Acta HorticulturaeNo. pages No. papers

Total Average Total Average

1997 26 13,138 526 1,842 74

1998 27 11,937 459 1,576 61

1999 28 11,952 443 1,659 61

2000 34 13,832 407 1,782 52

2001 25 10,610 442 1,559 65

2002 30 14,197 473 2,157 72

2003 32 14,121 441 1,901 59

2004 32 15,763 438 2,137 59

2005 34 16,548 473 2,251 64

2006 33 15,334 464 2,186 66

2007 33 14,955 453 1,978 60

2008 41 19,031 464 2,556 62

Table 1. Acta Horticulturae published over the last 12 years (1997-2008) showing total andaverage numbers of pages, and total and average numbers of papers.

Figure 1. Number of ISHS published volumes of Acta Horticulturae (1997-2012).

Number of Acta


Green Roofs and Living Walls

ISSUES

Martin Trépanier, Marie-Anne Boivin, Marie-Pierre Lamy and Blanche Dansereau

BENEFITS

There are multiple benefits achieved by usinggreen roofs in cities including esthetic consider-ations, the improvement of human well being,and climatic impact. Roofs of buildings areoften a dark color, favoring a reheating of airtemperature both inside and outside of thebuilding. Solar energy captured by plants will beconverted into sugar and water vapors,decreasing the reheating of air. According to astudy by the Canadian Ministry of theEnvironment the presence of green roofs ononly 6% of roofs in a Canadian city willdecrease temperature by about 1.5°C and willresult in an economy of about 5% of the costsof air conditioning in all temperature controlled

The concept of green roofs dates back thousands of years. Fruit trees and flowers bloomedabundantly in their entire splendor on terraces of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of theseven wonders of antiquity. Romans, Greeks, and Persians integrated plants on their buildingsmade of stones to soften the effect. In Scandinavia, roofs of traditional solid wood houseswere covered with turf, for insulation against cold and protection from fire; plant roots solidi-fied the turf and rendered it resistant to inclement conditions (Fig. 1). Today, green roofsattract more and more attention in our cities, where green spaces are more and more sparse,and atmospheric pollution is steadily increasing.

The expansion of green roofs and living walls continues to increase throughout the world.Today, more than 14% of flat roofs in Germany have been greened and in Switzerland thisnumber has reached 12%. In Asia, a city such as Tokyo requires today that all new buildingsgreater than 1,000 m2 must have 20% of their roof surface greened; the objective is to reducetemperatures in the city by 1°C. In North America, green roof surface area has increased by30% in 2007, attaining a total of 370,000 m2. Chicago heads the list of North American citieshaving the largest surface area of green roofs (Fig. 2).

buildings in the city. In winter, a green roof candecrease heating costs by 10%.

The presence of plants, even small ones, canhave a calming effect on humans, and con-tribute to reducing stress. Certain birds findspace for nesting. Green roofs can increase oxy-gen, while reducing quantities of CO2. A 25 m2

area of foliage can produce enough oxygen forone person. Humidity given off by the plantscontributes to the dew point, necessary for fix-ing atmospheric pollutants and pollen, thusimproving air quality. A 1 m2 surface coveredwith grasses can eliminate annually 0.2 kg ofparticles suspended in the air. In an urban ornoisy environment, such as airports, green roofs

help to lower noise pollution levels for workers.

Roofs, streets, and parking areas, dominate theurban landscape. The spaces of vacant landwhere rainwater can infiltrate are often rare.Green roofs can play a major role in regulatingwater runoff from roofs. Roofs represent almost20% of the surface area in cities. Rainwater,which falls from roofs, is sent to storm or sewerdrains. This overload on sewer drains andmunicipal water treatment plants can also con-tribute to basement flooding. Like a sponge,green roofs can accumulate water in the partused by plants, help remove water by evapora-tion, and release water slowly by drains thuspromoting a progressive runoff. Annually, agreen roof can absorb up to 50% of theamount of water that falls on rooftops, thusreducing by 5 to 10% the costs of treatingrunoff water.

Figure 1. The Norwegian Folkcenter inOslo presents a traditional Scandinavianturf roof. (Photo by Blanche Dansereau.)

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As a result of the beneficial effects of greenroofs, for many years Germany and Switzerlandhave offered economic incentive programsencouraging their establishment. Certain citiesin the United States of America are beginningto adapt the European model by offering a taxcredit for new buildings utilizing a green roof.Similar actions are in the planning stage inCanada.

Green roofs also offer a protection for thewaterproofing membrane of buildings. Thereduction of the amplitude of the variation inday and night temperatures can considerablyincrease the life expectancy of the membranesince thermal dilating and contraction can be

Figure 2. Top ten green roof cities in North America (2007).

ISHS • 6

the principal cause of premature failure. Agreen roof protects the roof from ultravioletrays and studies have shown that they canextend the life span of membranes by 20 yearsor more.

TYPES OF GREEN ROOFS

Generally speaking, green roofs can be dividedinto one of three types (Fig. 3). Extensive green

roofs (Fig. 3A) with minimal media depthrequire little or no maintenance since they arecomprised of plants chosen for their broad tol-erance such as hardy succulents, or droughtresistant perennials and grasses. Intensive greenroofs (Fig. 3B) resemble traditional gardens andare composed of a larger variety of plants, suchas shrubs and trees. They can even includewalkways, benches, lighting and bogs. The car-rying capacity of the roof is very important.Semi-intensive green roofs (Fig. 3C) aim to sat-isfy both esthetic requirements and accessibility.The primary objective is a visual effect and theplants selected generally require irrigation dur-ing drought, fertilizing, and regular mainte-nance.

Installation

A green roof system can be installed on flatroofs or those having a slight slope (Fig. 4). Forslopes of more than 30%, it is necessary toapply precise methods to avoid soil erosion. Thesystem generally consists of a waterproof drain-ing membrane, a drainage panel, a root barrierand a substrate layer. A capillary mat, whichincreases water retention in the substrate, andinsulation layers, can be added to these compo-nents. Several types of materials can be used inthe medium (volcanic pumice, slag, expandedclay, peat, perlite, sand, and recycled materials).Substrate depth can vary from 5 to 50 cm,according to the type of green roof, local cli-matic conditions, species desired and the carry-ing capacity of the roof.

Costs

The installation of a green roof represents animportant investment. Depending on the typeof green roof, costs can vary from CAN$150 to450+ /m2. Costs can be justified by protectingthe roofing membrane and can have a positiveimpact on worker productivity for those havingaccess to roof gardens. This adds equally to theoverall value of the building, while reflectingthe social and/or environmental commitment ofa company.

Figure 3. Three types of green roofs: (A)extensive, (B) intensive, (C) semi-inten-sive.

Figure 4. Construction of green roofs. (A) View of protective membrane before placing onsubstrate. (Pavillon De Koninck, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.) (Photo by Marie-AnneBoivin, Soprema.) (B) 100 mm of a volcanic rock based mineral growing medium was blownon the Maple Leaf Storage Building, Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Blair Bennet, Soprema.)

Figure 5. Semi-intensive green roof sub-irrigated and planted with perennials in150 mm of a light growing medium. Theweight of green roof had to be lessthan 110 kg per square meter at watersaturation, because it is a retrofit.(Maison de la Culture Côte-des-Neiges,Montréal, Canada.) (Photo by Marie-Anne Boivin, Soprema.)

A

C

B

Load-bearing Capacity

The main limiting factor in installing a greenroof is the load-bearing capacity of the building(Fig. 5). When a building is made of cement,steel or wood, it should be able to support theweight of the proposed installation, which canbe double even triple when overflowing withrainwater or melting snow. A substrate depth of5 to 15 cm can increase the weight of the roofby 64 to 160 kg per square meter. A structuralengineer must be consulted for all projects. Theroof can be flat or slightly inclined (maximum35°). It is recommended to build terraces with aminimum slope of 2% to reduce the depth ofthe drainage layer and thus the weight of thestructure.

Plant Selection

The types of plants that can be used for greenroofs vary according to the type of designrequired (Fig. 6). In extensive gardens, all plantsselected must be very hardy. Most hardy alpineplants represent a good choice (e.g. Aster,Arabis, Allium, Achillea, Dianthus). A largenumber of Sedum species are regularly used.Besides tolerating drought, they often offer


Figure 6. Various types of plants can be used on green roofs. (A) Flowering prairie in the city(Institut de Gériatrie, Université de Montréal, Canada). (Photo by Marie-Anne Boivin,Soprema.) (B) Green roof installed above cafeteria on a building on campus, Université Laval(Québec, Canada). There are six green roofs in total, four non accessible extensive green roofsand two accessible extensive green roofs on the ground level, all planted with perennials in150 mm of a brick based mineral growing medium. (Photo by Marie-Anne Boivin, Soprema.)(C) «Le potager des visionnaires», large vegetable garden that was constructed on the roof ofMuseum de Civilisation during summer festival celebrating the 400th anniversary of thefounding of Quebec City (Canada). (Photo by Marie-Anne Boivin, Soprema.) (D) Blue fescue onthe roof of a private residence (Lévis, Canada). (Photo by Marie-Anne Boivin, Soprema.)

Figure 7. Living wall at the museum portBranly, Paris, France (designed by landscapearchitect Gilles Clément). (Photo by YvesDesjardins, Université Laval.)

FURTHER READINGS

Boivin, M.A., Lamy, M.P., Gosselin, A. andDansereau, B. 2001. Effect of artificial substratedepth on freezing injury of six herbaceousperennials grown in a green roof system.Hortechnology 11:409-412.

Dunnet, N. and Kingsbury, N. 2008. PlantingGreen Roofs and Living Walls. Timber Press,Portland, Oregon, USA.

Snodgrass, E.C. and Snodgrass, L.L. 2007. GreenRoof Plants: A Resources and Planting GuideTimber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA.

Green roofs for healthy cities. 2007. Green roofindustry survey, 2007. Final report. Availableonline on www.greenroofs.org

spectacular flowering. Several small grasses(e.g. Carex, Festuca) are also of interest, sincetheir form is upright adding a new dimension tothe landscape. In intensive gardens, fruit treesand shrubs (e.g. Cotoneaster, Juniperus,Spiraea) help to create gardens similar to thoseplanted at ground level, with the maintenancethat goes with it!

LIVING WALLS

A living wall is used to green up the vertical sec-tions of a building (Fig. 7). For a long time,diverse climbing plants, mainly the Virginiacreeper (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) has beenused to cover partly or completely the front ofbuildings. A reduction in insolation brings areduction in cost of cooling. Recently, a newtype of living wall has been created and thetechnique is slowly being developed through-out the world. Contrary to climbing vines,which are planted at ground level, the livingwall structure permits the retention of substrateand plants all along the wall surface. However,a system bringing a nutrient solution must beused to maintain good growth of plants. Eventhough the ecological benefits are not asimportant as with a green roof, the visual effectis however spectacular and visible to everyone!

THE FUTURE

The continual expansion of cities, the reductionof green spaces, global warming and theincrease in energy costs will contribute to theinstantaneous expansion and establishment of

green roofs and green walls throughout theworld during the upcoming years. Because ofnew requirements, engineers and architects ofseveral cities must include green roofs in theirbuilding concepts. Teams comprised of archi-tects, landscape designers, and horticulturistsare being organized to expand green roof tech-nology. The secret to the success of a green roofor wall is that it must remain alive for a longtime.

Figure 7. Living wall at the museum portBranly, Paris, France (designed by land-scape architect Gilles Clément). (Photo byYves Desjardins, Université Laval.)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Martin Trépanier

Martin Trépanier, Ph.D., Research Assistant inornamental horticulture, Centre de Rechercheen Horticulture, Université Laval, 2480Hochelaga, Québec, QC, Canada, G1V 0A6,email: [email protected]

Marie-Anne Boivin, M.Sc., Coordinator ofSopranature development at Soprema, 1485rue Provinciale, Québec, QC, Canada, G1N4A4, email: [email protected]

Marie-Pierre Lamy, M.Sc., Research Assistant inornamental horticulture, Centre de Rechercheen Horticulture, Université Laval, 2480Hochelaga, Québec, QC, Canada, G1V 0A6,email: [email protected]

Blanche Dansereau, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor,Centre de Recherche en Horticulture, UniversitéLaval, 2480 Hochelaga, Québec, QC, Canada,G1V 0A6, email: [email protected]

Marie-Anne Boivin

Marie-Pierre Lamy Blanche Dansereau

ISHS • 8

The genus Rosa originated in the temperateto subtropical zone of the Northern hemi-sphere, from the Mediterranean up to middleScandinavia and over to the Middle East. Roseshave been known since historical times andwere mentioned by Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE)and illustrated in medieval manuscripts andherbals. The species were grown as medicinalplants in the monasteries where fruit, seed,root, petals and leaves were used. The monksproduced the medicines Fructus Cynosbati(from rosehips) and Semen Cynosbati (from theseeds), which were prescribed for all kinds ofailments, from stomach pains to ear problems.The plants were easy to grow, and were oftenplanted as hedges and along fences. Today,

Dogrose: Wild Plant, Bright FutureGun Werlemark

HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE FOCUS

There are very few people who have not seen a rose. They are in every garden, in publicparks and a red rose on Valentine’s day is a classic. However, few people pay attention to thewild species of roses that grow in the forests, along the roadside, or in the open fields. Butseveral of these wild growing species have contributed to the enormous variety of cultivat-ed forms we see today. In Europe and west Asia, the most common wild growing species ofroses belong to Rosa section Caninae, also called the dogroses. This is their story.

there is a revived interest in these humbleplants since their hips have been found to beregular treasure-troves when it comes to valu-able compounds.

BOTANY

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the wild roses in general andin section Caninae in particular is complicated.Today, the mostly used classification system isthat by Alfred Rehder and recently updated byVolker Wissemann. The genus Rosa is dividedinto 10 sections, where section Caninae is oneof the most comprehensive. The variation with-

in the section has caused a profuse and oftenvery confused name giving. At the beginning ofthe 20th century, botanists gave species rankand name to every type that differed in anysmall detail and more than 350 species werethus named. Today, there is a more restrictedview and depending on what taxonomist isconsulted, some 50 species are recognized. Thereason for the confusion in nomenclature is thatthe species are able to hybridize with eachother and with rose species from other sections,and due to their odd meiosis, only minor mor-phological changes from the seed parent will bevisible. As the section is fairly young, reproduc-tive barriers have not formed.

Cultivated Species

The most widely used dogrose species for com-mercial hip production are Rosa dumalis (glau-cous dogrose), R. rubiginosa (sweet briar oreglantine) and R. pomifera (syn. R. villosa subsp.villosa, R. villosa subsp. pomifera) together withintersectional cross hybrids, mainly with R.rugosa, R. pendulina, and R. majalis from sec-tion Rosa formerly Cinnamomeae. However,also R. canina and R. mollis (syn. R. villosa subsp.mollis) are used for production when it comes tointeresting hip contents. In Chile, R. mosqueta isa common name for R. canina (see cover photo),R. rubiginosa (Fig. 1) and R. moschata (sectionSynstylae) and probably some other species andhybrids are included as well.

Morphology

The dogroses are deciduous plants, upright orclimbing with more or less prickly and bristledshoots. Flowers are either solitary or in umbel-late panicles placed at the end of short lateralshoots. The color of the flowers is usually pink,sometimes white, and they flower only once ayear, around early summer depending onspecies and latitude, but then each plant isalmost covered in flowers (Fig. 2). The numer-ous flowers always occur on old wood and lastonly for a few days. They are pollinated by fliesand bees during their short flowering season.Each flower contains 50-200 stamens and 5-150 pistils contained in an urn-shaped recepta-cle. This receptacle becomes fleshy and berry-like as it matures and will develop into a typicalrosehip. The form, absence or presence of bris-tles and the size of the orifice on the hips areimportant taxonomic characters. During matu-ration it also changes color from green to differ-

Figure 1. Ripe hips from Rosa rubiginosa. Photo: K. Rumpunen.


ent shades of red depending on the species.The leaves of roses are compound leaves, andthe dogrose species have seven to nine leafletson each leaf. The leaflets are more or less ovateor elliptical with either simple or double serra-tion, and they could be glabrous or more or lesspubescent either beneath or on both sides. Thesepals on the hips could either fall off duringthe maturation, or they could stay on. For com-mercial purposes, the hips should preferably bewithout sepals when they are ripe. The prickleson the stems can be up to 20 mm long andmore or less curved or hooked and somespecies also have smaller prickles interspersedwith the large ones. All these morphologicalcharacters are important for species determina-tion. There is not one single character that canseparate the species from each other butinstead a whole set of them will have to beused. The dogroses are notorious for their diffi-culty of species delimitation.

ECOLOGY

The dogroses are colonizing species, oftengrowing in disturbed areas such as roadsidesand open pastures. Their seeds have beenbrought along to other continents than theoriginal Europe and Asia, and today they can befound everywhere except the Antarctic or theArctic. At the end of the 19th century, onespecies, Rosa rubiginosa, was introduced intoNew South Wales in Australia as an ornamentalplant. Some decades later, it was regarded as

one of the more severe weedy plants in thearea.

Dogroses are normally very hardy. They have alarge tolerance span in temperature and soil,and they can grow in more or less pure sand toclay, but sandy soil is the preferred choice(Fig. 3). They can also tolerate longer periods of

drought, but then the hips will be smaller.Young plants can be damaged by rabbits ordeer, which should be considered when startinga plantation, but once they have reached 75cm-1 m, they are usually sufficiently armed withprickles and bristles to deter any larger animal.They have very deep roots, so if the plantfreezes to ground level during a cold winter,new shoots will appear. Actually, once adogrose plant is established, it can be quite dif-ficult to remove.

Fruits and Seeds

In Scandinavia, rose hips ripen in the middle ofAugust until beginning of October, dependingon species and temperature. The hips do notabscise from the plant, but can remain untilnext year. It is therefore vital to know when it isripe to harvest as the vitamin C level peaks atthis point. This is estimated to be when theorange color of the hip has turned into red andremained constant for one week.

The hard-shelled seeds, called achenes, resideinside the fruits called hips. The number of ach-enes is usually 15-50 in each hip and they are indeep dormancy when the hip is ripe. The seedshave normally a low germination. Only a thirdof all seeds ever germinate and these are spreadout over a number of years with the most ger-mination occurring during the second year.Therefore, different pre-treatments with plantgrowth regulators such as gibberellic acid havebeen tried and shown to have a positive effect.Also stratification with warm and cold temper-ature has shown to increase germination.Commercially, acidification is used and thenbetween 50-70% of germination can beachieved after one year. In order to get a prof-itable seed germination, the hips should be har-vested when they are ripe and not linger on the

Figure 2. Flowering Rosa rubiginosa. Photo: M. Uggla.

Figure 3. Rosa canina growing among the pebbles. Photo: K. Rumpunen.

ISHS • 10

plant. Studies have shown differences in germi-nation rates depending on species and the tem-perature during rosehip maturation (Fig. 4).

Genetics

In contrast to most other rose species, thedogroses are self-fertile, but cross pollinationand hybridization occurs. All species withinsect. Caninae are polyploid with pentaploidy(2n=35, x=7) as the most common, but hexa-ploidy and tetraploidy also occur. In most otherplants, the male and the female parent con-tribute equally to the offspring, i.e. half of thegenetic material from each parent. But a plantwith 35 chromosomes must solve its meiosis inanother way and the dogroses have come upwith a unique solution to this problem. Thissolution was not discovered until 1920, and isregarded as an oddity in the plant world eversince. At the female meiosis of a pentaploidspecies, only 2 of the 5 genomes form the biva-lents. The remaining 3 genomes (21 chromo-somes) occur as univalents and are not involvedin any of the recombination. After the separa-tion of the bivalents and the second division,the result is two cells with 28 chromosomeseach of which one will become the embryo sac,and two cells with 7 chromosomes each, whichwill subsequently be lost. At the male meiosis,again 2 genomes form the bivalents, but thistime it is the univalents that are subsequentlylost after the second division, and the resultingtetrad consists of four pollen cells with 7 chro-mosomes each. However, not all of the univa-lents are lost. They can occur as chromatids oras parts of chromosomes in the pollen cells andthus disturb the viability of the pollen. Actually,the pollen viability in Caninae species is only 20-35%. The fertilization will then restore the orig-inal 35 chromosomes (Fig. 5).

This strange meiosis has of course a strong influ-ence on dogrose plant breeding since four-fifthsof all genetic material comes from the femaleparent and only one-fifth from the male parent(three-quarters and one-quarter, and five-sixthsand one-sixth, respectively in a tetraploid andhexaploid species). There is a very strong mor-phological resemblance between the offspringplant and the female parent, and this led to theconclusion that the dogroses could propagateby apomixis, the production of seeds withoutfertilization of the egg cell. Recent studies haveshown this to be true, but to what extent it hap-pens in nature is difficult to say. The meiosis initself is a combination between apomixis(through the univalents that are passed onthrough the maternal line without recombina-tion) and self-pollination as it has been shownthat the bivalent formation usually takes placebetween the most similar-looking genomes.

USES

Rootstocks

During the first half of the 19th century, bud-ding and grafting of ornamental roses became

Figure 4. Rosehips from Rosa sherardii. Photo: M. Uggla.

Figure 5. Meiosis in tetraploid dogrose (2n=4x=28) is peculiar with uneven transmission ofchromosomes from the seed and pollen parent. In megasporogenesis (left) two of thegenomes line up at the equatorial plate in metaphase 1 to form bivalents. The other 14 chro-mosomes remain unpaired as univalents at one of the poles. Separation at anaphase 1 willresult in one cell with 21 chromosomes (7 chromosomes from the bivalents plus all 14 univa-lents) and one cell with 7 chromosomes. At the next division, the univalents divide with thechromosomes from the bivalents resulting in two cells with 21 chromosomes that surviveand two cells with 7 chromosomes that will be lost. One of the cells with 21 chromosomeswill develop into the embryo sac. In microsporogenesis (right) there is bivalent formation inmetaphase 1 but the 14 univalents remain at the equatorial plate, separate as chromatids,and move to the poles at anaphase 1. At the second division, the chromosomes from thebivalent chromosomes divide normally, but the univalents lag behind resulting in a tetradconsisting of four cells with 7 chromosomes together with micronuclei from the univalents.At fertilization, only pollen with 7 chromosomes and no micronuclei unite with the 21 chro-mosome egg restoring the tetraploid number.

X X

M1

A1

M2

A2

X X X


very popular to make the rose plants morehardy and vigorous. There is also a third tech-nique called stenting, where the cultivar isgrafted to an unrooted cutting of the rootstock.Rosa canina has shown to be an excellent root-stock and due to its odd meiosis it is possible toproduce rootstock material from seeds insteadof the more labour intense cuttings. As there isa large economic interest in developing rosecultivars and cut-roses, several studies havebeen performed regarding the combinationbetween rootstock and cultivar and the devel-opment of the graft union. Today, the mostused rootstock in Europe for garden roses isanother dogrose, R. corymbifera ‘Laxa’. For theproduction of cut-roses, other rootstocks thandogroses are used as they produce a bettervigor-control or the plants are simply grown ontheir own roots.

Ornamental

Species from section Caninae have not beenwidely used in breeding programmes, probablydue to its odd meiosis, even if the breeders didnot know about this until 1920. At the end ofthe 19th century, Lord Penzance hybridized R.

rubiginosa with Bourbon roses to produce aseries of cultivars of which some still exist suchas ‘Anne of Geierstein’ and ‘Lady Penzance’. In1940s, the German breeder Kordes crossed R.rubiginosa with different Hybrid Tea roses. Stillwell-known results from these hybridizationsare ‘Goldbush’ and ‘Fritz Nobis’ (Fig. 6). Today,there is a revived interest in using dogroses forbreeding, since they appear to be more resistanttowards fungal diseases, especially the very dev-astating black spot fungus.

The dogroses could also be used as landscapeplants along roadsides and in parks as they donot require much care and attention. Since theyhave an abundance of flowers in springtime,followed by attractive rosehips in autumn,together with a fresh and healthy foliage, onethinks landscape architects should use themmore often than is the case today. The hedgesalso provide shelter and food for small animalsand birds, and could also be used as lee fromthe wind. Rosehips have also recently becomeattractive as a decorative fruit in wreath makingand cut-branch arrangements. The hips fromboth dogroses and species from other sectionsare being harvested and marketed for thesepurposes.

Culinary and Medicinal

The rosehips from section Caninae species havea very particular aroma, and can be used in tea,marmalade, yoghurt and other beverages. InSweden, rosehip soup has been used as a pop-ular snack and dessert soup for more than 100years. This soup is served either hot or cold,often together with whipped cream and sweetbiscuits (Fig. 7). To cover what is needed for thisSwedish delicacy, more than 1200 ha should becultivated with dogrose plants. But it is not forculinary reasons that the dogroses have attract-ed all this attention recently. Instead, the focusof interest is their extremely high antioxidantcapacity. Antioxidants are those compoundsthat take care of the metabolic reactive oxygenspecies (ROS) or free radicals that occur natural-ly in human bodies. In stress situations, such assickness, smoking or other pollution, they canaccumulate in our bodies and cause serious dis-ruptions to our health and cause i.e. cardiovas-cular disease, proliferation of tumor cells, accel-erated aging and other serious diseases. In con-trast to animal cells, plant cells produce an arrayof antioxidant components that have the abilityto neutralize ROS. A diet that is rich in fruits andvegetables is therefore thought to reduce therisk of developing these serious illnesses, androsehips from dogroses are on top when itcomes to antioxidants. Several recent studieshave dealt with both the contents of the rose-hips as well as the activity of the compounds,both in vitro and in vivo, mainly in the gastrictract. It appears that activity is species, or evengenotype, dependent, and affected by time ofharvest and postharvest treatment. However,since the species are so difficult to separatefrom one another, and very few of the biochem-

Figure 7. Rosehip soup with whippedcream and sweet biscuits. Photo: G.Werlemark.

Figure 6. ‘Fritz Nobis’ rose. Photo: L.-Å.Gustavsson.

ical scientists are familiar with the sectionCaninae as such, species determination is con-fusing in these articles. Often, R. canina mayrepresent any species within the section, orsometimes even just the word “rosehips” isused without saying what species they arepicked from or if it was just the rose plant in theback yard that was used. It is also difficult tocompare different studies of the same bio-chemical compound. Different experimentalset-ups and different laboratory protocols usedgive different results. Sometimes, it is not evenmentioned if they have measured the concen-tration in dry weight or in fresh weight.

Nevertheless it is clear that dogrose rosehipshave a very high content of vitamin B, C and E,carotenoids, polyphenols and the minerals Kand P. In a study performed on the total antiox-idant contents in fruits and berries, the rosehipsof R. canina had more than 4 times as high con-tent as the one in second place, the crowberry(Empetrum hermaphroditum). It is mainly thepolyphenols that contribute to the high antiox-idant activity, but also vitamin C and thecarotenoids are powerful antioxidants. The levelof vitamin C in rosehips is estimated to beamong the highest in the plant world, 300-4000 mg/100 g fresh weight, which is 10-80times higher than in oranges. Vitamin B orfolate is used for cell replication and is recom-mended for pregnant women. The content offolate in rosehips equals that of strawberriesand is considered to be very high. Polyphenolsoccur in very complex mixtures in plants and arevery abundant in our food. Among the mostcommon polyphenols are the flavonoids, suchas antocyanins, which give the red color to thehip at that pH and pro-anthocyanidins, whichhave a more than 20 times higher antioxidativecapability than vitamin C. They also containhigh levels of tannin, ellagic acid, which is saidto have antimutagenic and anticarcinogeniceffects. Very high levels of carotenoids such asß-carotene (pre-cursor of vitamin A) andlycopene have also been found in rosehips. Thelycopene level has been found to be higherthan or at least as much as in tomatoes andcould therefore have a potential in the foodindustry. Many of these bioactive compoundsare very sensitive to heat and light, and as manyalso are water-soluble, they can easily leach intothe surrounding water used for canning orcooking or just for washing. Rosehips are veryseldom eaten raw, but must be processed inone way or another. It is vital that the process-ing is performed as fast as possible so that thevaluable content does not disappear. Severalstudies have been done to evaluate the bestmethods of drying or freezing the fresh rose-hips to make them storable while waiting forprocessing.

Essential oils, omega-3 (linoleic acid) andomega-6 (linolenic acid), can be extracted fromthe seeds. This oil is produced mainly in SouthAmerica and has been used there for centuriesas a remedy for different skin problems. Now, it

ISHS • 12

is starting to be exported all over the world as atreatment of eczema, as an anti-anxiety remedyand as cosmetic oil.

In medicinal folklore from Turkey, the rosehipshave been useful against all sorts of stomachproblems and recent studies show that inges-tion of rosehip extracts results in a decreasedactivity of ROS in the colon, protection fromulcerogenesis and even decreased body weight.Extracts from rosehips have also shown toinhibit proliferation of cancer cells in vitro. Thiseffect is often correlated with the vitamin Clevel, but when only this vitamin is used, thepositive effect does not occur. Therefore, a syn-ergistic effect of several different compoundsfrom the berries is suggested.

The most well-studied effect of rosehips so faris the positive influence it has on patients withosteoarthritis. Clinical studies on patients diag-nosed with this disease have, after ingestion ofa patented ground rosehips powder (fruit andseed grounded together) called Litozin, shownan improved function in hip and knee joints andthey were able to decrease the amount of painrelieving medications they had had to consumebefore the test. The component that the scien-tists believe causes this anti-inflammatory effectis a galactolipid named GOPO for short.

Inflammatory substances have also been shownto be one cause of myocardial infarctions, andsome studies show that an elevated consump-tion of fruits and berries with high levels ofantioxidant capacity could lower the risk ofcoronary heart disease. Recently, the rosehippowder from Denmark, Litozin but calledLitovet when used for animals, has also beengiven to trotting horses to achieve a higherspeed and a faster recovery after a competition.

HORTICULTURE

Propagation

Dogroses can be propagated by seeds but fornamed cultivars or selections vegetative propa-gation is generally used. In Sweden, soft-woodcuttings from indoor growing mother plantshave been collected in February-March. Thecuttings are rooted in peat and perlite in plastictunnels at 20-22°C and high humidity. Therooting can be enhanced by treating the cut-tings with indolebutyric acid (IBA). Hard-woodcuttings are collected in November-February,also treated with IBA and kept moist at20-22°C.

Cultivation

The planting of the cuttings in the field is per-formed in autumn. Before planting, the fieldshould be fertilized with compost or stablemanure and after that about 300 kg NPK fertil-izer/ha should be added annually. Drip irrigationis seldom needed. The distances among theplants are dependent on what species is plant-ed and whether the plants should be handpicked or mechanically harvested. The use of

plastic mulch is recommended to reduce weeds,which is otherwise a big problem for youngdogrose plants. The plantation should befenced to deter animals such as rabbits anddeer.

The plants should be pruned each year toenhance the yield and quality. How muchdepends on species and harvest method. Formechanically harvested fields, pruning can beperformed with a hedge mower every secondyear, but for the hand picked fields, also hand-performed pruning is recommended. The fieldcan be renewed every 8-10 years by cutting offthe plants just above ground with a mechanicalpruner.

Postharvest

The yield, of course, varies with species, cultiva-tion procedures and harvesting method. Up to8 kg/plant have been harvested by hand of thehybrid PiRo 3. In Sweden, mechanical harvest ofR. dumalis and R. rubiginosa has yielded 3tonnes/ha, and in Germany hand picked R. vil-losa has yielded 1.2-2.5 tonnes/ha. The rosehipsshould be treated immediately after harvest toretain their valuable contents. The traditionalway to preserve them is by drying, often justout in the sun (Fig. 8). This procedure, however,often results in fungal contamination and com-mercial companies today use e.g. hot-air dryersor freeze dryers instead. It is important that thedrying is performed as fast as possible, andtherefore the hips are often cut in smaller piecesto reduce the drying time. Oxygen can causedegradation of the antioxidants and a dryingenvironment of pure CO2 is to be preferred. Theoil of the rosehip seeds is extracted by crushingthe seeds and then apply pressure or by differ-ent extraction processes e.g. the Soxhlet extrac-tion process or through ultrasound.

Fungal Diseases

The dogroses are considered to be very healthyspecies, and they do have a higher resistanceagainst fungal diseases than their ornamentalrelatives. In the wild, one very rarely sees anylarge infestation. However, in the wild, theplants often stand by themselves, or maybe 5-15 together and then the next stand comessome 10-50 m away. But when planted closetogether on a commercial scale, unfortunatelythe inoculum builds up and outbreaks of fungaldiseases occur. The dogroses suffer from thesame fungal diseases as any other rose. Blackspot (Diplocarpon rosae perfect stage, orMarssonina rosae imperfect stage) is consideredthe most severe disease in roses. The fungusgrows mainly on the upper leaf surface, causingthe leaf to yellow and eventually fall off. Newleaves occur to replace the dead ones, but theseget infected too. Eventually, the plant is weak-ened beyond repair and dies. Black spot is moresevere during wet summers, as the fungi dis-perse through the water drops. However, theattacks on the dogroses are not that severecompared to the ornamental roses, which isgood, since black spot is difficult to treat withany chemical. For ornamental roses, resistancebreeding for black spot is therefore a veryimportant goal, making the dogroses an inter-esting gene source. A more serious disease isthe powdery mildew (Podosphaera pannosa)that can be quite severe on young dogroseplants. The fungus grows on the leaves andyoung shoots giving them a characteristic lookof white powdery appearance. In contrast toblack spot, the powdery mildew likes warm anddry weather. Older dogrose plants appear tohave a better resistance towards this fungus;otherwise it can be treated with sulphur. Rust(Phragmidium spp.) is also something thatoccurs on dogroses and in Scandinavian fieldtrials it has shown to be the most serious fungaldisease. The fungus first occurs as orange spotsmainly on the leaves but in severe cases on allgreen parts. As the temperature gets colderduring autumn, the fungus evolves into blackteliospores for overwintering. It can be treatedwith copper oxide, preferably together with sul-phur. Another fungal disease that has beenspreading within the last decade is leafspot(Sphaceloma rosarum), also known as anthrac-nose. In dogrose orchards older than 10-15years the inoculum has built up in such anamount that it can become a very problematicdisease – if not the most problematic. There isalso a rosehip fly (Rhagoletis alternata) thatattacks the rosehips themselves and can causeserious problems in dogrose orchards. Thefemale lays one egg in an unripe hip, and marksit with pheromones to deter other females fromit. The larva then eats the hip from the inside,and when the hip is ripe, it emerges and leavesbehind a completely destroyed hip.

Commercial Production

In Eastern Europe, rosehip plantations used tocover huge areas and there was also extensive

Figure 8. Drying of rosehips in Turkey.Photo: S. Ersceli.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gun Werlemark

Dr. Gun Werlemark is aresearcher working ondogroses and Europeanbilberry at the SwedishUniversity of Agriculture,Dept. of Plant Breedingand Biotechnology Bals-gård. She has carried outextensive studies on theodd meiosis of dogroses.Email: [email protected]

FURTHER READING

De Vries, D. 2003. Rootstock breeding. p.639-645. In: A.V. Roberts, T. Debener and S. Gudin(eds.), Encyclopedia of Rose Science, ElsevierAcademic Press, Oxford, UK

Hyben Vital. http://www.hyben-vital.com/info/planting.html. Accessed Jan 20, 2009.

Joublan, J.P. and Rios, D. 2005. Rose culture andindustry in Chile. Acta Hort. 690:65-69.

Krüssmann, G. 1981. Roses. Timber Press,Portland, Oregon.

Larsen, E., Kharazmi, A., Christensen, L.P. andChristensen, S.B. 2003. An anti-inflammatorygalactolipid from rosehip (Rosa canina) that inhi-bits chemotaxis of human peripheral blood neu-trophils in vitro. J. Natural Prod. 66:994-995.

Lim, K.Y., Werlemark, G., Matyasek, R., Bringloe,J.B., Sieber, V., El Mokadem, H., Meynet, J.,Hemming, J., Leitch, A.R. and Roberts, A.V.2005. Evolutionary implications of permanentodd polyploidy in the stable sexual, pentaploidof Rosa canina L. Heredity 94:501-506.

Nilsson, Ö. 1999. Wild roses in Norden: taxonomicdiscussion. Acta Bot. Fennica 162:169-173.

Nybom, H., Esselink, G.D., Werlemark, G. andVosman, B. 2004. Microsatellite DNA markerinheritance indicates preferential pairingbetween highly homologous genomes in poly-ploid and hemisexual dogroses (Rosa L. sect.Caninae). Heredity 92:139-150.

Orhan, D.D., Hartevioglu, A., Küpeli, E. andYesilada, E. 2007. In vivo anti-inflammatory andantinociceptive activity of the crude extract andfractions from Rosa canina L. fruits. J.Ethnopharm. 112:394-400.

Rehder, A. 1940. Manual of cultivated trees andshrubs. Macmillan, New York.

Schwer, C.S., Carlson-Nilsson, U., Uggla, M.,Werlemark, G. and Nybom, H. 2007 Impact offoliar fungi on dogroses. Int. J. Hort. Sci.13(4):23-30.

Uggla, M. and Martinsson, M. 2005. Cultivate thewild roses – experiences from production inSweden. Acta Hort. 690:83-89.

Werlemark, G. and Nybom, H. 2009. Dogroses:Botany, horticulture, genetics and breeding.Hort. Rev. 36 (in press).

Wissemann, V. 2003. Conventional taxonomy(wild roses). p.111-117. In: A.V. Roberts, T.Debener and S. Gudin (eds.), Encyclopedia ofRose Science, Elsevier Academic Press, Oxford,UK.

Figure 9. Pi-Ro3 Pillnitzer Vitaminrose, a cross between Rosa dumalis and R. pendulina.Photo: L.-H. Zhu.

plant breeding, but after 1990 this hasdeclined. The plantations consisted mainly ofother species than dogroses, mainly R. rugosaand R. majalis. However, with the increaseddemand for rosehips, new plantations are beingplanted and there are several pages on theInternet, advertising material for sale. The newplantations often consist of dogrose speciesand are planned for mechanical harvest insteadof hand picking. The price for dried material isaround €1700/tonne. Very few of the dogrosecultivars have been named. Most of them prob-ably originate from wild growing plants andtheir cultivation could be restricted to certaincompanies or grower organizations, such as theDanish ‘Lito’ grown for the company HybenVital to produce Litozin and Litovet. However,there are some cultivars that have beenreleased and some of the most well-known are‘Plovdiv 1’, a R. canina from Bulgaria, and‘Karpatia’, a R. pomifera from Slovakia.Another well-known cultivar is the PillnitzerVitaminrose ‘PiRo 3’ which is a cross betweenR. dumalis (sect. Caninae) and R. pendulina(sect. Rosa) from Germany (Fig. 9).

Rosehips from dogroses have now become anew cultivated crop and recently commercialplantings have become established. Accurateinformation on the yield is difficult to ascertainas it is grown and often also processed andused locally. There is large confusion concern-ing what species are cultivated, and the yieldscould be measured both as whole fruits, cutfruits, with or without seeds, dried or freshmaterial. The hips are often still picked by handfrom wild growing plants e.g. in Turkey and in

Azerbaijan, but more orchards are currentlybeing planted. Chile is the main producer ofrosehip material in the world. The hips from R.mosqueta are still mainly hand picked from wildgrowing plants along the slopes of the Andes,but more and more orchards are being planted.The harvest is sold as sliced or whole fruits,dried or as pulp, with or without seeds, and asseed oil. The processing industry has certifiedprograms to meet the demand of the interna-tional market. Around 8000 tonnes were soldin 2004, mainly to Germany, which is thelargest market for rosehip products. Other largeexport markets are Sweden and the UnitedStates. In Europe, Turkey, Hungary andGermany are big producers with 200-1000tonnes/year/country. Denmark has recentlystarted to cultivate dogroses to be used in thearthritis medicine Litozin, and the companyHyben Vital today buys all the harvested rose-hips from both Danish and Swedish orchards.All the rosehips used for the Swedish rosehipsoup are today imported from Chile.

The area for dogrose cultivation is definitelyincreasing yearly, and there is a huge demandfor rosehips today, both in the processed formas well as the raw material. Hundreds of pageson the Internet advertise rosehip products, bothfor consumption and as cosmetic oil. Clearlyyou cannot go wrong with consuming rosehipsfrom dogroses. This new crop has a very inter-esting and exciting future.

ISHS • 14

HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE NEWS

The Vineland Research and InnovationCentre is Launched in Canada

Tania Humphrey and Jim Brandle

Vineland is located on the shores of LakeOntario in the Niagara Region. This region,made famous by Niagara Falls, lies at the gate-way between Canada and the United States, inthe narrow stretch of land between two GreatLakes – Erie to the south and Ontario to thenorth. These large bodies of water moderatethe region’s temperatures, producing a relative-ly mild climate by Canadian standards. Its cli-mate, fertile soils and proximity to lucrativeNorth American markets have made theNiagara Region a prime horticultural producingzone that today is recognised for its premierwines, tender fruit and greenhouse flower pro-duction.

THE VINELAND VISION

Vineland Research and Innovation Centre’svision for the future is to become a world-classresearch institution and hub for horticulturalresearch, innovation and commercial activity.

Looking ahead, it is absolutely clear that mar-ket-focused research will play a significant rolein the future of horticulture. The horticulturalindustry is a multi-billion dollar food and fash-ion business that leans hard on innovation tostay successful. This business perspective,together with the independent, not-for-profitcorporate structure, makes the Vineland Centrea pioneering model for horticultural research.The Vineland vision stands on three pillars ofactivity: science, business and destination.

Science

Vineland will become a place where the lab isfirmly rooted in the marketplace. Its science willbe driven by an understanding of the prioritiesand needs of the horticultural industry and theconsumers it serves. The result will be an inno-vation pipeline that allows a continuous flowfrom scientific discovery to market application.

Canada has recently made a multi-million dollar investment in the future of horticulture withthe launch of the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Located in Ontario’s NiagaraRegion, Vineland is a private, not-for-profit research organisation with a vision of transform-ing the Canadian horticultural industry. Vineland is setting the stage to become a world-class, international hub for horticultural research, innovation and commercialisation. Itsunique and forward-thinking approach will target the entire horticultural value chain fromproducers to processers through to retailers and consumers to bring new products andadvanced technologies to the industry.

This vision includes: new products withenhanced consumer appeal and nutritionalquality; increased capacity to produce cropsyear round, outdoors or under glass; highly effi-cient, environmentally sustainable productionsystems and increased profits for all sectors ofthe horticultural industry.

Business

The quest for scientific discovery at Vinelandmust be informed and driven by an understand-

ing of the priorities and needs of horticulture asa business. The environment of business inno-vation will be supported and cultivated throughdeveloping strategic partnerships and offering avariety of tools and services including: incuba-tion and acceleration facilities for start-up ven-tures; business services; leasing of office and labspace to relevant businesses; technology licens-ing, and access to sources of venture capital.

Destination

Located on the corridor leading to popularCanadian tourist destinations and less than 90-minutes from three of North America’s busiestairports, sixteen of Canada’s leading universitiesand colleges, and one of the largest concentra-tions of business power in North America, theCentre is ideally suited to be an internationaldestination. Conferences and consultations atVineland will draw together scientific andentrepreneurial minds, growers, suppliers andother key members of the horticultural industry,providing opportunities for convergence andsharing of ideas. Vineland will also be a drawfor the general public with exhibits, publicgreenhouses and special events that will all bepart of an extensive public education program.

In order to achieve its ambitious goals, one ofVineland’s fundamental principles is conver-gence. Breakthrough ideas and discoveries havea greater chance of occurring at convergencepoints between entrenched scientific disci-plines. Vineland is creating these points ofintersection to bring Canadian horticulture tothe forefront. Rather than the traditional inves-tigator-driven, discipline-based approach toresearch, Vineland’s research will be project-based and driven by “consumer pull” or indus-try demand. Individual projects will be devel-oped in three dimensions to integrate researchobjectives, horticultural sectors and scientific

The ‘Harovin Sundown’ Pear, developedjointly by government laboratories atHarrow and Vineland, is now licensed byVineland Research and Innovation Centre.With fire blight resistance and a sweet,crisp taste it will be available in supermar-kets within 6 years.


disciplines. This allows for a flexible and adapt-able research program where staff andresources can be re-organised as outcomes aremet and the needs of the industry change.

However, the organisation’s success cannot bedriven by cross-disciplinary scientific researchalone, but rather by brilliant science workinghand-in-hand with market delivery.Collaboration is another fundamental compo-nent upon which the Vineland model is based.Collaboration not only accelerates results, butamplifies the ability to deliver research out-comes that will be relevant, applicable and pro-vide competitive advantages. Vineland hasbeen busy building a collaborative networkconnecting academic, government and industryorganisations. Research collaboration is the pri-mary purpose of this network but it is alsoexpanding to include business and commercial-isation partners.

A CENTURY OF SUCCESS

Vineland has been a centre for horticulturalresearch in one form or another for over onehundred years and the future development ofVineland will be built on the successes of thepast.

In the early years of the last century, a fledglinghorticultural industry was developing along thesouth shore of Lake Ontario. Local growers

were having some success experimenting withdifferent fruit varieties but had been campaign-ing for many years for a local fruit research sta-

tion. At that time, most of the research wasbeing conducted in different geographic andclimatic zones and wasn’t necessarily relevantto the Niagara growers. In 1906, a local resi-dent, Moses Rittenhouse made a generous giftof land, “[…] for experimental work on tenderfruit.” The Ontario provincial governmentpounced on the opportunity with a purchase ofadditional land and the HorticulturalExperiment Station became a reality.

Buildings were constructed, roads built and thefirst experimental plots of fruits and vegetableswere planted. In the first few years, more thanone thousand varieties were planted for testing.This included over one hundred varieties eachof apples, peaches, beans, peas and numerousother fruits and vegetables.

Initially research was focussed on fruit cultivartrials and breeding, but later expanded toinclude pest control, soil management, vegeta-bles, mushrooms and ornamentals as well aspost harvest aspects of horticulture such as pro-cessing, storage, biochemistry and microbiolo-gy. New facilities were gradually added includ-ing state-of-the-art greenhouses, a grape sub-station and a Federal agriculture laboratory forpest management research. Satellite stations,with scientific and technology consultants,were established in nearby rural areas so thatthe full range of services at Vineland would bereadily available and easily accessible to localgrowers. As an indication of this expansion andenhanced status, in 1966 the name of the sta-tion was changed to the Horticultural ResearchInstitute of Ontario (HRIO). This instituteprovided the fruit and vegetable growers with anew centralised source for information and

Wayne Brown, greenhouse floriculture specialist, oversees the poinsettia trials at Vineland thatshowcase upcoming varieties for the holiday season.

A century of horticultural research at Vineland. (Clockwise from top left) HorticultureExperiment Station 1948; wine chemist Ralph Crowther in the Horticultural Products Laboratory,1960s; farm workers, 1963; plant breeder Oliver Bradt and farm manager Peter Proctor in aVineland peach orchard, late 1960s.

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technology to meet their needs covering every-thing from seed to consumer products.

During its history, the station became known asthe province’s centre for plant breeding, releas-ing more than 50 varieties of peaches, apricots,cherries and plums, and 18 varieties of vegeta-bles, many of which were given the signature“V” name. Thanks to the breeding programsover the past century, Ontario has an extendedfresh-market peach season and an extensiveseries of hardy cling processing peach varieties(Vulcan, Vinegold and Veecling). There are sev-eral improved cherry cultivars such asTehranivee, Vandalay and Vic. There have alsobeen Vineland-bred commercial varieties ofgrapes, apricots, tomatoes, sweet corn, aspara-gus, strawberries, plums and ornamentals. Anumber of winter hardy rhododendrons andazaleas were developed at Vineland and thebreeding stock is still used by rhododendronbreeders today.

As well as plant breeding, Vineland researcherswere also instrumental in developing new pro-duction practices. New management tech-niques including alternative grape and tenderfruit training systems, pest management recom-mendations, greenhouse fertility systems, nurs-ery container protocols, and site suitability map-ping were developed in response to the needsof the horticultural industry.

While research was the primary purpose of theVineland research station, over the past centuryit has been very much a part of the local com-munity. In the early years, many of the station’sresearchers, farm workers and students lived onsite in station houses and boarding lodges.Families would socialise together, share mealsprepared from station produce and brew theirown wine from Vineland grapes and otherfruits. Station children played in the trees and

ravines and defended research plots with asense of ownership, running inside to report ontrespassers. Numerous other activities were alsocarried out at the station in those early yearsincluding ice harvesting, fruit processing andcanning. Cans of peaches, jellies and jams fromVineland were even sent to Europe forCanadian soldiers during the First World War.

In 1997 the government of Ontario transferredthe management of the HRIO along with sever-al other research and educational facilities tothe University of Guelph. The HRIO becameintegrated into the Department of PlantAgriculture and for the most part research pro-grams continued uninterrupted.

VINELAND RENAISSANCE

Vineland is now in the midst of a time of signif-icant change. Although there had been a cen-tury of horticultural research successes, gradualwithdrawal of funding in recent years had seenstaff numbers dwindle and facilities fall into dis-repair. It was evident that a transformationalplan was needed for the station to succeed inthe next century.

And so, one hundred years after that initial giftof land from a local entrepreneur, the revitaliza-tion process began. In August 2006 a“Vineland Renaissance” advisory panel wasformed, which consulted with numerousgroups including government agencies, farmorganisations, academic centres, business lead-ers and tourism operators to develop a transfor-mational vision and a business case for thefuture of the facility.

The Vineland Renaissance business case out-lined the evolution of Vineland into a world-class research institution and international hubfor horticultural research, innovation and com-mercial activity. It also listed a number of

Vineland scientist Daryl Somers oversees the propagation of grapevine rootstock inpreparation for next season’s grafts.

‘Vandalay’, a Vineland Sweet Cherry cultivar.


Horticulture in the Canadian winter. Vineland greenhouses surrounded by snow (left); and Vidalgrapes frozen on the vine prior to harvest for Canada’s signature ice wine (right).

‘Venture’ Peach, developed at Vineland, hasbacterial spot disease tolerance and hasbeen a successful cultivar in the processingindustry.

research priorities based on the recommenda-tions of industry stakeholders and provided abusiness model for the long-term sustainabilityof the site. One of the key recommendationswas for collaboration and public-private part-nerships that would enable greater leverage ofinvestment. In addition, at this early stage,Vineland had already gained the support of keyindustry organisations from the wine, flowers,and fruit and vegetable sectors.

Vineland Research and Innovation Centre wasestablished in January 2007 as a private, not-for-profit corporation with an independentBoard of Directors. Shortly thereafter, theprovincial and federal governments followedthrough on the recommendations of theVineland Renaissance report and made sub-stantial investments to get Vineland up andrunning. Furthermore, both levels of govern-ment are committed to exploring additionalavenues for ongoing support of Vineland andits research programs. This level of financialsupport has provided a powerful indicator ofthe Canadian government’s belief that researchand innovation are vital to the future success ofthe horticultural industry.

Since appointing a CEO in June 2007, VinelandResearch and Innovation Centre has beensteadily building upon the three pillars of itsvision: science, business and destination.During the past year, Vineland established asolid organisational framework through the hir-ing of key management and support staff andlaunched its research program with theappointment of four senior researchers. A five-year business plan was developed outlining thedetails of Vineland’s development towards itsvision and providing a plan for sustainable rev-enue generation. Guidance and direction alongthe way are provided by two important adviso-ry committees that were established early on inthe organisation’s development.

The Stakeholder Advisory Committee consistsof a broad cross section of individuals, fromgrocers to lawyers, civil servants to growers, allof whom have an interest in Vineland’s success.The group has addressed big-picture issuessuch as the future of horticulture as well asmore specific topics and opportunities such asthe local food movement.

To ensure Vineland’s research will be trulyworld-class, a Science Advisory Committee wasformed, comprising many of the finest in horti-cultural science from around the world. Tenprominent scientists from The Netherlands,Australia, New Zealand, the United States,Canada and Israel meet regularly to discuss andchart the future of Vineland’s research. On theagenda are questions that speak to Vineland’sresearch direction, its place in the world and thepath that horticultural science will take in thefuture.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

The research at Vineland will be directlyplugged into industry needs and Vineland hasbeen very busy creating partnerships and linesof communication with producers, academicsand the business community. Currently thereare three other research groups co-located atVineland: the University of Guelph, the OntarioMinistry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.Vineland is working to enhance the relation-ships between these groups and bring theirresearch programs into a single cohesive strate-gy.

Vineland formulated its research strategythrough a highly collaborative process thatincluded the full continuum, from scientific dis-covery through to market delivery. The overar-ching goal of this strategy is to increase rev-enues, drive down costs and expand profit mar-gins for growers and producers. This goal hasbeen further defined into the following fourresearch objectives:

Expanding Markets through ProductInnovation

Rapidly changing consumer choices and com-petition for agricultural commodities have cre-ated the need for alternative research strate-gies. Vineland’s research programs will focus onunderstanding the consumer and using thisinput to add value to horticultural productssuch as improving the health and nutritionalquality of foods, new vibrant colours for flow-ers, appetizing aroma or enhanced flavour forfruits and beverages and developing newspecies and varieties of horticultural crops.

Reducing the Environmental Impact ofHorticulture

Horticultural production systems will be increas-ingly judged by their impact on the environ-ment. This is reflected in the recent emergenceof new regulations that aim to make food pro-duction more environmentally sustainable.Vineland’s research will be directed at reduced-risk and minor-use pesticides, biological controland the development of crops that have agenetic resistance to pests and diseases.Reducing the energy requirements of produc-tion systems through the development of cropsthat require lower inputs of light, temperature,water or fertilizer will generate environmentalgains that have the added benefit of reducingproduction costs.

Safeguarding Horticultural Crops againstEnvironmental Stress

While horticulture has an impact on the envi-ronment, so too does the environment have animpact on horticulture. The Canadian climate ischaracterised by extremes of cold and fluctuat-ing conditions, which affect the quality andconsistency of horticultural crops. Research willtarget climatic adaptation, efficient use ofinputs, enhanced yield security and will involveintegrating knowledge of plant stress biologywith technologies such as GeographicalInformation Systems.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Tania Humphrey

Dr. Tania Humphrey is the Research Strategistfor Vineland Research and Innovation Centreand provides support in grants and researchcommunications. Her background is in plant cellbiology research.Email: [email protected]

Dr. Jim Brandle is the Chief Executive Officer ofVineland Research and Innovation Centre. Hisresearch experience includes plant breeding,genetics, bioproducts, bioprocesses, and func-tional genomics.Email: [email protected]

Jim Brandle

FURTHER READING

Palmer, E.F. 1956. Horticultural Experiment Stationand Products Laboratory – The First Fifty Years.Ontario Department of Agriculture, Guelph,Ontario.

Loughton, A., Chudyk, R.V. and Wanner, J.A.(eds.). 2006. Celebrating a Century of Success1906 – 2006. University of Guelph, VinelandStation, Ontario.

Driving Down Production Costs inHorticulture

The transition to higher-value, leading-edgecrops and products must be underpinned by themost efficient production systems possible.These systems must decrease costs, keep profitmargins high and buffer against the effects ofcurrency fluctuations and increased wages.Horticultural automation systems for fruit har-vesting, crop maintenance or processing offer areal solution to increased labour costs. In paral-lel, production practices will be developed towork together with automation technologies inorder to further increase production efficien-cies.

As a first step in addressing these researchobjectives, Vineland has appointed threeResearch Directors who will head teams ofscientists, technicians, postdocs and students intheir respective disciplines. Dr. IsabelleLesschaeve, a sensory and consumer scientistwill lead the Consumer Insights and ProductInnovation team that provides the consumerfocus to Vineland’s research. She has extensiveinternational experience in the wine industry

studying human sensory response and con-sumer choice. This is an important and relative-ly new approach to horticultural research thatwill address flavours, odours, textures andcolours for fruit and ornamental improvementand ensure that the products of Vineland’sresearch are attractive to consumers.

Dr. Daryl Somers is an established scientist inmolecular breeding who will lead the AppliedGenomics team to bring critical traits into hor-ticultural crops using advances in genomesequencing and accelerated plant breedingtechniques. Dr Michael Brownbridge has alsorecently joined Vineland as Research Director inHorticultural Production Systems and will lead ateam focused on crop protection and produc-tion systems.

A fourth senior scientist is actually a cross-appointment using an outsourcing approach toresearch. Dr. Hannah Mathers is a member ofthe Horticulture and Crop Science faculty atOhio State University and is leading a numberof projects at Vineland to address some of theimmediate research needs of the nursery andlandscape industry.

“Innovation” is where research feeds directlyinto the business of science and is vital to thesuccess of Vineland. The commercialisationinfrastructure essential for delivering innova-tions into the horticultural sector is now beingdeveloped. Vineland’s business activities willinclude leasing and incubation facilities thatfoster the growth of start-up companies as wellas licensing and commercialisation of intellectu-al property.

Strategic co-locations are also essential toadvancing the convergence centre concept.Researchers and businesses sharing a physicalspace will allow for cross-pollination of ideas asstaff intermingle in meeting rooms and hall-ways. Thus far, tenants at Vineland include anursery-landscape industry consortium and theNorth American branch of the greenhousetechnology company, Hoogendoorn. Theattractiveness for businesses and industryorganisations to co-locate at Vineland will befurther enhanced by the construction of state-of-the-art new facilities.

The current focus for Vineland’s growth is toexpand research capacity; filling in the details ofthe research strategy, hiring new scientists andgetting projects underway while at the sametime building upon its business and destinationpillars.

‘Vampire’ Plum with blood-red flesh (inset)was developed by the University of Guelphat Vineland and released in 2006.

Ontario and Canada have made a substantialinvestment, building on the successes of thepast to launch the Vineland Research andInnovation Centre. The investment in this newCentre points to a future where the horticultur-al industry is better equipped with the knowl-edge and technology to compete in an increas-ingly demanding and complex environment.

Did you renew your ISHS membership?Logon to www.ishs.org/members and renew online!


Energy Saving GreenhousesJ.C. Bakker

MAJOR STEPS IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF ENERGYEFFICIENT GREENHOUSES

Maximum Use of Solar Radiation

The first step in creating energy efficient green-houses is to maximize the use of incoming nat-ural radiation to maximize its positive impact onproduction and to minimize additional heating(Fig. 2). Improvement of the greenhouse as anenergy efficient solar collector is obtained byimproving the light transmission of its structure

and minimizing reflection losses through themodification of the roof slope. In SouthernEurope, considerable enhancement of lighttransmission has been reached by increasingthe roof slope from nearly zero, typical fromareas with low rainfall, to values close to 30º,which has had a direct effect on crop responsein the winter time (Fig. 3). In North WestEurope, combined steps to improve the lighttransmission of the greenhouse have led tominimized and integrated construction parts,e.g. minimal dimensions of gutters, the use of

Eficient use of energy in greenhouses has been subject of research and development since thefirst “energy crisis” in the early 1980s when the constriction in the supply of oil caused a sig-nificant increase in energy prices (Bakker et al., 2008). This spike in energy cost occurred againin 2008. Furthermore, the new European targets on reduction of CO2 emission have resultedin a renewed interest in innovative technologies to improve energy efficiency. The need forenergy cost reduction is critical in the greenhouse industry since energy forms a substantialfraction of total production costs. For European conditions it has been calculated that annu-al energy use for conditioning ranges from 10-30% depending on the different regions whilethe absolute use differs from 1900 MJ m-2 (Finland), to 1500 MJ m-2 (The Netherlands), and500-1600 MJ m-2 (southern France).

The increase of production per unit of energy (energy efficiency) can be achieved by reduc-tion of the energy use and/or improvement of production. In fact, all cultivation measures thatincrease the production, such as improved irrigation, better nutrition, pest and disease con-trol, and better utilization of the available greenhouse area, also improve energy efficiency.Focusing solely on energy efficiency without any focus on the absolute energy use may haveunexpected (and undesired from an environmental point of view) effects. Even inMediterranean areas, heating is used to obtain early production and a constant quantitative-qualitative yield, leading on one hand to a higher energy efficiency but at the same time alsoto a higher absolute energy use. Also improved environmental control (e.g. more CO2 supply,additional lighting), intensified production schemes (Boulard, 2001), and use of cooling sys-tems to expand the growing period into months with high temperatures, all cause an increasein energy consumption (De Pascale and Maggio, 2004). The same holds for the Northernregions with respect to the use of artificial light up to very high levels (e.g. over 200 W m-2)in Finland (Olofsson et al., 2006) and over 100 W m-2 in The Netherlands (Fig. 1).

The major challenge is to find ways that meet both needs: improved energy efficiency com-bined with an absolute reduction of the overall energy consumption and related CO2 emis-sion of the greenhouse industry. In general the same objectives hold for Mediterranean andNorthern European regions: during fall/winter the objective is to maximize the radiation quan-tity (either from natural light or artificial light) and minimize the energy loss; during thespring/summer the objective is to reduce high temperatures.

In The Netherlands the target is even more ambitious than merely improved energy efficien-cy. From 2020 and on, new greenhouses should operate almost without any fossil fuel andeven should be “energy producing.” This ambitious goal is based on the idea that greenhous-es are large solar collectors that collect almost 80% of all incoming solar radiation. For north-west European conditions the yearly solar irradiation sum equals approximately 3.5 GJ m-2,which is equivalent to the combustion value of 100 m3 of natural gas (=100 NGE). Since theincoming solar radiation represents about twice the energy used in the greenhouse itself, thistheoretically creates the possibility to use the greenhouse as a combined crop and heat pro-ducing system.

To reach this ambitious goal, a research and development program has been started underthe name: “Greenhouse as Energy Source.” Although the ambitions are even higher, thesteps to be taken in this development process are still the same as before: maximum use ofsolar energy, reduction of energy use in the greenhouse and replacement of fossil fuel byother sustainable sources. wide glass panels, and white coated frames to

limit the light interception.

Greenhouse covering materials can be roughlyclassified into three groups: glass, film and hardplastic sheets. Each cover has its own character-istics with respect to light transmission for dif-ferent wavelengths and insulating value. Forenergy efficiency and optimal use of solar radi-ation, the transmission for visible light(Photosynthetic Active radiation) and Infraredradiation are important. For the cold period,one should aim at materials that combine ahigh transmission for visible light with a lowtransmission for IR radiation combined with ahigh insulation value. These materials enable a

Figure 1. High levels of artificial light ingreenhouses cause a significant increasein the total energy use in northern andsouthern regions.

Figure 2. The first step in creating energyefficient greenhouses is to maximize theuse of the incoming natural radiation,which has a positive impact on the pro-duction and the reduction of the addi-tional heating power.

ISHS • 20

maximum amount of solar (or “green”) energyto enter the greenhouse (to be used for cropproduction and temperature increase), whilethe IR radiation loss from the greenhouse isbeing restricted. Many film materials are sub-optimal for energy efficient greenhouses sincetheir IR transmission is high, except for the flu-oropolymer ethylenetetrafluoroethylene (ETFE)membrane (Hemming, 2005).

To further improve the light transmission of thematerials, several antireflex coatings have beenintroduced during the last decades to preventlight reflection, which enables light transmis-sion to be increased by 5-6% (Fig. 4). Coatingscan also reduce the light reduction by conden-sation, which is especially important with plas-tic materials. Recent innovations in this field aremodifying the surface structures with e.g. microV, which is a promising technology for green-house covers. However, the positive effect of allthese innovative technologies to improvegreenhouse light transmission can only have itspotential effect if the cover is regularly cleanedsince the transmission of the cover may signifi-cantly be reduced by dust.

Reduction of Energy Use in theGreenhouse

Minimize Energy Loss by Screens and InsulatingMaterials.The major processes of energy loss innatural ventilated greenhouses are: (1) convec-tion and radiation from the greenhouse cover,and (2) thermal and latent heat transferthrough ventilation. Improved insulation andreduced ventilation are therefore the first

steps to create energy conservative greenhous-es (Fig. 5).

A thermal screen adds an additional barrierbetween the greenhouse and its surroundingand reduces both the convection and ventila-tion loss. When movable, it has less impact onthe light transmission compared to fixedscreens or double covering materials. About80% of the greenhouse area in TheNetherlands and 35% in France are equippedwith thermal screens. Theoretically, screens mayreduce the energy use by more than 35-40%,depending on the material. In practice, mov-able screens are closed only a part of the entireperiod depending on the criteria for openingand closing and due to the restrictions for clos-ing related to humidity and light. In commercialpractice the energy effects are about 20% butthe overall effect on energy efficiency is slightlylower due to light reduction caused by thescreens.

Increasing the insulation value of the green-house cover has a major impact on energy con-sumption of the greenhouse. However, a majordisadvantage of most fixed insulating covers isthe reduction in light transmission andincreased humidity. Development of materialsthat combine high insulation values with highlight transmission is one of the most challeng-ing issues. Under practical conditions, thepotential energy saving of double and triplecovering materials is almost never achieved,since the grower tries to compensate for thenegative effects by increasing the dehumidifica-tion of the greenhouse environment.

The Lexan® ZigZag™ greenhouse coveringmaterial is an example of a material that inpotential combines a high light transmittance(80% for diffuse light) with a high insulationvalue and a year round energy saving of 20-25% when compared to single glass.Unfortunately the large scale practical applica-tion has not become successful due to addition-al costs, the low overall economic benefit, andproblems with the production and modificationof the greenhouse construction. Promisingalternatives for the future are double side coat-ed Anti Reflex glass, combinations of micro Vtreated glass or triple layer systems (Bot et al.,2005). For example, double Anti Reflex glass,which can more easily be used in combinationwith current greenhouse constructions, com-

bines a high diffuse light transmission (82-86%)with an energy reduction of 26%, leading to again in energy efficiency of 40%.

Minimize Energy Loss through Ventilation andLatent Heat. On a year round basis, a majorfraction of the energy transfer from the green-house to the environment is by natural ventila-tion. Thus, many attempts to reduce the energyinput for greenhouses concentrate on the ven-tilation process and its effects on heat- andmass transfer (Baeza, 2007). During periodswith relatively low radiation and moderateambient temperatures, natural or forced venti-lation is generally used to prevent high humidi-ty, which is related to a significant (5 to 20%)fraction of energy consumption. To reduce the“humidity control related” energy consumptionseveral options are applied: higher humidity set-points, reducing the transpiration level of thecrop, or dehumidification with heat recovery(Campen and Bot, 2002).

Although high humidity levels are generallyassociated with increased risk of fungal diseasesand reduced quality (e.g. botrytis, blossom endrot), increasing humidity may also be positivefor crop production and quality, under moder-ate as well as under more subtropical conditions(e.g. Montero, 2006). Increasing the humiditylevel therefore is an effective way of increasingenergy efficiency.

Reduction of transpiration also has positiveeffects on energy efficiency since lower tran-spiring crops bring less water into the air andtherefore require less energy for humidity con-trol under low irradiation conditions. Two majoroptions show promising results: the use of anti-transpirants and reduction of the leaf area.Antitranspirants, in combination with higherCO2 levels, may improve energy efficiency with5-10% without effects on photosynthesis andgrowth. Also controlled reduction of the leafarea for crops with a high leaf area index likepepper may reduce energy use without impacton production. Halving the leaf area by remov-ing old leaves in tomatoes showed a reduction

Figure 3. Increasing the roof slope to ca 30° increases the light transmission, crop productionand hence energy efficiency in southern Europe.

Figure 4. To further improve the lighttransmission of materials, several antireflex coatings have been introducedduring the last decades to prevent lightreflection, which enables light transmis-sion to be increased by 5-6%.

Figure 5. A thermal screen adds an addi-tional barrier between the greenhouseand its surrounding and reduces both theconvection and ventilation loss. Whenmovable, it has less impact on the lighttransmission compared to fixed screensor double covering materials.


of transpiration by 30% without having a detri-mental effect on crop yields (Adams et al.,2002).

Reducing the ventilation rate to minimize theenergy loss by latent heat or even using com-pletely closed greenhouses without natural ven-tilation (Opdam et al., 2005) requires technicalsolutions to prevent high temperatures andhumidity levels. Energy efficient dehumidifica-tion systems for both moderate and semi-aridregions are based on cooling and dehumidifica-tion systems with heat pumps combined withinnovative heat exchangers and heat recovery(Buchholz et al., 2005). The application in com-mercial practice is until now limited since eco-nomic benefits in terms of crop production andenergy saving still do not meet the additionalcosts.

Energy Efficient Cooling. In almost all regionsworld wide and especially at Southern latitudes,there is a large surplus of solar energy on ayearly basis requiring efficient cooling systemsto reduce the greenhouse air temperature.Natural ventilation is the most common methodof greenhouse cooling and optimizing thegreenhouse geometry is a major technique forthe enhancement of natural ventilation anddesign of more efficient natural ventilation sys-tems (Baeza, 2007). Up to 30º of slope the ven-tilation rate significantly increases, so tradition-al horizontal roof greenhouses are beingreplaced with symmetrical or asymmetricalgreenhouses.

Shading is a widespread way of passive coolingand mobile shading systems mounted inside oroutside are interesting cooling systems toimprove energy efficiency (Lorenzo et al.,2006). Specific materials that absorb or reflectdifferent wavelengths or contain interference orphoto or thermochromic pigments can be usedto bring down the heat load but mostly thesematerials also reduce the PAR level. Materialsreflecting part of the sun’s energy not necessaryfor plant growth (the near-infrared radiation,NIR) show promising results (Hemming et al.,2006) and may be applied either as greenhousecover or as screen material.

Comparison of different active cooling and

mechanical ventilation systems for various con-ditions reveals that at current price levels, returnon investment is poor except for the direct andindirect evaporative cooling (Fig. 6). Directevaporative cooling by misting and pad and fancooling give the best economic results andincrease the energy efficiency primarily throughthe impact on production (Hamer et al., 2006).

Energy Efficient Operational Control. Efficientgreenhouse environmental control has largepotential to improve the energy efficient green-house production and the continuously increas-ing knowledge on physiological processes andcrop growth – environment interactions gradu-ally opens new possibilities. One way of sub-stantially reducing energy use is to use temper-ature integration (TI), the phenomenon that(within limits) many crops respond to tempera-ture integral, rather than diurnal variation. Thefirst reported use of TI was to improve energysavings by manipulating set-points based onwind speed and goes back over 20 years (Bailey,1985), predicting savings of 5-10%.

A more commonly exploited TI strategy is to usehigher than normal vent temperatures to maxi-mize the heating due to solar gain and to com-pensate by running lower temperatures at nightor on dull days. Energy savings will depend onthe crop and the temperature fluctuations thatare allowed, but annual savings of up to 16%are possible (Langton and Hamer, 2003). Inmore closed greenhouses, this method is usedto reduce the cooling power during daytime.Combined with normal ventilation during thenight time (when CO2 is not needed), thisreduces the required capacity and total amountof cold water, making the system more eco-nomically feasible.

Humidity control strategies also have a largeimpact on the savings that can be made as aresult of temperature integration. Reduced ven-tilation and heating result in increased relativehumidity when the temperature drops, andaggressive humidity control can negate the sav-ings that can be made as a result of TI. HigherRH set-points and dynamic humidity control cansignificantly reduce energy use (Körner, 2003).

To gain maximum profit of environmental con-

trol in the field of energy efficiency, the controlshould no longer aim at environmental factorsor actuators like heating, ventilation, and CO2supply, but on energy efficient crop productionand quality control. This requires (model based)control systems in which the impact of controlactions on both crop production and energyconsumption is taken into account. Thisapproach has been followed for decades sincein the early 1980s. Challa and van de Vooren(1980) first described an optimization routinebetween energy consumption and earliness ofcucumber crop production. Next steps were theuse of relatively simple models on crop photo-synthesis and transpiration, followed by moresophisticated physical models and photosynthe-sis models. A first example of application wasthe operational control of thermal screens inwhich energetic effects are balanced againstthe production. Dieleman and Kempkes (2006)showed that with tomato, and additionalenergy saving of up to 4% can be obtainedwithout production effects, when delaying thescreen opening to radiation levels above50-150 W m-2.

However, existing models so far are seldomused in on-line control of greenhouses becausethis requires a completely different approach bythe end-user compared to current practice andalso because most existing models are not suit-able for on-line control. Although the introduc-tion of innovative environmental control tech-nologies will add to energy efficiency, largeimprovements compared to the current situa-tion can be made by simply improving the hard-ware design like heating and ventilation sys-tems, improving both accuracy and frequencycontrol of the sensor network, and more regu-larly checking of the set-points.

Replacement of Fossil Fuel by OtherSustainable Sources

As CO2 emission is directly related to the use offossil fuels for heating and cooling greenhous-es, alternatives such as solar and geothermalenergy, biomass and waste heat significantlycan contribute to the reduced CO2 emission tar-gets. In The Netherlands about 1 billion m3 nat-ural gas is saved by the greenhouse industryusing waste heat and CO2 supply fromCombined Heat and Power generators (CHP),and selling the generated “green” electricity tothe national grid (Fig. 7). Although not directlysaving energy at the greenhouse level, CHPreduces CO2 emission at national level by reduc-ing CO2 emission of the central power plants.However, in other countries the situation canvary as the economics of CHP currently may notbe appropriate. Biomass and anaerobic diges-tion are good alternatives for fossil fuel but theavailability and massive quantities needed formmajor drawbacks for large scale application.Thus, a 1 MW biomass source requires about2500 tonnes of dry mass per year. Dependingon the geology in different areas geothermalenergy (with water temperatures > 60ºC) canbe a promising alternative. Large areas in the

Figure 6. Direct evaporative cooling by misting and pad and fan cooling give the best eco-nomic results and increase the energy efficiency primarily through the impact on production.

ISHS • 22

world (e.g. Turkey, Germany) have geothermalpotential that can be economically feasible forgreenhouse heating. In 2007 the first geother-mally heated greenhouse in The Netherlandswas realized with a 7.25 ha tomato greenhousebeing heated by a 5 MW geothermal sourcewith water of 65°C from a depth of 1700 m. Atthis moment about 25 new projects are in thestage of feasibility study or first drilling (Fig. 8).

New Designs of Energy EfficientGreenhouses

Although development and implementation ofindividual energy saving components can resultin energy savings, the only way to reach theambitious targets on CO2 emission, and stepsto energy producing greenhouses, is by inte-grating energy conservative greenhouse sys-tems including covering material, heating andventilation/dehumidification, control algorithmsand energy conversion systems. A theoreticalsolar greenhouse concept as developed by Botet al. (2005) is a good example of an integral

Figure 10. Several improved designs ofheat producing greenhouses are nowbeing tested in the so-called Innovationand Demonstration Centre for EnergyProducing Greenhouses in Bleiswijk onthe location of Wageningen URGreenhouse Horticulture.

Figure 9. In the so called “EnergyProducing Greenhouse” the perform-ance of the greenhouse as a solar collec-tor has to be maximized by furtherreduction of the heat loss and maximiz-ing the heat collection by very efficientheat exchangers.

Figure 8. Geothermal energy as sustain-able source is available in large regionsof the world.

Figure 7. In the Netherlands about 1 bil-lion m3 natural gas is saved by thegreenhouse industry using waste heatand CO2 supply from Combined Heatand Power generators (CHP).

energy efficient design where all components,including the energy conversion technologiesand optimal control are incorporated. Theobjective of the solar greenhouse project wasthe development of a greenhouse system forhigh value crop production without the use offossil fuels. The concept is a system that duringthe summer collects as much heat as possible tobalance the minimized energy requirement dur-ing the winter. Such a system could be, com-bined with control algorithms for a dynamiccontrol, resulting in a total realizable energysaving of over 60%. This enables a sustainableenergy supply per ha greenhouse of only 600kW that could be obtained through windpower or Photo Voltaic Panels.

With completely and semi-closed greenhouses(Opdam et al., 2005) the next step in the designis to extract the total heat surplus during thesummer and store the heat in the form of warmwater at a temperature of 25-30ºC in a longterm heat storage (aquifer): an isolated watercontaining sand layer usually at a depth ofbetween 100-200 m. During the winter period,the heat is extracted from the aquifer using aheat pump and reused for heating the green-house itself and/or neighboring greenhouses orbuildings, the so called “Energy ProducingGreenhouse.” To achieve this, the performanceof the greenhouse as a solar collector has to bemaximized by further reduction of the heat lossand maximizing the heat collection by very effi-cient heat exchangers. The first trials in a com-mercial scale greenhouse with this system(Bakker et al., 2006), called “The EnergyProducing Greenhouse” in Bergerden, TheNetherlands, showed that a net energy surplusfrom the greenhouse was not reached since theoutput was limited by the grower’s temperatureband widths and his frequent use of shadingscreens to minimize expected detrimentaleffects on his crop. A disadvantage of the heatproducing systems is the low level of energydelivered by the system (water at 40°C), whichrequires modified heating systems and whichhas to be used in the direct neighborhood ofthe greenhouse. However, the heat deliveryfrom greenhouses to the urban environment(greenhouse in energy grids) is a real option inthe highly populated Westland area in TheNetherlands. At least one commercial project isin a far stage of development and severalimproved designs of heat producing green-houses are now being tested in the so calledInnovation and Demonstration Centre forEnergy Producing Greenhouses in Bleiswijk onthe location of Wageningen UR GreenhouseHorticulture (Fig. 10).

In an attempt to combine greenhouse produc-tion with electricity production instead of warmwater production, Sonneveld et al. (2006)designed a system with a parabolic near-infrared (NIR) reflecting greenhouse cover. Thiscover reflects and focuses the NIR radiation ona specific PV cell or solar collector to generateelectricity (Fig. 11). The first results measuredon an actual 100 m2 prototype show that the

potential electric and thermal power generatedby this system might be up to 15 kWh/m2 elec-tric and about 50 kWh/m2 thermal energy.However, at the present time, due to the cur-rent price level of energy, the limited increase incrop production, and the complex and costlyinstallations required, most systems and con-cepts of completely closed greenhouses are noteconomically competitive and could only berealized with specific support from local andnational governments.

For semi-arid regions in the world, some inter-esting designs have been realized for innovativeand energy efficient greenhouses that incorpo-rate high levels of technology and that intendto adapt the concept of closed or semi-closedgreenhouse. In the Watergy project, a com-pletely closed greenhouse was developed aim-ing at complete recirculation of water based onan innovative heat exchanger (Buchholz et al.,2005). The actual prototype showed promisingresults, but the economic feasibility of completeclosed greenhouses still is the major bottleneckas in northern latitudes.


Figure 11. A prototype of the electricityproducing greenhouse using reflectedNIR for electricity production.

The prevailing approach for developing energyefficient greenhouse systems for large areas inthe world where heating may be convenientbut is not essentially needed is still based on thedevelopment of passive greenhouses. Since inthis situation, the energy input for climate con-ditioning is very limited, reduction of otherprocesses responsible for CO2 emission in theoperation of passive greenhouses are taken intoaccount. Life Cycle Analysis can be applied tothe whole production process to identify whichparts are more energy consuming. For unheat-ed greenhouses, the greenhouse structure(foundations and perimeter walls) and auxiliaryequipments (irrigation pipes, plastics formulching, crop supporting members) accountfor 51% of the total gas emissions (Antón,2004). New designs focus on the redesign ofthe foundation system and the use of recyclableconcrete to reduce energy use. Since fertilizerproduction and use is another factor withstrong influences on energy consumption oftomato production (about 36% of emissions)overall energy efficiency of the more passivegreenhouses can be achieved by reduction infertilization.

CONCLUSION

The design of more energy efficient greenhous-es includes optimization of the greenhouse as asolar collector, improved production by a bettercontrol of the growth environment, andexpanding the growth season. For moderate cli-mates, promising routes are more airtightgreenhouses with cooling, heat recovery andoptimized environmental control. For more

semi-arid conditions, the primary steps are effi-cient natural ventilation, cooling, and reducingthe solar energy flux into the greenhouse dur-ing the summer. For passive greenhouses, thatuse no fossil fuel for operational use at all,steps can be made by reducing the energyinputs for the greenhouse structure, irrigation,auxiliary equipments and inputs such as fertiliz-

Dr. Sjaak Bakker has expertise in designing and developing ener-gy conservative greenhouses and greenhouse environment -crop response interactions. At present he is Manager of thenewly formed Business Unit Wageningen UR GreenhouseHorticulture. Within this new unit, the Greenhouse TechnologyGroup, the former PPO Greenhouse Horticulture and the crop-ping systems department of Plant Research International arebrought together with research facilities in both Wageningenand Bleiswijk. His address is Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw,Violierenweg 1, 2665 MV Bleiswijk, Post Box 20, 2665 ZGBleiswijk, The Netherlands. Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sjaak Bakker

REFERENCES

Adams, S.R., Woodward, G.C. and Valdes, V.M. 2002.The effects of leaf removal and of modifying tempe-rature set-points with solar radiation on tomato. J.Hort.Sci. Biotech. 77:733-738.

Antón, A. 2004. Utilización del análisis del ciclo de vidaen la evaluación del impacto ambiental del cultivobajo invernadero mediterráneo. Thesis Doctoral,Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Spain.

Baeza, E.J. 2007. Optimización del diseño de los siste-mas de ventilación en invernadero tipo parral. TesisDoctoral, Universidad de Almería, Spain.

Bailey, B.J. 1985. Wind dependent control of green-house temperature. Acta Hort. 174:381-386.

Bakker, J.C., de Zwart, H.F. and Campen, J.B. 2006.Greenhouse cooling and heat recovery using finewire heat exchangers in a closed pot plant green-house: design of an energy producing greenhouse.Acta Hort. 719:263-270.

Bakker, J.C., Adams, S.R., Boulard, T. and Montero, J.I.2008. Innovative technologies for an efficient use ofenergy. Acta Hort. 801:49-62.

Bot, G.P.A., van de Braak, N.J., Challa, H., Hemming,S., Rieswijk, Th., van Straten, G. and Verlodt, I. 2005.The solar greenhouse: State of the art in energysaving and sustainable energy supply. Acta Hort.691:501-508.

Boulard, T. 2001. Solar energy for horticulture inFrance: Hopes and reality. Workshop on RenewableEnergy in Agriculture, November 19th, 2001:Castello Utveggio – Palermo, EUROPEAN COMMIS-SION, Energy and Transport, Energy Framework pro-gramme 1998-2002.

Buchholz, M., Jochum, P. and Zaragoza, G. 2005.Concept for water, heat and food supply from aclosed greenhouse. The Watergy project. Acta Hort.691:509-516.

Campen, J.B. and Bot, G.P.A. 2002. Dehumidificationin greenhouses by condensation on finned pipes.Biosyst. Eng. 82(2):177-185.

Challa, H. and van de Vooren, J. 1980. A strategy forclimate control in greenhouses in early winter pro-duction. Acta Hort. 106:159-164.

De Pascale, S. and Maggio, A. 2004. Sustainable pro-tected cultivation at Mediterranean climate.Perspectives and challenges. Acta Hort. 691:29-42.

Dieleman, A. and Kempkes, F. 2006. Energy screens intomato: Determining the optimal opening strategy.Acta Hort. 718:599-606.

Hamer, P.J.C., Bailey, B.J., Ford, M.G. and Virk, G.S.2006. Novel methods of heating and cooling green-houses: A feasibility study. Acta Hort. 719:223-230.

Hemming, S. 2005. EFTE: A high transmission cover-material (in German). Gärtnerbörse 105 (2005)6.

Hemming, S., Kempkes, F., Van der Braak, N., Dueck,T. and Marissen, N. 2006. Filtering natural light atthe greenhouse covering – Better greenhouse cli-mate and higher production by filtering out NIR?Acta Hort. 711:411-416.

Körner, O. 2003. Crop based climate regimes forenergy saving in greenhouse cultivation. PhDThesis, Wageningen Univ., The Netherlands.

Langton, F.A. and Hamer, P.J.C. 2003. Energy efficientproduction of high quality ornamental species. FinalReport to Defra, project HH1330.

Lorenzo, P., García, M.L., Sanchez-Guerrero, M.C.,Medrano, E., Caparrós, I. and Giménez, M. 2006.Influence of mobile shading on yield, crop transpi-ration and water use efficiency. Acta Hort. 719:471-478.

Montero, J.I. 2006. Evaporative cooling in greenhou-ses: Effects on microclimate, water use efficiencyand plant response. Acta Hort. 719:373-383.

Olofsson, T., Majabacka, A. and Engblom, S. 2006.Evaluation of energy performance for greenhousesbased on multivariate analysis methodology. ActaHort. 718:211-218.

Opdam, J.J.G., Schoonderbeek, G.G., Heller, E.B.M.and de Gelder, A. 2005. Closed greenhouse: astarting point for sustainable entrepreneurship inhorticulture. Acta Hort. 691:517-524.

Sonneveld, P.J., Swinkels, G.L.A.M., Kempkes, F.,Campen, J.B. and Bot, G.P.A. 2006. Greenhousewith integrated NIR filter and a solar cooling sys-tem. Acta Hort. 719:123-130.

ers. Apart from the reduction of energy use, theuse of various alternatives for fossil fuel such aswaste heat and geothermal sources is a neces-sity to reach the ambitious goals on energy effi-cient producing greenhouses. However, practi-cal application of all new designs depends oneconomic feasibility leading to different solu-tions in different areas of the world.

ISHS • 24

Bioreclamation of Degraded AfricanLands with Women Empowerment

THE WORLD OF HORTICULTURE

THE BDL SYSTEM

Degraded lands are scarified to break down thesurface crust. Micro-catchments (called demi-lunes in the Sahel) are built to store run-offwater (Fig. 3). The dimension of the demi-lunevaries but a 2 x 3 m structure is preferred. Treesare planted in a 40 x 80 cm ridge left in the cen-ter of the open side of the demi-lune to avoidwaterlogging. Demi-lunes are usually spaced at5 x 10 m.

The area between the demi-lunes is occupiedby planting pits commonly known as zaï holes(Fig. 5). A zaï is a 20 x 20 x 20 cm deep holedug in the laterite. About 250 g of compost ormanure is placed in the bottom of the zaï holeand covered with a 5 cm layer of soil. The tradi-tional vegetables are planted in the zaï holesthat are usually spaced at 0.5 x 1.0 m. The zaïcollects run off water. Deep placement of thecompost results in extensive growth of roots

D. Pasternak, D. Senbeto, A. Nikiema, S. Kumar, D. Fatondji, L. WolteringA. Ratnadass and J. Ndjeunga

The Sudano Sahel is a semi arid region south of the Sahara with a population greater than 60million people. Its borders are delineated by the 300-800 mm/year rain isohyets (Fig. 1). TheSahel environment is very hostile. Air temperatures are always high. During March-June theycan climb to 45ºC. The intensity of monsoonal rains can be higher than 100 mm/hr resultingin significant water runoff and soil erosion. The prevalent acid sandy soil is very poor in nutri-ents and it has very low organic carbon content (Schlecht et al., 2006).

The soil is undergoing a continuous process of erosion, mostly by wind but also by water(Manu et al., 1998). Between 80-90% of the population lives from rain-fed agriculture, pro-ducing in the rainy season (June-September) a limited number of staple crops (millet,sorghum, groundnuts, and cowpeas). Droughts result in crop failure in two out of five years.Population growth rate is around 3% resulting in diminishing area of cultivated land perhousehold. There is a need to identify innovative alternatives for increasing agricultural pro-ductivity and income generation in such a harsh environment.

More than 50% of the Sahelian soil is degraded (Lal, 1988). Most of these degraded landsare crusted lateritic soils (Fig. 2). Both the cation exchange capacity and the water holdingcapacity of the degraded laterites are significantly higher than those of the predominantlysandy soils.

Women in Africa, particularly in the Sudano Sahel, are a marginalized sector of the society.There they have no or only little inheritance rights for goods, they are not allowed to ownland, they have no voting rights in community matters and have a higher percentage of illit-eracy than men (Mulenkey, 2002). Yet women are bearing the burden to feed their familiesand to help their husbands in farm operations in addition to their daily chores.

The lack of nutritional balance in the daily diets of rural Africa is becoming a matter of con-cern to the international community (World Bank, 1997). In dry West Africa between 13-15%of children are suffering from acute nutritional deficiency (USAID, 2006).

The Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) system developed by ICRISAT provides solutionsto these constraints. The BDL is an integrated system aiming at increasing food productionand income of women through the utilization of degraded lands for production of rain-fedfruit trees and vegetables.

(Fig. 6) and hence in good exploitation of waterand nutrients. In addition trenches (Fig. 4) aredug every 20 m down the slope to further har-vest run off water.

Women Empowerment

In the Sahel women are denied the right to owncroplands. Degraded lands however are inmany cases community lands under the jurisdic-tion of the village Chief. And in many instancesthe village Chief can allot degraded lands towomen. A women’s association is created(Fig. 7). Its leadership is democratically elected.The association is registered as a legal entityand with the help of NGOs or CBOs they nego-tiate the ownership of a parcel of degradedlands. The association leases each of its mem-bers a plot of land in the BDL ranging from 100-300 m2 in size. In a 200 m2 plot there are twoPomme du Sahel trees and two Moringastenopetala trees intercropped with traditionalvegetables.

Reclamation of Degraded Lands

The very high rate of population growth(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/) is putting a big pressure onthe available cropland of the Sahel. For example

Figure 1. Rainfall map of West andCentral Africa. The Sudano Sahel region iscolored yellow white and light blue.


it is estimated that the average size of fields inNiger will be 0.3 ha/person in the year 2050.More than 50% of available land is degraded.The addition of cultivated land through recla-mation of these degraded lands should go along way towards solving future problems ofland scarcity and food insecurity.

Coping with Climate Change

One of the predicted features of climate changein the Sahel is long dry-spells between rains. Inthe lateritic soils the smallest rainstorm resultsin water run-off that is collected in the demi-lunes to be stored in the soil. Following a rain-storm the deep-rooted trees planted in thedemi-lunes use this stored water for a long peri-od of time until the event of the following rain-storm while at the same time the shallow root-ed traditional annual crops planted in the sandysoils wilt away.

In general, trees – a major component of theBDL – are much more resilient to droughts thanannuals. Trees can cope better with dry spellsthan annual crops.

ICRISAT established in 2006 a BDL experimentalfield where all above-mentioned water- harvest-ing technologies and crops are being tried andtheir performance is being recorded. Soil mois-ture and nutrients balance is being calculated.The trees are still young and only now are start-ing to bear fruit. However yield data for the tra-ditional vegetables is available. Senna obtusifo-

lia can produce a yield of 1,500 kg fresh leavesper hectare. The calyx yield of Roselle is 450kg/ha and the fresh yield of okra fruit is 1,000kg/ha. The estimated annual value of tree andvegetable products can amount to USD1,200/ha.

CROPS FOR BDL

Tree Species

The two tree crops selected so far are thedomesticated Ziziphus mauritiana and Moringastenopetala. Ziziphus mauritiana is a small treenative to the Sahel but with a wide range ofdistribution all the way to Thailand. Indiadomesticated this tree. The domesticated vari-eties bear fruit ten times bigger than that of thewild species. The fruit resembles a small applein shape that prompted us to call it the Apple ofthe Sahel (Pomme du Sahel in French) (Fig. 8).

The trees are highly adapted to the Sahelianconditions and can be found in regions of 300mm/y rainfall. It is tolerant to drought, salinityand waterlogging. It sends deep roots that canexploit soil water from great depths. The treeremains green until January, four months afterthe end of rains. It then sheds its leaves andgoes dormant until the rains start again in June.A mature rain-fed tree can give a yield of up to20 kg of fruit (Nikiema et al., 2008). Table 1shows some of the nutrient composition ofPomme du Sahel.

Constituent Food value/100 g edible portion

Moisture 81.6-83.0 g

Protein 0.8 g

Fat 0.07 g

Fiber 0.60 g

Calcium 25.6 mg

Phosphorus 26.8 mg

Iron 0.76-1.8 mg

ß-carotene 0.021 mg

Thiamine 0.02-0.02 mg

Riboflavin 0.02-0.04 mg

Niacin 0.7-0.88 mg

Citric Acid 0.2-1.1 mg

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) 65.8-76.0 mg

Figure 7. Village women’s association - aprerequisite for sustainability and dura-bility of the BDL.

Figure 6. Specific root length of water-melons grown on Sahelian sandy soils.Same amounts of manure and fertilizerswere applied in both treatments. In the“flat” treatment the amendments werespread over the surface and dug lightlyinto the soil. In the zaï treatment theamendments were incorporated at 20 cmdepth. Horizontal bars indicate ±SE.Adapted from Fatondji et al., 2008.

Figure 4. Tied trenches dug every 20meters harvesting rainwater to be usedby annuals.

Figure 3. Water filled demi-lune plantedwith Tamarindus indica. Harvested wateris stored in the soil for long periods andutilized by deep penetrating tree roots.

Figure 2. Degraded laterite. Surface crustprevents water infiltration resulting in adenuded landscape.

Table 1. Nutritional composition of freshPomme du Sahel fruit (from Morton,1987).

Figure 5. 20 x 20 x 20 cm deep zaï holesare filled with organic matter and plant-ed with high value traditional vegeta-bles.

0 100 200 300 400 500Specific root length (m m-3)

FlatZaï

Dep

th (m

)

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

ISHS • 26

Pomme du Sahel has ten times the concentra-tion of Vitamin C as compared with apple. It isrich in iron, calcium and phosphorus and inessential amino acids.

Moringa stenopetala originates in Ethiopia andKenya. It is a large tree yielding large quantitiesof leaves that are consumed as a vegetable(Fig. 9). Its relative, Moringa oleifera (moringaor horseradish tree) from India is well known inSahelian countries. In Niger it is the most popu-lar vegetable (Saint Sauveur and Hartout,2001). Moringa is one of the most nutritiousvegetables known and the green leaves andimmature pods and seeds are consumed. It hasseven times the Vitamin C in oranges, fourtimes the Vitamin A in carrots, four times thecalcium in milk, double the protein in milk andthree times the potassium in bananas (NationalResearch Council, 2006). Moringa leaves alsohave very high concentration of anti-oxidants(Yang et al., 2006).

The nutritional composition of Moringastenopetala is similar to that of M. oleifera(Table 2).

In a taste test conducted by ICRISAT (unpub-lished) there was little difference in preferencesbetween M. oleifera and M. stenopetala. In theSahel, M. oleifera requires supplementary irri-gation but M. stenopetala can grow in demi-lunes without supplementary irrigation.

The following additional tree species are underinvestigation:

Tamarindus indica (sweet tamarind). Thetamarind is native to dry Africa and South andSoutheast Asia. The fruit (pod) is usually sour.However in some Asian countries sweet vari-eties of tamarind were selected. We receivedfour varieties of sweet tamarind from USDA-Florida and are testing these in the BDL.

Sclerocarya birrea subspecies Caffra. Sclero-carya (marula), a very drought tolerant treenative to Africa’s drylands, can grow in regionsof 300 mm annual rainfall. The subspecies“Caffra” that grows in southern Africa is a veryrobust tree. The fruit of Sclerocarya are used forjuice, wine and liquor production. The kernelsare used as tasty nuts. The oil extracted fromthe kernels is used in cosmetics. Ben GurionUniversity scientists together with a local NGOselected in Botswana three lines of high yield-ing trees with large fruit. These were success-fully grafted in Niger on the local Sclerocaryabirrea and are growing well in the degradedland (Fig. 10).

Constituent M. oleifera M. stenopetala

Calcium (mg) 638 711

Iron (mg) 9.2 5.4

Tocopherol (mg) 25 18

Ascorbate (mg) 249 400

ß-carotene (mg) 15 13

Protein (g) 5.7 5.8

DM (%) 24 24

Table 2. Nutrient contents in leaves oftwo Moringa species in 100 g freshweight (from Yang et al., 2006).

Figure 8. Three year old Pomme du Sahelplanted in a demi-lune. Average fruityield is about 10 kg/plant. Top left-fruitof the variety ‘Kaithely’ is very tasty andhighly nutritious.

Figure 9. Ten month old Moringastenopetala in BDL. High yields of nutri-tious leaves provide high income tofarmers.

Figure 11. BDL components: Front Sennaobtusifolia followed by Okra and Roselle.Two year old Acacia tumida in the back.

Figure 10. One year old Sclerocarya birrea sub. “Caffra” in the BDL.

Acacia senegal. This Sahelian tree produces thewell-known gum Arabic. ICRISAT selected highyielding A. senegal trees from a Sudaneseprovenance (giving about 1 kg gum per tree)and grafted these on local A. senegal.

Boswelia papyrifera. This is the Frankincensetree from dry Ethiopia.

Acacia tumida. A fast growing Australianspecies producing a high biomass on marginallands of the Sahel. Used mostly for wood but itsseeds can be used as chicken feed.

Lawsonia inermis - the henna shrub. Sahelianwomen use leaves of henna for cosmetics. Adrought tolerant line was introduced from Indiaand is used as live fences since it is not palatableto ruminants.

Vegetables

Two traditional leafy vegetables are planted inBDL systems: Senna obtusifolia and Roselle(Hibiscus sabdariffa). In a recent survey of leafyvegetables in Niger, Senna obtusifolia came sec-ond (after moringa) and Roselle came fourth inpreferences by the rural population (Abasse etal., 2007). Some of the nutritional componentsof leaves of these two species are given inTable 3.

Okra (Albemoschus esculentus) is a very impor-tant component of the diet of Africans. In the


REFERENCES

Abasse, T.A., Gouzayé, A., Woltering, L. andPasternak, D. 2007. The role of indigenous leafyvegetables on daily diet and rural and urban eco-nomy in Niger. Acta Hort. 752:35-40.

Diouf, M., Diop, M., Lo, C., Drame, A.K., Sene, M.,Ba, C.O., Gueye, M. and Faye, B. 1999. Senegal.p.111-154. In: J.A. Chweya and P.B. Eyzaguirre(eds.), The Biodiversity of Traditional LeafyVegetables, IPGRI, Rome.

Fatondji, D., Pasternak, D. and Woltering, L. 2008.Watermelon production on stored rainwater inSahelian sandy soils. African J. Plant Sci. 2(12):151-160.

Lal, R. 1988. Soil degradation and the future of agri-culture in sub-Saharan Africa. J. Soil and WaterConservation 43:445-451.

Manu, A., Coleman, T.L. and Juo, A.S.R. 1998. Soilrestoration in degraded agro-pastoral systems ofsemi-arid West Africa. p.173-184. In: G. Renard, A.Neef, K. Becker and M. von Oppen (eds.), SoilFertility Management in West African Land UseSystems, Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim.

Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates. Julia F.Morton, Miami, FL, USA. p.272-275.

Mulenkey, L. 2002. Indigenous Women Rights inAfrica. In: Indigenous Peoples of AfricaCoordinating Committee (IPACC) South Africa.

National Research Council. 2006. Lost Crops ofAfrica. Volume II. Vegetables. The National

Dov Pasternak Debesaye Senbeto

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairsand USAID for their support with the BDLresearch.

Academies Press, Washington D.C.Nikiema, A., Pasternak, D., Fatondji, D., Senbeto, D.,

Ndjeunga, J., Woltering, L. and Abdoussalam, S.2008. Fruit trees for the Sudano-Sahel region ofWest Africa. Chronica Hort. 48(3):24-29.

Saint Sauveur, A. and Hartout, G. 2001. Moringa cul-ture and economy in Niger. p.29-44. In: L.G. Fuglie(ed.), The Miracle Tree, ACT, Wageningen, TheNetherlands.

Schlecht, E., Bationo, A., Kihara, J. and Waswa, B.S.2006. A critical analysis of challenges and opportu-nities for soil fertility restoration in Sudano-SahelianWest Africa. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems76(2-3):109-136.

USAID. 2006. Sahelian West Africa-Malnutrition.Situation Report # 1, Fiscal Year 2006.

World Bank. 1997. Nutritional Status and Poverty inSub-Saharan Africa. Status Report on Poverty inSub-Saharan Africa, 1997, Tracking the Incidenceand Characteristics of Poverty, Draft SPA study,World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA.

Yang, R.-Y., Tsou, S.C.S., Lee, T.-C., Chang, L.-C.,Kuo, G. and Lai, P.-Y. 2006. Moringa, A novel plantrich in antioxidants, bioavailable iron, andnutrients. p.224-239. In: M. Wang (ed.), Herbs:Challenges in Chemistry and Biology of Herbs,American Chemical Society, USA.

Prof. Dov Pasternak, Horticulturist and IrrigationSpecialist, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger, email:[email protected]

Dr. Debesaye Senbeto, Environment Rehabili-tation, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger, email:[email protected]

Dr. Albert Nikiema, Horticulturist, Agroforestry andNursery Management, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger,email: [email protected]

Dr. Sanjeet Kumar, Vegetable Breeder, AVRDC-ICRISAT Project, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger, email:[email protected]

Albert Nikiema Sanjeet Kumar

Dougbedji Fatondji Lennart Woltering Alain Ratnadass Jupiter Ndjeunga

Dr. Dougbedji Fatondji, Soil Scientist, ICRISAT,Niamey, Niger, email: [email protected]

Mr. Lennart Woltering, Water ManagementSpecialist, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger,email: [email protected]

Dr. Alain Ratnadass, Entomologist (CIRAD),Agroecological Management of Crop Pests, ICRI-SAT, Niamey, Niger, email: [email protected]

Dr. Jupiter Ndjeunga, Principal Scientist onEconomics, head of Socio-economics Unit, ICRI-SAT, Niamey, Niger, email: [email protected]

Constituent Senna Hibiscusobtusifolia sabdariffa

Crude protein 26.2 21.2

Lignin 13.7 5.3

P 0.3 0.4

Ca 2.9 0.8

K 1.3 1

Mg 0.3 0.3

Fe 0.2 0.2

Vit. A (mg/100 g) 3.7 1.9

Vit. C (mg/100 g) 120 50

Table 3. Nutritional value of two indige-nous leafy vegetables used in the BDL(from Diouf et al., 1999).a

a Vitamin A and Vitamin C are expressed on fresh weightbasis. The rest on dry weight basis.

Figure 12. Okra in women’s plot. Thevariety Konni was selected for earliness,yield and quality, yielding around 1ton/ha fruit.

The BDL is an innovative production sys-tem of horticultural crops that providessolutions to a range of critical constraintsaffecting the livelihood of the rural popu-lation of the Sudano Sahel. Because of itssimplicity and its many positive attributesthe potential for its mass-adoption is veryhigh.

Sahel it is mostly produced by women. The fruitcan be dried and stored for long periods oftime. The three most common annual vegeta-bles for the BDL are shown in Figure 11.ICRISAT/AVRDC have identified a short durationcultivar from the Birni N’Konni area that is mostsuitable for production in the zaï holes of theBDL (Fig. 12). Unlike the case with cereals andlegumes okra seeds are balanced in both tryp-tophane and in sulfur-containing amino acids.

ISHS • 28

New Books, Websites

Grapes. Glen L. Creasy and Leroy L. Creasy.2009. Crop Production Science in Horti-culture 16. CABI, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,UK. 304p. ISBN 978 1 84593 401 9. £ 35.00 /$ 70.00 / € 55.00. www.cabi.org

This is a very timely publication given the verystrong interest in grape production around theworld at this time. The synopsis provided byCABI states: “Covering a broad range of topicsfrom vineyard establishment and managementto postharvest handling and improvements inpest control, his book, with its coverage of boththeory and practice, targets advanced plantscience students and those who are producinggrapes for the first time, as well as enthusiastsof the vine and its products.” The book certain-ly lives up to this promise. It covers all aspects ofthe production of wine grapes, table grapesand dried grapes and other sections deal withgrape juice production.

“Grapes” is indeed comprehensive with 10chapters covering all of the topics that wouldbe expected in a specialised horticultural text. Itis indeed suitable to advanced plant science stu-dents and the text is very well presented as faras the use of technical and scientific terms isconcerned. The authors are to be commendedfor achieving a very uniform level of treatmentfor each of the topics that is covered within the240 pages of content.

The book is very well supported with excellentillustrations of a consistent style and standardand a large number of both black and whiteand colour photographs. All photographs andillustrations are clear and are well selected to

The books listed here are non-ISHS-publi-cations. For ISHS publications coveringthese or other subjects, visit the ISHS web-site www.ishs.org or the ActaHorticulturae website www.actahort.org

BOOK REVIEWS

Hwa Gye und Da Guan Yuan – Beiträge zurkoreanischen und chinesischen Garten-kultur. (Flower Terrace and Park of theEyes’ Pleasure – Contributions to Koreanand Chinese Garden Culture.) Gert Gröningand Stefanie Hennecke (eds.). 2009.Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany.105p. 100 images. ISBN 978-3-89462-172-8.€ 14.

The book “Hwa Gye und Da Guan Yuan –Beiträge zur koreanischen und chinesischenGartenkultur“, has been published at the BerlinUniversity of Arts in spring 2009. It encompass-es nine essays about the art of gardening inSouth-East- and East-China as well as Korea,written by Korean and Chinese students of theUniversity. The intention of the editors, GertGröning and Stefanie Hennecke, was to at leastfragmentarily fill the research gaps of Koreanand Chinese garden culture and open spacedevelopment with the students’ work and espe-cially “(…) to set Korean garden culture, whichis up to the present hardly visible, in contextwith Asian and, ultimately, world-wide develop-ment of garden culture.” The articles were col-lected to represent “(…) the potential that is yetto be discovered and revealed and to motivatefurther, deepening studies at the same time.”

The terms “Hwa Gye” and “Da Guan Yuan” inthe book’s title stand exemplarily for the textsand images of the landscapes analyzed in the

volume. “Da Guan Yuan” is the fictional gardenof a Chinese story written in the 18th centuryabout the dream of the Red Chamber, which ison an everyday basis part of Chinese culturenow for generations and which can be regard-ed to be basic for Chinese garden culture,because “(…) if one perceives the details of thedescription of the Da Guan garden in the dreamof the Red Chamber, one is able to understandthe actual Chinese gardens a lot better.” Thatbecomes obvious for example at one elementof this garden, a pavilion at the edge of a pondthat is planted with Lotus: Who is aware of thelines of a certain poem, understands “(…) whythe owner likes very much to sit here alone witha cup of tea in the rain, at a pond full of theLotus’ decayed leaves, which should have beenremoved long ago.”

The “Hwa Gye” is a garden in which theKorean approach in garden culture with its“use of topographic features” becomes appar-ent. This “flower terrace”, which is part of thegarden “Hiwon” that the founder of theSamsung company ordered to be built in theearly 21st century, is situated behind a dwellingat a hillside on terrace-like molded steps and is“(…) cultivated with shrubs, bushes, hereAzalea, and small trees and in addition occu-pied by three extraordinarily formed stones.”The symbolism, which is integrated in a Koreangarden, is for example present in the consciousinstallation of these stones: They stand for “(…)the legendary and magical mountains” of theTaoist belief and “(…) conveyed once the hopeof an everlasting life and winged the fantasy.”

The book is through the transliteration of spe-cific terms into German and their presentationin Korean and Chinese characters, through thecompilation of translated technical terms andthe explanation of cultural, every-day customsin context with the use of open spaces, worthreading also as a tour guide for the ones inter-ested in the art of gardening – even though thebinding makes it not that much suitable toactually travel along.

In general the book is, as the editors explain,only by “(...) overcoming the great languagebarriers (...) a great contribution“ to theresearch of the Chinese and Korean art of gar-dening. The editors subsume that “the hereonly rudimental discussion of what can be seenon the images and what is described in thetexts, about the meaning of characters and theeveryday usages of different open spaces,reveals what kind of possibilities open up, whenintercultural understanding is aimed at thatstrives for detail as well as for an overall viewand that is sustained by mutual interest.”

Reviewed by Carolin Mees, Institute of Theory andHistory of Design, Berlin University of the Arts,

Germany

demonstrate the point under discussion. Thebibliography is very extensive – there arearound 700 references cited that cover a widerange of scientific publications from all areas ofthe world. The book also has a very completeindex that is easy to follow.

This book is essential reading for anyone inter-ested in any aspect of grape production. It willbe particularly useful for those who are want-ing to learn about this crop for the first timeand for those who might wish to secure newknowledge about a specific aspect of thisimportant crop species, its management andthe products that it produces.

Reviewed by Ian Warrington, Massey University,Palmerston North, New Zealand


NEW TITLES

Barnett, O.W. 2009. Virus Diseases of Plants. 2-CD Set (Image Database Collection CD andGrapevine, Potato, and Wheat ImageCollection and Teaching Resource CD). APSPress, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. $259.00.www.shopapspress.org

Gergek, Franc. 2009. Low MaintenanceHouseplant Decoration - Without spills, withoutover watering, and in half the time!Selfpublished. 112p. ISBN 978-0-9811985-0-7.www.gergek.com

Gleason, Mark L., Daughtrey, Margery L.,Chase, Ann R., Moorman, Gary W. and Mueller,Daren S. 2009. Diseases of HerbaceousPerennials. APS Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.300p. ISBN 978-0-89054-374-0 (hardcover).$79.00. www.shopapspress.org

Gryzenhout, Marieka, Wingfield, Brenda D. andWingfield, Michael J. 2009. Taxonomy,Phylogeny, and Ecology of Bark-Inhabiting and

Increasing Fruit Consumption to ImproveHealth - ISAFRUIT Forum. Sharon Hall (ed.).2008. Scripta Horticulturae 8. InternationalSociety for Horticultural Science. 104p.ISBN 978-90-6605-651-0. € 30. Availablefrom the ISHS Secretariat.

For more information seehttp://www.ishs.org/pub/scripta.htm or p.30 inthis Chronica issue.

Tree-Pathogenic Fungi in the Cryphonec-triaceae. APS Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.136p. ISBN 978-0-89054-367-2 (softcover).$119.00. www.shopapspress.org

Harveson, Robert M., Hanson, Linda E. andHein, Gary L. (eds.). 2009. Compendium ofBeet Diseases and Pests. Second Edition. APSPress, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. 160p. ISBN978-0 89054-365-8 (softcover). $65.00.www.shopapspress.org

Mahaffee, Walter, Pethybridge, Sarah andGent, David H. 2009. Compendium of HopDiseases and Pests. APS Press, St. Paul,Minnesota, USA. 112p. ISBN 978-0-89054-376-4 (softcover). $65.00. www.shopaps-press.org

Prasad, B.V.S. and Kapoor, Srikant (eds.). 2008.Commercial Floriculture – Global and IndianDynamics. The Icfai University Press, Hyderabad,India. 274p. ISBN 978-81-314-1616-7. $19.www.books.iupindia.org

Courses and MeetingsThe following are non-ISHS events. Make sure to check out theCalendar of ISHS Events for an extensive listing of all ISHS meet-ings. For updated information log on to www.ishs.org/calendar

Postgraduate school “Microbial horticulture”, Info: Beatrix WaechterAlsanius, Microbial Horticulture Laboratory, Dept. of Horticulture, SLU,P.O. Box 103, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden, Phone: +46-40-415336, email:[email protected], web: www.phd-microhort.se

3rd Congress of European Microbiologists (FEMS 2009) - “Microbes andMan - interdependence and future challenges”, 28 June – 2 July 2009,Gothenburg, Sweden. Info: Congress Secretariat, 1-3, Rue deChantepoulet, P.O. Box 1726, CH-1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland, Phone:+41 22 908 0488, Fax: +41 22 906 9140, email: [email protected], web:www2.kenes.com/fems-microbiology/Pages/home.aspx

Master in Sciences and Technologies, “Agronomy and Agro-food”, HOR-TIMET specialization, Option: Mediterranean and Tropical Horticulture,September 2009, France. Info: Dr. Jean-Luc Regnard, MontpellierSupAgro - INRA, 2, place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France,Phone: +33 (0)4 99 61 25 48, email: [email protected],www.supagro.fr or Dr. Jean-Claude Mauget, Agrocampus Ouest, Centred’Angers, Institut National d’Horticulture et de Paysage, 2, rue André LeNôtre, 49045 Angers cedex 01, France, Phone: +33 (0)2 41 22 54 28,email: [email protected], web: www.agrocam-pus-ouest.fr

9th African Crop Science Society Conference, 28 September - 1 October2009, Cape Town, South Africa. Info: Dr Diana Marais, Department ofPlant Production and Soil Science, University of Pretoria, 0001, SouthAfrica, Phone: 012 420 3218, Fax: 012 420 4120, email:[email protected], web: www.acss2009.up.ac.za

Mini Symposium / Workshop on Intelligent Use of Energy in Greenhouses,6-7 October 2009, Odense, Denmark. Info: Carl-Otto Ottosen, Faculty ofAgricultural Sciences, Department of Horticulture, Kirstinebjergvej 10,DK-5792 Aarslev, Phone: +45 8999 3313, email: [email protected],web: http://energysymposium.agrproject.dk/

Soil Salinity in Agricultural Systems: Impact and Management, 26-31October 2009, Zaragoza, Spain. Info: Mediterranean Agronomic Instituteof Zaragoza (IAMZ) – CIHEAM, Avenida Montañana 1005, 50059Zaragoza, Spain, Phone: +34 976 716000, Fax: +34 976 716001, email:[email protected], web: www.iamz.ciheam.org

Functional Foods: Scientific Foundations and Opportunities for the Agro-Food Sector, 15-19 February 2010, Zaragoza, Spain. Info: MediterraneanAgronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ) – CIHEAM, Avenida Montañana1005, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain, Phone: +34 976 716000, Fax: +34 976716001, email: [email protected], web: www.iamz.ciheam.org

Applications of Bioinformatics in Plant Breeding, 12-16 April 2010,Zaragoza, Spain. Info: Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza(IAMZ) – CIHEAM, Avenida Montañana 1005, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain,Phone: +34 976 716000, Fax: +34 976 716001, email:[email protected], web: www.iamz.ciheam.org

9th International Mycological Congress (IMC9) – The Biology of Fungi, 1-6 August 2010, Edinburgh, UK. Info: Nina Cosgrove, IMC9 ConferenceSecretariat, Elsevier, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford,OX5 1GB, UK, Phone: +44 (0) 1865 843297, Fax: +44 (0) 1865 843958,email: [email protected], web: www.imc9.info

ISHS • 30

ISAFRUIT Forum - Increasing FruitConsumption to Improve Health

SYMPOSIA AND WORKSHOPS

In June 2007, the European Commissionadopted a White Paper setting out a wide rangeof proposals to tackle nutrition- and obesity-related health issues. Its final report is due in2010. Among other measures proposed, newprogrammes to promote the consumption offruit and vegetables are being developed.

In line with these objectives the ISAFRUIT Healthforum “Increasing Fruit Consumption toImprove Health” was held in Brussels on 28October 2008, in collaboration with theInternational Society for Horticultural Science(ISHS) and the European Economic and SocialCommittee (EESC). This brought togetherISAFRUIT researchers from Pillars 1 and 2, withcolleagues from the World Health Organisation(WHO), the Directorate General for Agricultureand Rural Development and the ISHS to discussissues related to fruit consumption from theperspectives of consumer behaviour and thehealth-giving benefits of fruit. Initiatives toencourage increased consumption, in particularby school children, were also discussed.

The event was attended by representatives fromvarious Directorates General including: Healthand Consumer Protection (SANCO), Agricultureand Rural Development and Research. EU policy

managers, food and health consortiums andleaders of ‘5/6-a-day’ programmes were also inattendance, along with consortiums and retail-ers from the fruit industry.

In the first part of the programme, four presen-tations were given by Pillar 1 (Consumer-drivenand responsive fruit supply chains), who dis-cussed the capacity of the fruit chain to inno-vate, and the different consumer types thatmake up the population in terms of patterns ofconsumption. The presenters, Marianne Groot,Jos Bartels, Ruud van Uffelen and Ivo van derLans, and the Chair Karin Zimmermann, weremore than pleased to meet with a very respon-sive audience, discussing the impact of publicinformation campaigns, the definition of theout-of-home market and the necessity fororganisational innovation. It was clear that thetopics that are being studied in Pillar 1 arewidely recognized and are considered to beimportant within the fruit industry and amongother stakeholders.

Pillar 2 (Fruit and Human Health) was represent-ed by Eric van de Weg, Inge Tetens andChairperson, Lars Ove Dragsted. They present-ed an overview of ISAFRUIT investigations intothe causal genes of fruit allergenicity, provided

scientific support for the role of fruit in the pre-vention of obesity and demonstrated that fruithas a positive influence on lowering cholesterollevels. They also highlighted that while thewhole fruit retains these health-giving charac-teristics they may be absent in fractions of fruit,such as juice. Early indications suggest thatdrinking cloudy fruit juices may be more bene-ficial for health.

The EU Scientific Officer in charge of ISAFRUIT,Massimo Burioni, felt the forum had helpedplace ISAFRUIT on a worldwide stage, thanks tothe contributions of speakers not only fromwithin ISAFRUIT, but also from WHO, ISHS, andthe European Commission, in addition to thecontributions from the floor.

The outcomes of the ISAFRUIT Forum havebeen published as Scripta HorticulturaeNumber 8 (for more information seewww.ishs.org/pub/scripta.htm). Hard copiescan be ordered from the ISHS Secretariat at€ 30.

CLOUDY FRUIT JUICES:A HEALTHIER WAY TO5-A-DAY?

Fruit and vegetables are high in dietary fibre,are a rich source of biologically active com-pounds including antioxidants such as polyphe-nols, vitamin C and carotenoids, and nutritionexperts describe them as “nutritionally valuablefood”. Furthermore, fruits and vegetables arelow in calories and help consumers to feel full.In addition to these positive health attributes,fruit should also be convenient for the con-sumer. Fruit juice production is one example offruit processing that makes fruit consumptionmore convenient for the consumer. Juices arevery popular among European consumers. In2007 the total population of the EuropeanCommunity consumed over 11 billions litres oraround 24 litres per person.

The main objective of the ISAFRUIT project is toincrease consumption of fruit among citizens ofthe European Union. Fruit juices have a low ormedium Glycaemic Index (GI) and do not con-tribute to rapid increases in blood glucose lev-els, as carbohydrates from some other sourcescan. Moreover, juices may be also a goodsource of compounds that are beneficial forhuman health. European consumers are likelyto include one portion of juice into 5-a-day pro-gram. However, the presence of valuable ingre-

ISAFRUIT Health forum at the EESC in Brussels, October 28, 2008.


Section Banana and PlantainInt’l Conference on Banana in Africa:Harnessing International Partnershipsto Increase Research Impact

CONTACT

Dr. Sharon Hall, Marketing & CommunicationsOfficer, Warwick HRI, University of Warwick,Wellesbourne, CV35 9EF Warwick, UK, email:[email protected]

dients such as fibre or antioxidants depends onthe type of raw materials and processing tech-nology used to make the juice.

THE MAIN AIMS OF PILLAR 3WORK ON FRUITPROCESSING ARE TO:

� search for better raw materials� improve processing technology

Discussion panel.

� utilise pomace (waste product in juice pro-duction).

This work has been complementary to the workof Professor Lars Dragsted (Pillar 2) and histeam on health effects of processed fruit prod-ucts in comparison to fresh fruit, carried outusing apples and apple processed products.Apples contain significant amounts of polyphe-nols which are natural antioxidants; they bindfree radicals, removing oxidative stress and thus

protecting cells from damage. Cell damage canlead to chronic diseases, including cancer.Apples and apple products also contain pectinsand fibre, which contribute to slower glucosetransfer to blood and in combination withpolyphenols can decrease the risk of cardiovas-cular disease.

Sharon Hall and Witold Plocharski

The International Institute of TropicalAgriculture (IITA), in collaboration withBioversity International, the InternationalSociety for Horticultural Science (ISHS), theForum for Agricultural Research in Africa(FARA) and the Kenya Agricultural ResearchInstitute (KARI), organized the conference“Banana in Africa: Harnessing internationalpartnerships to increase research impact” inMombasa, Kenya, 5-9 October 2008.

The organizers wanted to develop a 10-year,knowledge-based research-and-developmentstrategy for banana in Africa that will mobilizethe banana sector and lift people out of pover-ty, by better linking researchers with farmersand other stakeholders, farmers with markets,and researchers and farmers with private andpublic sector actors. This document is anticipat-ed to guide a change in banana production inAfrica from donor aid-supported to a systemsustained by an invigorated private sector thatactively seeks technological interventions.

Sub-Saharan Africa produces 30 million tons ofbananas annually, providing food security and

Honorable Janet Mukwaya, Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Uganda, who attendedon behalf of President Yoweri Musiveni, joins in with the dancers when she arrives at theconference.

ISHS • 32

income for millions of smallholder farmers.Depending on the variety, they can be cooked,fried, brewed into alcohol or eaten fresh.However, African banana production, often car-ried out in smallholder farms, is badly managedand inadequately marketed. As such, its vastpotential as a value-added commercial crop isnot realized, decreasing farmers’ chances togenerate income. Increasingly, bananas are alsobeing targeted for commercialization not onlywithin Africa, but also for lucrative and emerg-ing markets such as the Middle East andEurope, where dessert bananas are hugely pop-ular as fruits. Currently, however, only 4% ofinternationally traded bananas originate fromAfrica, illustrating a huge gap but also a poten-tial for Africa to increase commercial trade inbananas. Although banana is of critical impor-tance for the African continent, surprisingly,this agricultural commodity has not receivedthe attention it deserves.

By inviting all stakeholders across the bananavalue chain and by using a unique agenda, thisconference was ‘not business as usual’, asscientific conferences go. This conferencebridged the gap between research, and mar-kets and trade. Linkages, and in particular the

A farmer group from Kenya explains theiractivities to delegates.

Touring of the exhibition stands. From leftto right: Honorable Janet Mukwaya,Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry,Uganda, on behalf of President YoweriMusiveni; Dr. Thomas Dubois, ConferenceChair; Honorable Gideon Ndambuki,Assistant Minister of Agriculture of Kenya.

Honorable Gideon Ndambuki, AssistantMinister of Agriculture of Kenya, plants abanana tree at the opening ceremony.

Lusike Wasilwa, Director of HorticulturalCrops at KARI, addressing the crowd.

CONTACT

Dr. Thomas Dubois, Chair OrganizingCommittee, International Institute of TropicalAgriculture, Phone: +256 (0)414285060/4, Fax:+256 (0)414285079, email: [email protected]

importance of public-private sector partner-ships, were a high priority, and reflected in thevast spectrum of stakeholders attending, oftenfrom non-scientific backgrounds. Besides a pro-gram of over 100 invigorating talks, the confer-ence boosted a parallel 900 m2 exhibition area,with more than 45 exhibition booths from 14countries, including from the commercial sec-tor, farmers, international organizations,national programs, NGOs, governmentalorganizations and donors. The 4-day programwas organized in order that each day represent-ed a clear theme: a) markets and trade, b) pro-duction, and c) innovation systems. Moreimportantly, the conference culminated in afinal “strategy day”, which built on the inputprovided by participants from each of thethemes. The “strategy day” started with a dis-tilled summary from the previous three days’presentations to stimulate thought as to thefuture direction, and subsequently proceededinto a workshop-styled format, with guidancefrom two professional facilitators, to elicit infor-mation from the participants gathered from theprevious three days.

Overall attendance numbered 400 participantsfrom all sectors of the banana value chain andfrom across the globe. A large number of atten-dees represented farmers, farmer groups,entrepreneurs and representatives from nation-al programs, and attended as a consequence offinancial support from one of several donors. Atotal of 21 organizations, companies anddonors contributed to this event, including theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation, theTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), and the DirectorateGeneral for Development Cooperation (DGDC,Belgium).

The importance of the conference was high-lighted by attendance of Honorable JanetMukwaya, Minister of Tourism, Trade andIndustry, Uganda, who delivered the openingaddress on behalf of President Yoweri Musiveni;Anna Tibaijuka, Director-General of UN-HABI-TAT and Undersecretary-General of the UN; andHonorable Agnes Abera Kalibata, State Ministerfor Agriculture, Rwanda. Publicity before, dur-ing and after the conference was extensive,partly because of a unique journalist workshop,organized by WRENmedia, which used thisevent to showcase the importance of banana.

During the conference, it became clear that,with diminished access to European markets,the future of banana in Africa lies in strength-ening local and regional markets and marketlinkages that can feed the increasing urbanpopulations, as well as taking advantage ofvalue addition through processing. On thetrade front, there was discussion of how insuf-ficient credit, inadequate transportation, unfairtaxes and inconsistent prices are significantlystifling what could be a vibrant and, for farm-ers, highly profitable regional banana trade. Forbanana, the big problem is perishability: small-scale farmers could use post-harvest processing

to develop products that could be stored forlonger periods, particularly during times of sea-sonal glut, when prices are low. For example, inAfrica, products made from bananas andbanana plants include beer, wine, juice, sauce,mats, handbags, envelopes, postcards, flour,soup and breakfast cereals. While developinglocal and regional markets is crucial, there wasalso agreement that efforts to improve incomesshould not occur at the expense of foodsecurity.

Thomas Dubois


Section Nuts and MediterraneanClimate Fruits

Fourth Int’l Chestnut Symposium

The IV International Chestnut Symposiumwas held in Miyun, Beijing from 25-28September, 2008. It was organized by BeijingUniversity of Agriculture, Miyun People’sGovernment of Beijing and Miyun Rural AffairCommittee under the auspices of theInternational Society for Horticultural Science.

At the opening ceremony Prof. Qin Ling,Symposium Convener, expressed a cordial wel-come to all participants. She was followed byProf. Giancarlo Bounous, Chair of the ISHSWorking Group on Chestnuts, and Prof.Damiano Avanzato, Chair of the ISHS SectionNuts and Mediterranean Climate Fruits. Prof.Qin was awarded the ISHS Medal in recognitionof her service to the Society as Convener of thisInternational Symposium.

The participation was impressive. Present were200 participants from 15 countries includingChina, USA, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Portugal,New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Hungary, Slovakia,Czech Republic and so on.

There were about 40 oral presentations and150 posters on a wide range of topics relatingto chestnut were presented. The symposiummainly consisted of the following five sessions:

1. Chestnut Growing, Economy, Marketing,Harvest and Fruit Processing

2. Biology, Physiology and Ecology

3. Genetics, Breeding, Biotechnology and PlantDevelopment

4. Plant Protection

5. Orchard and Forest Management

In the first thematic area, Chestnut Growing,Economy, Marketing, Harvest and FruitProcessing, the emphasis was laid on the chest-nut tree as a major resource. Prof. DamianoAvanzato gave an overview on the InternationalSociety for Horticulture Science and on thechestnut industry in the EU and former commu-nist European countries. Mr. Wang Tie-ming,Director of Beijing Miyun Forest Breuer, intro-duced the development situation of chestnut intheory and in practice in Miyun District inBeijing.

The thematic area Biology, Physiology andEcology was opened by an interesting keynotelecture presented by Prof. Zheng Cheng-le onthe “Study of variation of mineral elementscontent in chestnut stands”. Also, cryopreser-vation, propagation and micro-propagation ofchestnut were reported in this session.

The session Genetics, Breeding, Biotechnologyand Plant Development started with the topic“Chromosomal location of ribosomal genes inChinese and American chestnut”, presented byProf. Nurul Islam-Faridi. Prof. Fenny Dane fromAuburn University presented the comparativephylogeography of Castanea species.

For the session Plant Protection there were 12presentations on the diseases and protection ofchestnuts and one poster with the dispersion ofCryphonectria parasitica in chestnuts of differ-ent progenies. Some of them reported on thechestnut diseases using aerial photography andgeostatistical methods, some were about themain species of diseases on chestnuts.

In the last session, Orchard and ForestManagement, the work and information on themanagement of coppice forests, orchard culti-

Participants of the Symposium.

The election campaign for holding the 5thInternational Chestnut Symposium (left:Paul H. Sisco, right: Dennis W. Fulbright).

ISHS • 34

CONTACT

Prof. Qin Ling, Plant Science and TechnologyCollege, Beijing University of Agriculture, No.7in Beinong Road, Huilongguan, ChangpinDistrict, Beijing, 102206, The People’sRepublic of China, Phone: 86-10-80799136,Fax: 86-10-80795517, email:[email protected], [email protected]

Damiano Avanzato (left) and Giancarlo Bounous (right) handing out the ISHS Medal to Prof.Qin Ling (center).

vation of coppice forests, irrigation, soil man-agement practices and the effect of cultivationon the nutrient budget and nut quality werediscussed.

The field visit of the symposium was organizedto Miyun Mountain Region and chestnutorchard. All of the participants saw the chestnutcultivation and growing situation in Miyundistrict.

The chestnut production has been effectivelyincreased and its excellent quality has beenmaintained by using modern managementmethods, modern technology of tree control atintensive planting orchards, modern technologyof comprehensive control of vermin and dis-eases, soil improvement and the technology ofcontrolling the height of the plantings.

For the technology of intensive plantingorchards, the idea of organic planting wasadopted in order to improve the quality ofchestnut and of the environment. For the pesti-cide management, the “IPM” idea was adoptedto reduce and control the pests and diseases.For instance, black light lamps and natural ani-mals were used to trap and kill the pests. Forthe control of the height of the plantings, rea-sonable pruning was performed to improve thelight and space, and the nutrition was balancedto ensure the health of the important part ofthe tree.

At the closing ceremony, the conclusions of theIV International Chestnut Symposium, com-posed by the Scientific Committee with theagreement of the Organizing Committee, werepresented by the Chairperson. These were:

1. Over the years, researchers working with thechestnut tree have shown their dedicationand love to this multipurpose tree and haveachieved important and innovative scientificresults.

2. We should show our love and trust for thechestnut tree. Trust that chestnut can con-tribute significantly to the development ofrural economy, trust that roasted chestnutswill smell in the big city squares and cornersof major streets all over the world.

3. The cooperation in chestnut research shouldbe strengthened, especially in preventionand control of ink disease, collection andexchange of chestnut germplasm resources,and shortened breeding cycles of chestnutcultivar.

4. Chestnuts are in shortage in the world mar-ket, but it has much untapped potentialdevelopment. It is our duty to convince ourgovernments to implement policies and tohelp the growers to increase their producein a combined effort to promote the chest-nut tree, its precious nuts and its valuabletimber.

At the end of the symposium, the Chairpersonon behalf of the Organizing Committeethanked all the participants for coming to thesymposium from all over the world to presentthe results of their work and share their experi-ence. The symposium ended with a loud andlong applause by the participants to theChinese organizers in appreciation of theimmense task of holding the IV InternationalChestnut Symposium in such an excellent way.Dr. William MacDonald of West VirginiaUniversity will host the 5th InternationalChestnut Symposium in October, 2012.

Qin Ling

Visit to the chestnut orchard at Miyun in Beijing.


The International Protea industry met inStellenbosch, South Africa, in September 2008for the 13th International Protea AssociationConference held in conjunction with the 9thInternational Protea Working GroupSymposium. Delegates from 18 countries and 6continents came to the meeting, which was atremendous success with open interaction andexchange of ideas between researcher scien-tists, growers, marketers and other allied indus-try businesses. The Cape Floral Kingdom is thehome to many Proteaceae genera grown com-mercially, and the conference presented theopportunity to see products grown commercial-ly as well as in their natural surroundings.

A pre-conference tour took delegates throughthe Western Cape region, visiting farms in avariety of climatic and geographic locations.Proteas are woody perennials grown in openfields, and the industry’s commitment to adopt-ing best management practices was evident inthe quality of the plantations that the group vis-ited. Well designed irrigation and fertigationsystems supported vigorous plant growth, andvigilant plantation management contributed toneat, weed-free rows.

During the 4-day conference 31 presentationsand 8 posters were delivered. Each session wasopened with a keynote address outlining recenttrends. In many countries water is becoming ascarce natural resource and papers delivered onimproving irrigation were well received.Research has identified that protea have impor-

tant physiological stages during which irriga-tion must not be limiting. High freight costshave generated interest in sea freight of flowersto markets. Research reports delivered in postharvest techniques indicate that this method oftransport is viable when flowers are treated cor-rectly to ensure water and carbohydrate statusis maintained, and disease is prevented. Proteaproduction is expanding into many new areasaround the world. Understanding the floweringphysiology and growth habit in response toenvironment is important to the success of thisexpansion.

In addition to the scientific reports, industryupdates were delivered for the key productionareas. Broad estimates are that there are over5000 ha of protea production around theworld, giving the industry a value of almost US$200 million annually. There was much debate asto whether South Africa or Australia has thelargest industry, with both countries havingnative flora offering commercially valuableProteaceae genera. In both countries someproducts are harvested from natural stands,making the collection of precise data difficult.The area under production in South Africa is inexcess of 1000 ha. The current trend is forfewer growers with larger individual farms, totake advantage of economies of scale. The vastmajority of product from South Africa is export-ed to Europe, although recent advances havebeen made into markets in the USA and theEast. Estimates from Australia are that 500

growers generate AUD 50-100 million in exportand domestic sales. Constantly rising freightcosts are a concern to the Australian industry,however, the ability to regularly provide newproducts from their vast natural geneticresource promises a strong industry future. InHawaii, 27 producers generate US$ 2.1 millionin sales. Recent volcanic activity has initiatedcrucial research into the effects of sulphur diox-ide on plant performance and product quality.The other major USA production area is inCalifornia, with 75% of the 1200 ha of produc-tion in San Diego County. A key issue inCalifornia is water use efficiency. In Southern

Section Ornamental PlantsNinth Int’l Protea Research Symposium


On a visit to a packshed delegates sawKing Proteas harvested and ready forpacking.

ISHS • 36

CONTACT

Dr. Audrey Gerber, Floricultural Adviser, P.O. Box112, Sassafras, VIC 3787, Australia, Phone:+61 438 630 316, Fax: +61 3 9755 2539,email: [email protected], production in Zimbabwe has expanded

into neighbouring countries of Mozambique,Malawi and Zambia. Chile features as a SouthAmerican producer of proteas, with increasing

Tour to a new plantation.

interest coming from Peru, Ecuador andColumbia. Production areas in Europe areSpain, including the Canary Islands, andPortugal, including Madeira and the Azores.

Close proximity to markets is an important fea-ture of production areas on the mainland.Production area in Israel is estimated at 250 ha.Banksia and Grevillea species join Leucaden-dron as the main genera grown in Israel.

A research scholarship is awarded by the IPA ateach biennial conference. In 2008 5 applica-tions were received. The two successful propos-als will conduct research into Fusarium wilt ofProteaceae, and investigate post harvest controlof Botrytis cinerea in Leucospermum andLeucadendron. Applications for this scholarshipwill be received prior to the next IPA conferencein 2010.

Audrey Gerber

At the conclusion of its Symposium at theInternational Horticultural Congress in Seoul in2006, the recently-formed ‘CommissionSustainability through Integrated and OrganicHorticulture’ declared its intention to organise aCommission-sponsored symposium before thenext IHC Congress in 2010. Fortuitously, theInternational Federation of Organic AgriculturalMovements (IFOAM) was holding its nextWorld Congress in Modena, Italy in June, 2008and the IFOAM organisers responded warmlyto collaborating with our Commission. As aresult, our Commission agreed to co-organise asatellite ‘Organic Fruit Conference’ (temperateand tropical), which was held in nearby Vignolafrom June 15-17.

The collaboration between our ISHSCommission and IFOAM brought to both con-ferences a lot of synergies, which likely attract-ed more participants than if they were heldindependently. The ISHS Organic FruitConference was scheduled as a 3-day confer-ence before the main IFOAM World Congressbegan. This allowed individuals to participate in

Section Pome and Stone Fruits –Commission Sustainability throughIntegrated and Organic Horticulture

Second ISOFAR Conference on OrganicFruits & Sixteenth IFOAM Organic WorldCongress

Opening of the Organic Fruit Conference: Plenary Session by the Conveners, Drs. Weibel (right)and Prange (second from right), in the main conference hall of Vignola Castle.


both congresses without planning conflicts andto attend the numerous pre- and post-confer-ence excursions or events offered throughIFOAM. The IFOAM Congress secretariat han-dled all financial and logistical issues whichreduced costs including registration fees. Thus,the IFOAM collaboration allowed the ‘OrganicFruit Conference’ Conveners (Franco Weibeland Robert Prange) to focus primarily on theplanning of the scientific program.

Approximately 150 persons from 38 countriesfrom all continents attended the Organic FruitConference. The largest representation wasfrom Italy, followed by other countries inEurope, e.g. Great Britain, Switzerland,Germany, Romania. But there was also signifi-cant representation from Canada, UnitedStates, New Zealand and Asian countries.

The ISHS Conference was located in the historic“Rocca Castle” (A.D. 1178) in the centre ofVignola. In the ground floor of this beautifulbuilding comfortable conference rooms withup-to-date technical equipment offered a per-fect infrastructure and unique atmosphere tounwind and enjoy the scientific program.

The program was structured: a) excursions onSunday afternoon; b) half day plenary sessionson the world market situation, comparison of

Participants at the Organic Fruit Conference, gathering in a courtyard of Vignola Castle (Rocca di Vignola).

CONTACT

Dr. Franco Weibel, Research Institute of OrganicFarming (FiBL), CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland,email: [email protected]

Dr. Robert Prange, Agriculture and Agri-FoodCanada, Atlantic Food and HorticultureResearch Centre, 32 Main St., Kentville NS B4N1J5, Canada, email: [email protected]

Use of nets to control Cherry Fruit Fly(Rhagoletis cerasi) at the CRPV CampoSperimentale Dimostrativo Ciliegio, locatednear Vignola.

The conference was held during Vignola’sannual Cherry Festival.

Participants enjoying a specially-organisedevening dinner at Giovannni Montanari’sfamous organic restaurant, Osteria Vecchiain Guiglia, near Vignola.

organic vs. conventional production, posthar-vest and quality; c) half day parallel sessions onorganic plant protection, organic tree nutritionand soil fertility, tropical fruit, Mediterraneanand stone fruit, apple and pear, small fruit andberry crops, economy and consumer behaviour;and d) evening colloquia on experiences andvisions to develop the organic fruit market andproduction, and on the controversial topic ofusing GMO cultivars for organic production.The keynote speakers were:Dr. David Granatstein – Organic temperatefruits: Current world statusDr. Steve Wratten – The importance of ecologi-cal engineering to enhance ecosystem service inorganic fruit productionMr. Harold Ostensen – Organic pome and cher-ry production and marketing issues: Past, pres-ent and futureDr. Salomon Soldevilla – Organic bananas inPeru: Its social and economic impactsDr. Donn Johnson – Alternative pest manage-ment practices for fruit in the Southern USADr. Silviero Sansavini – Aiming for compatibilitywith organic farming: Will cis-genic plants takethe scare out of GMOs?At the final plenary session, it was concludedthat the goal of the Conference was achieved.The scientific community that is interested inworking on organic fruit had come together –literally – from around the world – for the firsttime in such high numbers and on such a high

scientific level. There were 48 oral presentationsand 24 posters that gave new insights and stim-ulated lively discussions on new findings andprogress on a wide spectrum of topics fromtemperate to tropical; pip to stone to berry totropical fruit; agronomy to economy; from soilto fruit quality; diseases and pests to cultivarand genetic modification aspects; from farmexperience reports to scientific research meth-ods. This 2 1/2-day conference did not do justiceto all of the topics, leaving many opportunitiesfor future conferences.The next conference sponsored by theCommission will be a Symposium on Integratedand Organic Horticulture, held within the 2010International Horticultural Congress in Lisbon,Portugal. The Conveners are Prof. Dr. UygunAksoy and Dr. Isabel Mourão.

Franco Weibel and Robert Prange

ISHS • 38

Section Tropical and SubtropicalFruits

Fourth Int’l Symposium on Persimmon

The Fourth International Symposium onPersimmon was held at Firenze, Faenza andCaserta, Italy, during 8-13 November 2008, fol-lowing the previous similar events held inChiang Mai (Thailand) in 1996, at Twin Waters(Queensland, Australia) in 2000 and Jinju(Korea) in 2004.

The itinerant Symposium was organized inorder to show to the participants the mainaspects of Italian persimmon production chain(from nursery to marketing) involving as muchas possible the “private sector” (nurseries, fruitgrowers, dealers, etc.), to facilitate exchange ofinformation and opinions on the state-of-the-art of persimmon world industry and to devel-op common strategies for the promotion ofproduction and consumption of persimmons.

The two Sessions in Firenze - Persimmonaround the world: from fruit production toresearch and Persimmon uses: from humanhealth to landscape - with a total of five plena-ry lectures and ten oral communications; anExhibition of Books and Journals regarding per-simmon, together with an Exhibition ofProducts of persimmon (brought mostly by theparticipants) and an Exhibition of dried fruitsand nuts from Afghanistan, were organized.The communications highlighted the nutraceu-tical value of persimmon fruits and indicatedmany different possible uses of Diospyros kakiand related species (dried fruits, sherbets,snacks, etc.): these two aspects are relevant,especially when taking into account the increas-ing worldwide production and the fact thatnew countries are paying more attention to per-simmon.

In Faenza the Sessions were Persimmongermplasm, genetics and breeding andPropagation, training systems and pruning ofpersimmon during the first day, and Persimmonand consumer: quality and marketing for thesecond day, with a total of four plenary lecturesand sixteen oral communications; fifty posterscovering all the sessions were exhibited in ahall, where a Pomological Exhibition (autumnfruits) and an Exhibition of persimmon freshfruits (more than 50 accessions) were organ-

Persimmon Exhibition at Faenza (Italy).

Vist to a persimmon orchard trained at palmette system in Faenza (Italy).

ized. The participants visited one nursery, twofarms producing persimmons and a packinghouse. Presentations indicated that the lack ofnew non-astringent cultivars and of clonal root-stocks is still a bottleneck for a wider develop-ment of the persimmon industry, even if verysurprising achievements in persimmon produc-tion have been obtained in Spain with theastringent local variety ‘Rojo Brillante’.Researches on post harvest management andon marketing, recognized as a very importanttool for increasing demand of consumers, indi-cated that techniques to improve conservationtime and keeping high quality product (even ifcultivar dependent) are possible.

During the stay in Caserta, after a morning visitto a farm with orchards and packing facilitiesand tasting fresh (the Italian ‘Kaki Tipo’ versusthe Spanish ‘Rojo Brillante’) and dried persim-mons, the afternoon Session on Persimmonfarming system: soil, water and pest controlincluded two plenary lectures and three oralcommunications. Fresh and dried fruits wereexhibited together with other by-products andwith paintings portraying persimmon. The pre-sentations showed that even if persimmon is ahardy species, few are the researches devel-oped on cultural practices. More effort is need-ed to overcome the lack of information on irri-gation, fertilization and pest management.Integrated management and biological controlfor the few harmful pests affecting persimmonare being developed in different countries. Around table about The future of persimmonindustry was a good opportunity for the repre-


Persimmon dried and fresh fruits, distillate and paintings from Slovenia.

Tasting fresh persimmons (soft ‘Kaki Tipo’) in Caserta (Italy).

CONTACT

Drs. Elvio Bellini and Edgardo Giordani,Dipartimento di Ortoflorofrutticoltura,Università di Firenze, Polo Scientifico, Viale delleIdee, 30, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy,email: [email protected], [email protected] of the private sector to communicate

the main technical problems of persimmonindustry and to launch the proposal of consti-tuting the International Commercial PersimmonIndustry Association.

The ISHS Assembly of the Persimmon WorkingGroup closed the event. The proposal of theChinese delegation to hold the V InternationalPersimmon Symposium in 2012 in their countrywas accepted by the assembly.

Music accompanied the participants all alongthe Italian tour, and it closed our friendly meet-ing with songs from many countries. Almostone hundred persons from the five continentsand from a total of twenty three different coun-tries participated in the symposium.

The mixture of provenances and activities(research and production), in a nice friendlyenvironment, gave to the participants thechance to have a wide overview of the state-of-the-art of persimmon production, of its con-straints and limits, but also to be aware of thehuge potential of this crop that can be con-veyed towards actual and effective results withthe cooperation between research and privatesector.

Elvio Bellini and Edgardo Giordani

The International Symposium on Tomato inthe Tropics was held in Villa de Leyva,Colombia, on September 9-13, 2008. Morethan 200 participants from 13 different coun-tries attended the event, which was organizedby the recently (2006) founded ColombianSociety for Horticultural Science (CSHS, Bogotá)and the International Society for HorticulturalScience (ISHS). Tomato is the second importanthorticultural crop in Colombia and the colonialvillage of Villa de Leyva lies in the heart of thegreatest tomato producing area of the country.

Dr. Silvana Nicola (Chair of the ISHS SectionVegetables), Dr. Diego Miranda Lasprilla(President of the CSHS) and Germán Sánchez(Major of Villa de Leyva) opened theSymposium. On behalf of the ISHS, Dr. Nicolahanded over the ISHS Medal to SymposiumConvener, Diego Miranda Lasprilla, and Co-Convener, Gerhard Fischer, in recognition oftheir meritorious service to the Society.

Section VegetablesInt’l Symposium on Tomato in the Tropics

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

Sixteen invited speakers coming from Germany,Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, TheUnited States, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombiapresented information on the advances intomato culture and postharvest with specialemphasis on tomato production in the tropicsfeaturing 6 different sessions.

Session 1 on Tomato Research andProduction in the Tropics at National andInternational Level was highlighted by 4 invit-ed speakers: Prof. Dr. Silvana Nicola (Tomatoproduction systems and their application to thetropics), Prof. Diego Miranda Lasprilla(Characterization of productive systems oftomato Solanum lycopersicum in productivezones of Colombia), Jorge Jaramillo (The stateof research in tomato in Colombia) and Prof. Dr.Eddie Schrevens (Tomato cultivation in the highaltitude tropics. Experiences and perspectives).

Session 2 on Genetic Resources andImprovement was opened by the key speakersProf. Dr. Paulo Cesar Tavares de Melo (Breedingefforts to develop fresh market tomatoesadapted to tropical mild climates in Brazil), Prof.Dr. Lázaro E.P. Peres (Combining induced muta-genesis and natural genetic variation for basicand applied research in tomato) and Dr. P.C.Maris (Resistance to Tomato torrado virus (ToTV)and Tomato marchitez virus (ToMarV)).

Session 3 on Agricultural and PhysiologicalAspects included a presentation by Prof. Dr.Leo F.M. Marcelis (Modeling growth and devel-opment of tomato crop), whereas session 4 onCrop Integrated Management was highlight-ed by two invited speakers: Amparo Medina(Actual stage and perspectives for fertirrigationand organic matter use for greenhouse tomatoproduction systems in Colombia) and Prof. Dr.Miguel Guzman (Greenhouses for tomato cropsin the tropics).

ISHS • 40

The most important topics of session 5 on PestsDiseases and Physiological Disorders werepresented by the invited speakers Prof. Dr. MaryM. Peet (Physiological disorders in tomato fruitdevelopment), Prof. Dr. Carmen Büttner(Ecological aspects of plant viruses in tomatoand pathogen risk assessment), Dr. AndrésBustamante (Symptoms of tomato bacterial dis-eases), Prof. Dr. Christian Ulrichs (Newapproaches in the control of insect pests intomato) and Prof. Dr. Phil Stansley (Integratedpest management in open-field grown toma-toes).

The last session on Harvest, PostharvestTechnology and Product Quality was openedby Prof. Dr. Susanne Huyskens-Keil (Interna-tional aspects of quality assessment of vegeta-bles in the food supply chain management).

In total, 52 presentations were given, including,besides the invited speakers, 24 short oral talksand 12 posters.

TECHNOLOGICAL SESSION

During the last day of the scientific program, asimultaneously held technological sessionattracted over 90 tomato growers of Colombiaand interested participants from other coun-tries. Topics included presentations from exten-sion workers, researchers, growers and marketexperts that were well understandable andfocused on the needs of the tomato producingsector, such as production systems, new vari-eties, crop management and commercializa-tion. Also, 20 agricultural and chemical compa-nies participated at the symposium, presentingnew products and technical innovations toimprove tomato cultivation and product quality.

On Saturday, September 13, a technical visitwas organized to farms located at the neartomato producing zone of Villa de Leyva,Sáchica and Sutamarchán municipalities. Onthese farms, topics such as protected cultiva-

Grafted tomato plants drew the attentionof the participants.

CONTACT

Diego Miranda Lasprilla and Gerhard Fischer,Agronomy Faculty, National University ofColombia, A.A. 14490, Bogotá, Colombia,email:[email protected]; [email protected]


Discussing tomato production with invited speakers Mary Peet, Dietmar Schwarz andLeo Marcelis.

tion, new varieties and propagation systemswere observed and discussed.

The International Symposium on Tomato in theTropics was very successful. Within the context,the symposium gave the opportunity to estab-lish tight relations among the researchers andexperts of the different countries, and to dis-cuss the state-of-the-art and possible develop-ment of the tropical tomato sector. TheOrganizing Committee would like to thankevery person who contributed to the success ofthe Symposium, particularly those involved inadministration and sponsorship.

Diego Miranda Lasprilla and Gerhard Fischer


Section Vine and Berry FruitsWorkshop on Berry Production inChanging Climate Conditions andCultivation Systems

The Workshop was held in the frame of theEU-COST Action 863 “Euroberry Research:from Genomics to Sustainable Production,Quality and Health”. More than 70 researchers,consultants and representatives of the berryindustry from 23 countries attended the meet-ing, which was organised by Dr. Erika Krügerand her team at the Geisenheim ResearchCenter, Section of Pomology, Germany, from29-31 October 2008.

The objective of the workshop was to discussthe future production of Fragaria, Rubus, Ribesand Vaccinium in Europe under the impact ofclimate change and modern cultivation sys-tems. The scientific program was designed toprovide participants with oral and poster lec-tures in various fields of expertise. In four ses-sions the impact of climate changes and cultiva-tion systems were discussed with regard toberry physiology and cultural management,dynamics of diseases, pests and beneficials,

breeding strategies and fruit quality and thenutritional value of berry fruits, respectively.

The climate change was defined in most pre-sentations as an increase in temperatures overthe next decades of 1-4°C, higher variations inrainfall with higher frequency of drought peri-ods, a higher frequency of extreme events andless frost and snow during winter. However, thefrost risk in spring may not be reduced becausehigher temperatures may lead to earlier flower-ing and the exposure to frost risk will probablybe longer.

Several presentations focused on the conse-quences of the changes on growth, crop physi-ology, flower induction, chilling completion andover-chilling problems. The flowering period willbe earlier in colder regions in the future com-pared to now and later in warmer regions dueto the longer duration for chilling completion.Another problem that was observed in warmer

regions is the flower abortion, especially afterwarm winters. The production peaks can bemodified with climate changes as predicted forthe strawberry production in Spain with conse-quences for market aspects. The fruit qualitycould be influenced by higher levels of sunburndue to higher temperature and high radiation.For the northern regions of Europe and regionsof higher altitudes, climate change can stimu-late berry production.

As for changes in production systems, the berryproduction under plastic tunnels and in green-houses will continue to increase in the future. Inaddition, out of season production will alsobecome more important due to better marketopportunities. These expensive production sys-tems have to be optimised for each species andcultivar in order to guarantee the best growingconditions and crop management. The doublecropping with ever-bearing cultivars and/or with

Participants of the Workshop.

ISHS • 42

Poster session.

CONTACT

Dr. Erika Krüger, Geisenheim Research Center,Section of Pomology, Von Lade-Straße 1,D-65366 Geisenheim, Germany, Phone: +49-(0)6722-502563, Fax: +49-(0)6722-502561,email: [email protected]

Dr. Christoph Carlen, Station de rechercheAgroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, Centrede recherche Conthey, 1964 Conthey,Switzerland, Phone: +41-27 345 35 13,Fax: +41-27 346 30 17, email:[email protected]

adapted cultivation procedures would be aninteresting strategy to lower the productioncosts as was shown for raspberries and black-berries.

A small number of presentations dealt with theimpact of changing climate and berry produc-tion systems on pests and diseases. Especially inNorthern countries an increased incidence ofberry pests could be observed in the last yearswhen mild winters favoured over-wintering ofinsects. Also, in the Nordic countries new dis-eases and more problems with already commondiseases are expected on all berry species due tohigher rainfall, higher temperature and anincrease of international plant trade. Anothergeneral aspect that could be a major issue forthe future might be the pesticide restrictionsleading to a growing importance of resistancebreeding against pests and diseases, as well asthe development of efficient biological controlmethods. These were shown for raspberries.

In the breeding session, programs focused onthe selection of genotypes with good environ-

mental adaptation to water stress and still win-ter-hardiness in the Eastern part of Europe.Another aspect was the identification of QTLslinked to the modes of strawberry flowering,which affects the flowering duration and there-fore the period of fruit production. Three signif-icant QTLs were detected; two of them seem tobe strongly influenced by the environment.

Another aspect was the fruit quality and nutri-tional values of berry fruits. Varying pre-harvestfactors such as production system, deficit irriga-tion, physiological stages of the plant wereshown to be sometimes important and some-times not significant for sensory and nutritionalfruit quality. More information is needed toincrease fruit quality of berries in the future.

The final discussion highlighted the needs forfurther research and collaborations. The mostimportant research topics on berry crops are abetter knowledge on requirements for flowerinitiation and chilling completion of the mostimportant cultivars. There are also needs todevelop better models for predicting these

processes. A second important topic for thefuture is information on an efficient use ofwater in protected environments. Otherresearch needs mentioned were the pre-harvesteffects on fruit quality and the development ofefficient biological control systems. Breedingfor higher plant plasticity by out-breedingstrategies might be a possibility to get cultivarswith higher tolerance to climate injuries.Furthermore, basic knowledge on genes con-trolling mechanisms related to increased adapt-ability to these changes may help breeders tofind more tolerant cultivars against climate,pest and disease stress.

The organiser acknowledges all presenters andthe fruitful discussions during the workshop.Special thanks are addressed to the COSTOffice in Brussels for supporting the meeting.Papers given at this meeting will be publishedas a Workshop Proceedings in the ActaHorticulturae series, issued by the ISHS.

Erika Krüger and Christoph Carlen

The 7th International Workshop on Sap Flowgathered some 110 delegates from 25 coun-tries to debate on methodologies to measuresap flow in plants, and on how they are beingused for a better understanding of the plantfunctioning. New methods and recent improve-ments to existing ones were displayed and dis-cussed, both by scientists and manufacturers.Most contributions revealed new aspects ofphysiological processes, mainly those related towater use and water consumption, and of thedevelopment of new approaches for improvingmanagement practices both in forestry andagriculture.

The workshop, held in Seville, Spain, fromOctober 21-24, 2008, was convened by Dr.Enrique Fernández from the Instituto de

Commission Irrigation and PlantWater Relations

Seventh Int’l Workshop on Sap Flow

Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNAS-CSIC,Spain). Prof. Isabel Ferreira (ISA, TechnicalUniversity of Lisbon, Portugal), Chair of theISHS Commission Irrigation and Plant WaterRelations, acted as representative of the Society.Scientific contributions amounted to three invit-ed lectures, 48 oral presentations and 18posters. The contributions were grouped intothree different Sections: MethodologicalAspects, chaired by Dr. Brent Clothier(HortResearch, New Zealand); Water Use &Irrigation Scheduling, chaired by Dr. SteveGreen (HortResearch, New Zealand); and Fromthe Tree Architecture to the Stand Level, chairedby Prof. Jan Cermák (Mendel University ofAgriculture and Forestry, Czech Republic). Anopen forum discussion took place after each

Sensors for simultaneous readings of sapflow and trunk diameter variations in thetrunk of a peach tree. Photo Dr. J.L. Muriel.


Section. Complementing the plenary sessionswas a display room in which main manufactur-ers showed the latest advances in sap flow andrelated equipment.

In his lecture to open the first Section, Dr.Clothier gave an overview of how newadvances in the measurement and modelling ofwater fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere sys-tem, complemented with biophysical model-ling, enable us to develop within-enterprisepractices and resource management policies toprotect water quantity and quality acrossdiverse landscapes. The rest of contributionswithin this Section gave us a detailed pictureboth of recent advances in sap flow techniquesand new methods to improve the analysis ofthe recorded values. Special attention was paidto evaluate to which extent the mentionedadvances avoid or reduce limitations of theexisting sap flow methods. There was a discus-sion on the potential of the existing sap flow

methods, used alone or in combination withother techniques, to quantify and understandhow plants of different species use water, espe-cially in the long term.

The second Section was opened by Dr. Green,who discussed the potential of combiningmeasurement and modelling techniques to pro-mote environmentally safe and sustainable agri-cultural practices. He showed a variety of exam-ples in which sap flow measurements andmodel exercises were used together as a usefultool to irrigate wisely, i.e. to achieve the maxi-mum crop productivity at the same time thatthe risk for soil and groundwater contamina-tion by agrochemicals is reduced. The contribu-tions of this Section showed the potential useof sap flow measurements for quantifyingwater use in a variety of species, and for thedevelopment of scheduling irrigation strategies,some based on fully automatic, telecontrolledirrigation devices.

Prof. M.I. Ferreira (right) and Dr. J.E. Fernández (left) during the Welcoming Address.

Some components of the CRP, an automaticirrigation controller based on sap flowmeasurements. Photo Dr. J.E. Fernández (seeFernández et al. 2008. Aust. J. Agr. Res.59:589-598 for details).

Calibrating the compensation heat-pulse method. (A) Set up for olive. (B) Perfusion experiment for orange. (C) Excision experiment for orange.Photo Dr. J.E. Fernández (see Fernández et al. 2006. Tree Physiol. 26:719-728 for details).

A CB

In the last Section, Prof. Cermák related theexperience of his team with the Trunk HeatBalance method and the Heat FieldDeformation (HFD) method for characterizingthe tree architecture and functioning, includingthe root system. Measurements with the HFDmethod can provide data not only on thedynamics of the sap flow in trunks, branchesand roots, but also on its radial pattern. Theeffective structural and architectonical parame-ters of crowns or roots can then be derived. Therest of the contributions within this Sectionaddressed a variety of mechanisms related tothe hydraulic characteristics of the xylem in dif-ferent organs, and how they vary depending ontime, phenological stage and environmentalconditions.

The outstanding standard of most presenta-tions created interesting discussions after eachoral contribution, which were completed in theopen forum at the end of each Section. This,

ISHS • 44

The Audience just before starting one of the afternoon sections.

CONTACT

Dr. Enrique Fernández, Instituto de RecursosNaturales y Agrobiología, Avenida ReinaMercedes n.º 10, 41012-Sevilla, Spain, Phone:+34 954 62 47 11 (ext. 173), Fax: +34 954 6240 02, email: [email protected]

together with the variety of data storage andtransmission systems, equipments and sensorsdisplayed by the manufacturers attending theworkshop, gave the attendants a comprehen-sive but detailed picture of the limitations aswell as performance and capabilities of theexisting sap flow systems, including the aspectsin which the most promising advances areexpected.

On the second day of the workshop, after theISHS meeting, we had a guided visit to the

Reales Alcázares, a palace from the VIII centurywith nice examples of the most representativearchitectonical stiles of the history of Seville.After the visit, we enjoyed some specialties ofthe Sevillian gastronomy during the gala dinner.

Before closing the workshop, it was announcedthat Prof. Raoul Lemeur (Ghent University,Belgium) accepted to be the person in chargeof materializing one of the initiatives discussedin the meeting: the writing of a report on units,symbols and terminology for sap flow, which

will likely be published in the issue of ActaHorticulturae with the proceedings of theWorkshop.

Business meeting

An ISHS business meeting was held on the sec-ond day of the workshop, led by Prof. IsabelFerreira, Chair of the ISHS CommissionIrrigation and Plant Water Relations. The aimsof the meeting were to announce the proposalfor a new Working Group on Sap Flow, to electits Chairperson, and to decide on the next edi-tion of the Workshop. Dr. Enrique Fernándezwas unanimously elected as Chairman of thenew Working Group. It was also agreed thatthe 8th edition of the Workshop would beorganized by a group of Italian scientists (Dr.Luca Sebastiani - Santa Anna University, Pisa(Convener); Dr. Roberto Tognetti - University ofMolise, Isernia; Dr. Riccardo D’Andria - CNR-ISAFOM, Ercolano; Dr. Antonio Motisi -University of Palermo). The expected date forthis 8th edition is March 2011.

Enrique Fernández

Commission Quality and Post HarvestHorticulture

Third Int’l Symposium PostharvestUnlimited 2008

The Third International Symposium Post-harvest Unlimited 2008, organized by theLeibniz-Institute for Agricultural EngineeringPotsdam-Bornim, ATB, under the auspices ofthe EU-Action COST 924 and ISHS was held atHumboldt University to Berlin, on 4 to 7November 2008.

About 150 participants from 34 countries pre-sented 54 oral presentations in two sessions,including five invited lectures and 80 posters.The poster presentation and the coffee andlunch breaks together took place in the ThaerAtrium, a 120-year-old columned hall, protrud-ed by the statue of Albrecht Daniel Thaer(1752-1828), one of the founders of theAgricultural Faculty at Humboldt University toBerlin. He was a renowned German agronomist

and an avid supporter of the humus theory forplant nutrition.

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Martin Geyerfrom ATB welcomed the participants by proxyProf. Dr. Brunsch, Scientific Director of ATB.Prof. Bart Nicolaï, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven(Belgium), Chair of the Cost Action 924“Enhancement and Preservation of Quality andHealth Promoting Components in Fresh Fruitsand Vegetables”, presented the action.Additionally Prof. Pietro Tonutti, Pisa (Italy),Chair of the ISHS Commission Quality and PostHarvest Horticulture, gave an overview on theInternational Society for Horticultural Science.

“Postharvest Unlimited” is dealing with allscientific questions related to the behaviour of

fruit, vegetables and ornamentals during andafter harvest. Subjects like storage, packagingand safety are discussed as well as questionsabout pre-harvest treatments and their effecton the postharvest behaviour, i.e. the non-destructive determination of the ripeness state,genomics or climatic effects.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

The meeting was segmented in 5 scientific sec-tions, which were each opened by invited lec-tures.

S1: Improvement the agri-food chain interms of quality, healthiness and safety: Dr.Ian Ferguson from HortResearch Auckland,


New Zealand, presented his lecture about fruitgenomics and postharvest fruit quality. Theincreasing availability of genomic data formajor fruit crops is supporting the drive todevelop new and novel fruit cultivars with con-sumer-driven attributes. These are changingfrom the traditional properties of taste and tex-ture, to those which have most appeal in inter-national markets, including human healthattributes, novelty, such as new colours andappearance, and convenience, including prop-

erties such as peelability and controlled ripening(ready-to-eat).

S2: Postharvest physiology and meta-bolomics: the interaction of postharvestscenarios with biochemical and physiologi-cal aspects and processes: Two invited lec-tures were given in this session: “Effect ofpostharvest conditions and treatments onhealth-related quality of vegetables and fruits”by Dr. Gunnar B. Bengtsson, Matforsk As,

The participants of Postharvest Unlimited 2008 in front of the main building of the Agricultural Faculty at Humboldt University to Berlin.

Lunch break and poster presentation took place in the Thaer Atrium.

Norway, and “Ripening regulation and posthar-vest fruit quality” by Dr. Josef Streif, Kompe-tenzzentrum für Obstbau Bodensee, Ravens-burg, Germany.

Bengtsson described that a large intake of veg-etables and fruits reduces the risk of severalchronic diseases. The health-promoting effectscould be due to physiologically active con-stituents among the thousands of phytochemi-cals, in addition to nutrients, that are present.Experiments with cell cultures, animal modelsand humans have revealed specific bioactivities.A direct antioxidant effect in the body may beinsignificant for phytochemicals that are antiox-idants in vitro. Instead, health-promoting phy-tochemicals can act by other mechanisms, e.g.induce phase II enzymes in drug metabolism,modulate intracellular signalling pathways,inhibit tumour growth or initiate apoptosis incancer cells.

Dr. Streif showed that fruit ripening is a highlyregulated process with coordinated genetic andmetabolic events, leading to essential changesin gene expression, physiology, biochemistryand anatomy. These complex regulatory eventstransform a physiologically mature but inediblefruit into an edible, tasty product. Innovationsin CA technology like dynamic controlledatmospheres (DCA) and/or the use of the chem-ical ethylene inhibitor (1-MCP) are new tools forthe enhancement and preservation of qualityand health promoting components in climac-teric fruit. In future, postharvest researchers willbe challenged to meet consumer requirementswith fruit that is well flavoured and nutritious.

ISHS • 46

CONTACT

Dr. M. Geyer and Dr. W.B. Herppich, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim, Department Horticultural Engineering,Max-Eyth-Allee 100, D-14469 Potsdam,Germany, email: [email protected] [email protected]

S3: Alternative methods for increasingshelf life and safety: 33 papers and posterswere presented in this session dealing with spe-cific treatments against pathogens like aceticacid vapour, limonene hydroperoxides, oratmospheric pressure plasma treatment.

S4: Non-destructive methods for qualityassessment: This session was opened by a lec-ture of Dr. Renfu Lu, East Lansing, Michigan,USA. He gave an overview of emerging tech-nologies that show great potential for non-destructive assessment of the quality and char-acteristics of horticultural products. Heexplained sorting and grading for internal qual-ity (i.e., flavour, texture and/or aroma) is criticalfor ensuring consistent, high quality horticultur-al products. Currently, machine vision technolo-gy is widely adopted for sorting and gradingfresh horticultural products for appearance

(size, shape and colour). More advanced tech-nologies, such as near-infrared spectroscopy,are being used in some modern packinghousesfor quality grading.

S5: Modelling as a tool for integration andmanagement of the whole chain: Dr. AlexC.R. van Schaik, Wageningen, The Netherlands,opened this session with his lecture about theimportance of the ISAFRUIT project forEuropean fruit growers, fruit market and con-sumers. The main goal is to contribute to ahealthier diet by improving the quality, appeal,and consumption of fruit. This project withmore than 60 participants from 16 Europeancountries focuses on different topics in 8 differ-ent pillars.

The symposium offered a wide range of topicscovering almost all aspects of postharvest treat-

ments of fruit and vegetables. The proceedingsof the symposium will be published as a volumeof Acta Horticulturae.

Martin Geyer and Werner B. Herppich

FROM THE SECRETARIAT

New ISHS MembersISHS is pleased to welcome the followingnew members:

NEW INSTITUTIONALMEMBERS:

Canada: Vineland Research and Innovation Ctr.

NEW INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS:

Afghanistan: Mr. Arne Winther Andersen;Argentina: Dr. Angela Virginia Etcheverry;Australia: Dr. Doris T. Blaesing, Dr. DugaldClose, Mr. Mark Hoult, Lisa Hurry, BeverleyJackson, Ms. Michelle Lowrie, Greg Mathews,Mr. John Moriconi, Mr. Paul Purvis, Dr. DarioStefanelli, Mr. Tim Sulemani, Michael Tarr, Mr.Nico van Rooijen; Austria: Robert Gölles,Barbara Schildberger; Barbados: Mr. MichaelBarrow, Ms. Olivia Franklin; Belgium: Mr. MarioFrans, Dr. Bruno Gobin, Mr. Leo Raeymaeckers,Mr. Ben Rockefeller, Mr. Koen Vandezande, Mr.Kurt Verhelst; Brazil: Prof. Dr. Idemir Citadin,Prof. Odaci F. De Oliveira, Ms. Josianny Farias;Canada: Mr. Réjean Bacon, Mr. Bruce Chedzoy,Assist. Prof. Danielle Dagenais, Dr. SamirDebnath, Pam Fisher, Dr. Valérie Gravel, BettinaHarvey, Mr. Sebastian Margarit, Ms. ChristianeMenard, Dr. Claudine Menard, Ms. Emily Paige,Steeve Pepin, Mr. Alex Turkewitsch, Mr. LenZapalowski; Chile: Riccardo Gatti; China: Dr.Liying Chang, Prof. Liqun Hou, Prof. Dr.Danfeng Huang, Assist. Prof. Qingliang Niu,

Prof. Dr. Jisen Shi, Mr. Guoping Wang, ZhaoWenjun, Assist. Prof. Mengli Xi, Mr. Xuebin Yu;Colombia: Dr. Alexander Rebolledo; Croatia:Ms. Sanja Fabek, Mr. Damir Gojmerac;Denmark: Ms. Dorrit Andersen, Dr. BrianChristensen; Ecuador: Alejandra Larrea Bueno;El Salvador: Mr. Erick Carpaño, AdelioQuinteros; France: Ms. Annick Bellamy, MichelCarail, Catherine Caris-Veyrat, Dr. AmélieChaigneau, Christian Ginies, Pascale Goupy, Mr.David Gregori, Mr. Jacques Max Lassez, MiguelLevalet, Michèle Loonis, Mr. Gilles Merlin, DavidPage, Mr. Anthony Peccoux, Sylvaine Regis,Maryse Reich, Ms. Sylvie Bureau, Marie-JoséVallier, Dr. Véronique Vidal, Charles Wildenberg;Germany: Dr. Bernhard Brückner, Hans-MartinLuckhaupt, Dr. Wolfram Spreer; Greece: Ms.Konstantinos Bertsouklis, Dr. EfimiaDermesonluoglu, Mr. George Pantelidis, Dr.Angeliki Paraskevopoulou; Hong Kong: Mr.Peter John Keller; Hungary: Mr. Csaba Fodor,Attila Hegedus, Katalin Magyarné Tábori,Gyözö Szenci, Orsolya Terék, Emese Veres;India: Dr. R. Chithiraichelvan, Dr. SandhyaGupta, Balu Paulose Maliakel, Mr. ShrikantNene, Mr. Calyon Nidamarthy, Mr. Keshab C.Pradhan, Mr. Sunil Shah; Ireland: Ms. AdeleWoods; Israel: Mr. Gil GIvoni, Mr. Uri Palatnik;Italy: Dr. Alessandro Cerutti, Dr. Iban Eduardo,Mr. Anton Neulichedl, Dr. Carlo Sassi, Prof.Giorgio Valentini; Japan: Dr. Teruo Nonomura,Dr. Hitoshi Ohara, Dr. Tsuyoshi Okayama, RyojiTsuji, Dr. Masato Tsuro; Jordan: Mr. Majeed Al

Rawi; Kenya: Mr. David Bombo; Malaysia: Mr.Jason Chee, Ms. Goh Elcy, Dr. Melor Rejab, Dr.Chandran Somasundram; Mexico: Mr.Mauricio Hernandez; Mozambique: Dr.Leonardo Simao; Netherlands: Mr. Jelger deVriend, Mr. Niels Kruize, Mr. FranciscusMeddens, L.J.M. van der Knaap, Mr. DamienVinet, Mr. Zixiao Wang; New Zealand: AnaAloma, Ms. Mary Black; Nigeria: Ms. RitaAdeboye, Oderonke Ms. Ige, Mr. JosephOwholo; Norway: Dr. Leiv Mortensen, Mr. JanOve Nes; Pakistan: Assist. Prof. Atif Riaz; Peru:Mr. Enrique Rebaza; Philippines: Prof. EufemioRasco; Poland: Mr. Leonard Klaassen;Portugal: Antonio Batalha, Ana MariaCarvalho, Dr. Manuel Guerra; Puerto Rico:Carlos L. Gonzalez Vargas; Romania: Ms. ErsiliaAlexa, Prof. Dr. Alexandru Apahidean, Prof. Dr.Maria Apahidean, Prof. Dr. Maria Bala, Dr.Cristian Berar, Prof. Dr. Viorel Berar, Prof. Dr.Gheorghe Carciu, Prof. Dr. Sorin Ciulca, Dr.Marcel Costache, Prof. Dr. Lucia Draghia, Dr.Aneta Anca Dragunescu, Prof. Dr. GicaGradinariu, Dr. Alexandra Indreias, Dr. OlimpiaAlina Iordanescu, Dr. Victor Lacatus, Prof. Dr.Aurel Lazureanu, Prof. Dr. Emilian VasileMadosa, Dr. Madalina Militaru, Dr. MihailPisargeac, Assist. Prof. Ioana Delia Pop, Dr.Daniela Sabina Posta, Dr. Gheorghe Posta, Dr.Ioan Sarac, Dr. Dorin-Ioan Sumedrea, CristianUrzica; Saint Lucia: Mr. Julius Polius; SaudiArabia: Mohammed Alzamil, Mr. Irshad Dalvi,Prof. Dr. Abdulaziz Ghazy; Singapore: Mr.


Kenneth Er; Slovak Republic: Dr. DanielaBenedikova; South Africa: Mr. Jack De Mooij,Mr. Victor dos Santos, Mr. Francois Geldenhuys,Mr. Manus Meyer, Mr. Jack Wittles; Spain:Pixelwalk-Buckentin, Laura del Grosso, Mr.Mario Esteban, Dr. Maria Victoria Gonzalez-Dugo, Carmen Leida, Mr. Thomas Lund, Dr.Maria del Henar Prieto, Dr. Gabino Rios, LauraSoler Markessinis, Alexia Stellfeldt, Mr. OscarVila; Sweden: Mr. Karl-Erik Gustavsson, Ms.Lotta Nordmark; Switzerland: Dr. Lutz Collet,Mr. Jonas Schenk; Syria: Ms. Roula Ali-Adeeb;Chinese Taipei: Ms. Lanyen Chang, Dr. Sy-WenLeu, Dr. You-Xiu Zheng; Thailand: Dr. NaokoKozai, Mr. Sten Kreuger, Dr. Jamorn Somana;Turkey: Dr. Hakan Aktas, Mr. Ali Bayraktaroglu,Prof. Dr. Neriman Beyhan, Dr. Fadıl Elçin, Dr.Noyan Kusman, Dr. Okan Özkaya, Dr. MuratSeker, Mr. Yavuz Taner; United Arab Emirates:Ms. Toni Brady; United Kingdom: Dr. Ken

Browne, Mr. Tom Burrow, Mr. Dale Dempsey,Mr. Colin Dixon, Mr. Mick Farrelly, Mr. NevilleFay, Mr. Peter Hingley, Dr. Jason Holohan, Mr.Aidan Menzies, Mr. Oliver Moreton, Ms. AmyRamirez Canessa, Mr. David Tyler; UnitedStates of America: Sam Allen, Dr. Lori Berger,Mr. Blaine Carian, Mr. Shelby Carvalho, Dr. ToddCavins, Dr. Ann Chase, Ariana Cohen, LorrieCooper, Mr. Edmund Crabb, Ms. Daedre Craig,Dr. John Crooks, Mr. Mark De La Mater,Kimberly Eads, Dr. Nicolas Ellis, Amadeus Fahey,Mr. Matthew Fahy, Julie Fallon, David Ford,Rosanna Garcia, Grania Garnighian, LauraGiraldi, Dr. Jorge W. Gonzales, Mr. RickGreenfield, Harold GrubeOBrien, Xiaojun He,Ren Heard, Ms. Shelly Hensarling, NoelHernandez, Ms. Hong Hu, Dr. Daniel Jacques,Ms. Susan Jayne, Dr. Sergio Jimenez Tarodo, Mr.Craig Kallsen, Ms. Verdean Keyser, Bob Klittich,Alan Leonard, Joel Leusink, Mr. William

MacKay, Mr. Charles Mann, Mr. ThomasManning, Ms. Marilena Marrelli, Mr. FritzMaytag, Kari Mazzaferro, Dr. Wes McConnell,Sandra Mendler, Timothy Miller, Susan Mintun,Kenneth Mohler, Robert Morris, Mr. ScottMurphy, Dr. Paul O’Neill, Dr. Mechel Paggi, Ms.Lisa Pearson, Mr. Michael Quinn, Dr. TheodoreRadovich, Manuel Rivera, Dr. James Robbins,John Roemer, Mr. Raymond Schmitten, Ms.Libby Scott, Troy Shigenaga, Ms. Rhonda Smith,Kerstin Sobottka, Assist. Prof. James Spiers, Mr.Janice Steinbrenner, Mr. Grant Stoaks, Mr.Gustavo Tassara, Mr. Gabriel Virbila, Dr. RonaldF. Walden, Dr. Richard Wallace, Terry Weaver,Mr. Terence Welch, Mr. Kevin Wells, Mary KayWells, Ms. Ann Welniak, Mr. Douglas Young,Mr. Michael Young, Dr. Dapeng Zhang;Venezuela: Mr. Juan Vera, Gustavo Zurita;Virgin Islands: Ms. Eleanor Gibney

In Memoriam

PROFESSOR DR. PÉTERTÉTÉNYI (1924-2009)

Only a couple of weeks ago did we receive thenews from the Tétényi family that another greatpersonalilty of medicinal and aromatic plantresearch has passed away.

Professor Péter Tétényi, former Director of theResearch Institute for Medicinal Plants (1957-1990), Budakalász (Hungary), correspondingmember of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy inBarcelona, corresponding member of theNational Academy of Pharmacy of France, andhonorary member of the International Societyfor Horticultural Science, passed away at theage of 85 years.

Born in a lawyer family in 1924, he perusedhorticultural studies and graduated in Budapestin 1947. Thereafter he stayed for severalmonths in Sweden and Belgium, followed byFrance. Between 1950 and 1957 he worked as

an Assistant Professor at the University ofAgriculture, Budapest and engaged himself inthe study of peanuts. He defended hisCandidates Thesis (equivalent of PhD) on theontogenesis of peanut in 1955.

Following his appointment to the position ofDirector of the Research Institute for Medicinaland Aromatic Plants, he reorganized theInstitute, setting new research directions, and itwas during this time that the Institute moved toa new location, in Budakalász, where optimalpreconditions for research were given. It wasduring this period that he conceived hisresearch credo by creating the synthesis of bio-logical, chemical and agricultural aspects ofmedicinal and aromatic plants. His name andactivities formed a close entity with theresearch institute created by him, making it wellknown and appreciated all over the world. Assynthesis of his chemotaxonomic researches hewrote and defended his Thesis on the“Infraspecific chemical taxa and the breedingof medicinal plants” for the Doctor Degree inBiological Science of the Hungarian Academyof Sciences in 1964. His volume “InfraspecificChemical Taxa of Medicinal Plants”, publishedin New York, meant a milestone in plant taxon-omy. He coauthored 10 volumes, wrote 10book chapters and more than 250 scientificpublications. He was equally successful in thebreeding of medicinal and aromatic plants bybeing co-owner of 42 patents and 14 regis-tered medicinal plant cultivars.

As an Honorary Professor and member of theJózsef Attila University, Szeged, the Palatzky

University, Olomouc, and the Research Institutefor Medicinal Plants, Poznan, he tutored thescientific work of numerous Hungarian and for-eign scientific scholars (among them being alsothe writer of these lines).

By many he will be remembered due to hisscience political, organizational activities.Among others he played a leading role in theHungarian Agricultural Society, the HungarianPharmaceutical Society and was member of var-ious professional committees of the HungarianAcademy of Sciences, the Commission forScientific Qualification and others.

Internationally he was equally very active. Heplayed a similarly conspicuous and importantrole in the life of the Federation InternationalPharmaceutique, being Vice-Chair and subse-quently Chair of the Section Medicinal Plants,1972-80. He was also member of the Anti DrugCommission of FAO (1972-80).

Professor Tétényi was elected correspondingmember to the Royal Academy of Pharmacy inBarcelona (1982), and the National Academy ofPharmacy of France (1980).

His work had also a significant impact on thespecial literature of medicinal and aromaticplant research. He was Editor-in-Chief of theinternationally recognized Herba Hungarica andthe Newsletter Medicinal and Aromatic Plants(1961-1991), whereby he held positions on theeditorial board of several scientific journals, likePlantes Medicinales et Phytotherapie (Angers,France); Quarterly Journal of Crude DrugResearch (Amsterdam, Holland); Herbs, Spicesand Medicinal Plants (Phoenix, Arizona).

Professor Dr. Péter Tétényi

ISHS • 48

He will be remembered as lecturer, organizerand/or chairman of numerous scientific meet-ings and conferences on all five continents or asa recognized UNIDO, FAO consulting expert invarious countries, like Japan, Argentina,Madagascar, Nepal, Burma, Algeria, andZaire/Congo.

Within ISHS he was the first Chairman of theWorking Group Medicinal Plant Production,established in 1977, out of which the presentSection Medicinal and Aromatic Plants wasfounded at the International HorticulturalCongress, Hamburg, in 1982. He maintainedthe chairmanship until 1990. In 1992 finally, heacted as Congress President of WOCMAP I (the

1st World Congress on Medicinal and AromaticPlants for Human Welfare), Maastricht, TheNetherlands.

In recognition of his longstanding services tothe International Society of HorticulturalScience he was given in 1996 honorary mem-bership in ISHS.

In the person of Professor Tétényi, the medici-nal and aromatic plant profession has lost oneof the representatives of its “great generation”.The generation of the “postwar period”, whenMAP’s research had excellent opportunities inEurope, and within this in the central Europeancountries. By making good use of these oppor-tunities in a creative, positive way and raising

Hungarian medicinal and aromatic plantresearch to the highest European standards,Professor Tétényi’s merit was to exert a positiveinfluence on international collaboration. Eventsof these, the numerous conferences, meetings,excursions or simply visits, will be rememberedby many, but especially the international MAP’sscientific community.

Prof. Dr. Chlodwig Franz, Past President of ICMAPProf. Dr. Ákos Máthé, Chair ISHS Section Medicinal

and Aromatic Plants

For updates and more logon to www.ishs.org/calendar. To claimthe reduced registration for ISHS members make sure your ISHSmembership is current and mention your membership numberwhen registering. See www.ishs.org/directory/ if in doubt regar-ding your ISHS membership status.

YEAR 2009

� June 17-21, 2009, Ljubljana (Slovenia): IV InternationalSymposium on Breeding Research in Medicinal and AromaticPlants. Biodiversity conservation and use of genetic resources.Info: Prof. Dr. Dea Baricevic, University of Ljubljana, BiotechnicalFaculty, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Phone:(386)41776653, Fax: (386)14231088,E-mail: [email protected]

� June 23-27, 2009, Dharwad (Karnataka State) (India):II International Symposium on Pomegranate and Minor, includ-ing Mediterranean, Fruits. Info: Dr. Jagadish Hanamant Kulkarni,University of Agricultural Sciences, UAS, Dharwad 580 005,Karnataka, India. Phone: (91)8362447783, Fax: (91)8362448349, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Mohammed Kaiser Sheikh,College of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Bijapur 586 104,Karnataka, India. Phone: (91)08352267378,Fax: (91)08352267378, E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.uasd.edu/pomegranatesymposium/

� June 28 - July 3, 2009, Chiang Mai (Thailand): V InternationalSymposium on Horticultural Research, Training and Extension.Info: Dr. Peter J. Batt, Horticulture, Curtin University of Technology,GPO box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Phone: (61)8 92667596, Fax: (61)8 9266 3063, E-mail: [email protected] orAssociate Professor Dr. David Aldous, 37 McCartney Street, Ormiston,QLD 4160, Australia. Phone: (61)07 3821 2082Web: http://www.muresk.curtin.edu.au/conference/ishset

� June 28 - July 3, 2009, Chiang Mai (Thailand): XVI InternationalSymposium on Horticultural Economics and Management. Info:Dr. Peter J. Batt, Horticulture, Curtin University of Technology, GPObox U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Phone: (61)8 9266 7596, Fax:(61)8 9266 3063, E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Dr. Peter P.Oppenheim, Deakin Business School, Deakin University, 70 Elgar Rd,Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia. Phone: (61)3 9244 5549,Fax: (61)3 9244 5040 Web: http://www.muresk.curtin.edu.au/confer-ence/ishsem

Calendar of ISHS Events� July 20-24, 2009, San Jose (Costa Rica): International Symposium

on Advances in Postharvest Technology and Quality Assurancefor Fruits and Vegetables of Interest for the Tropics. Info: Dr.Felipe Arauz, Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto de InvestigacionesAgrícolas, 2050 San Jose, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Costa Rica.Phone: (506) 2511 3183, Fax: (506) 2225 0064, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://agro.ucr.ac.cr/postharvest/

� July 29 - August 1, 2009, Corvallis, Oregon (United States ofAmerica): International Symposium on Molecular Markers inHorticultural Species. Info: Dr. Nahla V. Bassil, Plant Geneticist,Nat’l Clone Germplasm Repository, 33447 Peoria Road, Corvallis, OR97331-23521, United States of America. Phone: (1)5417384214,Fax: (1)5417384205, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail sym-posium: [email protected] Web:http://oregonstate.edu/conferences/molecularmarkers2009/

� August 3-5, 2009, Bangkok (Thailand): Southeast AsiaSymposium on Quality and Safety of Fresh and Fresh CutProduce: SEAsia2009. Info: Dr. Sirichai Kanlayanarat, KingMongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi, Division ofPostharvest Technology, Thungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.Phone: (66)2 470 7720, Fax: (66)2 452 3750, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected]: http://www.kmutt.ac.th/SEAsia2009

� August 31 - September 3, 2009, Nairobi (Kenya): I All AfricanHorticultural Congress. Info: Dr. Ephraim A. Mukisira, KARI, POBox 57811-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Phone: (254)204183323, Fax:(254)204183344, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Lusike Wasilwa,KARI, Horticulture and Industrial Crops, PO Box 57811, Nairobi00200, Kenya. Phone: (254)20 418 3301, Fax: (254)20 418 3344, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected]: http://www.globalhort.org/news-events/all-africa-horticulture-congress/

� August 31 - September 4, 2009, Wageningen (Netherlands): XXIIIEucarpia Symposium on Ornamentals - Colorful Breeding andGenetics. Info: Dr. J.M. Van Tuyl, Plantbreeding, WageningenUniversity & Research Center, Droevendaalse steeg 1, 6708 PBWageningen, Netherlands. Phone: (31)317477329, Fax:(31)317418094, E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.orna-mentalbreeding.nl/

� September 13-18, 2009, Leuven (Belgium): VII InternationalSymposium on Chemical and non-Chemical Soil and SubstrateDisinfestation. Info: Dr. Abraham Gamliel, Institute of Agricultural

NEW

NEW


Engineering, Agricultureal Research Organization ARO, P.O. Box 6,Bet Dagan 50250, Israel. Phone: (972)3-9683505, Fax: (972)3-9604704, E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Dr. Ir. J. Coosemans,Labo Phytopath.& Plantprotection, K.U. Leuven, Willem de Croylaan42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Phone: (32)16322733, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://ishs-horticulture.org/soildisin-fest2009/

� September 14-18, 2009, Guangzhou, Guangdong (China):International ISHS-ProMusa Symposium: Global Perspectiveson Asian Challenges. Info: Prof. Dr. Ganjun Yi, Fruit Tree ResearchInstitute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wushan,Guangzhou Guangdong 510640, China. Phone: (86)2038765869 or13302200898, Fax: (86)2038765626, E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Augustin B. Molina, Bioversity Asia & The Pacific, 3rd Floor,Collaborator Centre, c/o IRRI Khush Hall, Los Baños, Laguna 4031,Philippines. Phone: (63)495360532, Fax: (63)495360532, E-mail:[email protected] or Dr. Inge Van den Bergh, BioversityInternational, 1990 Boulevard de la Lironde, Parc ScientifiqueAgropolis II, 34397 Montpellier, France. Phone: (33)4-67611302, Fax:(33)4-67610334, E-mail: [email protected] Web:http://www.promusa.org/symposium_2009/home.html

� September 20-24, 2009, Bologna (Italy): XI InternationalSymposium on Plant Bioregulators in Fruit Production. Info:Prof. Guglielmo Costa, Ordinario di Arboricoltura Generale,Dipartimento di Colture Arboree, Via G. Fanin 46, 40127 Bologna,Italy. Phone: (39)051 20 9 6443, Fax: (39)051 20 9 6401, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ishs.pbr.bologna2009.it/

� September 21-26, 2009, Changsha, Hunan (China):IV International Cucurbit Symposium. Info: Prof. Xiaowu Sun,No.587, Dongda Road, Shaoyang City, Hunan, 422001, China.Phone: (86)739-5050618, Fax: (86)739-5050652 E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.cucurbit2009.org

� September 27 - October 1, 2009, Murcia (Spain): V InternationalSymposium on Seed, Transplant and Stand Establishment:Integrating Methods for Producing More with Less. Info: Dr.Francisco Perez-Alfocea, Dept. Of Irrigation and Salinity, CEBAS -CSIC, PO Box 4195, 30080 Murcia, Spain. Phone: (34)968396200,Fax: (34)968396213, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Jose A.Pascual Valero, CEBAS-CSIS, Campus Univ. De Espinardo s/n, 30100Murcia, Spain. Phone: (34)968396200, Fax: (39)968396213, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.sest2009.com

� September 29 - October 3, 2009, Meknes (Morocco):IV International Symposium on Fig. Info: Prof. Dr. MessaoudiZerhoune, Dept. Arboriculture-Viticulture, Ecole Nationaled’Agriculture de Meknes, B.P. S/40, 50000 Meknes, Morocco. Phone:(212)61353653, Fax: (212)35300238, E-mail: [email protected] symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ficus2009.ma/

� October 3-5, 2009, Nasser City, Cairo (Egypt): XIII InternationalConference and Exhibition: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants -Challenges and Opportunities. Info: Prof. Dr. Ismail Abdel-Galil,Desert Research Center, 1, Mothaf El-Matariya, Cairo, Egypt. Phone:(20)226374800, Fax: (20)226357858, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Farouk El-Shobaki, ESMAP, 6, Dr. Farouk El-ShobakiStreet, El-Koum El-Akhdar, Pyramids, Giza, Egypt. Phone:(20)233869898, Fax: (20)233841120, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected]: http://www.ishs.org/calendar/esmap.jpg

� October 4-6, 2009, Manhattan, KS (United States of America):X International People Plant Symposium - IPPS2009: TheTerminology of Human Issues in Horticulture. Info: Dr. CandiceShoemaker, 2021 Throckmorton, Department of Hort, Forestry, Rec

Res, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States ofAmerica. E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/ipps2009/

� October 6-10, 2009, Sanliurfa (Turkey): V InternationalSymposium on Pistachios and Almonds. Info: Prof. Dr. Bekir ErolAk, University of Harran, Faculty of Agriculture, 63200 Sanliurfa,Turkey. Phone: (90)4143440017, Fax: (90)4143440073, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://ziraat.harran.edu.tr/symposium2009/

� October 13-16, 2009, Cuneo (Italy): I European Congress onChestnut - Castanea 2009. Food, Timber, Biomass and Energy.Info: Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Bounous, Dipartimento di Colture Arboree,Università degli studi di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095Grugliasco, TO, Italy. Phone: (39)0116708653, Fax: (39)0116708658,E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.arboree.unito.it/cas-tanea2009

� October 18-21, 2009, Avignon (France): III InternationalSymposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables- FAVHEALTH 2009. Info: Marie Josephine Amiot Carlin, UniversitéAix-Marseille I & II, Faculté de Médecine de la Timone, 27 BoulevardJean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France. Phone:(33)491294091, E-mail: [email protected] or GillesFayard, Pole Europeen Innovation Fruits - Légumes, rue Pierre Bayle,BP 11548, 84916 Avignon Cedex, France. Phone: (33)490315881,Fax: (33)490315521, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail sympo-sium: [email protected] Web:http://favhealth2009.com/

� October 29 - November 1, 2009, Lima (Peru): XII InternationalAsparagus Symposium. Info: Prof. Andres V. Casas Diaz, Dept. OfHorticulture, Univ. Nac. Agraria - La Molina, Apdo. 12-056, Lima 12,Peru. Phone: (51)13485796, Fax: (51)13481660, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ias2009peru.com/

� November 2-6, 2009, Viña del Mar (Chile): VI InternationalSymposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops. Info: Dr. SamuelOrtega-Farias, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile. Phone: (56)71200214, Fax:(56)71200214, E-mail: [email protected] or Gabriel Selles, Inst. DeInvest. Agro., Santa Rosa 11610, Santiago, Chile. Phone:(56)27575105, E-mail: [email protected] or Nelson Pereira Muñoz,National Irrigation Commission, Alameda B. O’Higgins 1449, Piso 4°,Santiago, Chile. Phone: (56)024257914, Fax: (56)024257901, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.irrigation2009.cl/

� November 15-19, 2009, Tsukuba (Japan): VI InternationalSymposium on Light in Horticulture. Info: Eiji Goto, ChibaUniversity, 648 Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan. Phone: (81)47-308-8841, Fax: (81)47-308-8842, E-mail: [email protected] E-mailsymposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.lightsym2009.jp

� November 15-19, 2009, Napier (New Zealand): Postharvest Pacifica2009 - Pathways to Quality. Info: Dr. Allan Woolf, Plant and FoodResearch, Mt Albert Research Centre, 120 Mt Albert Rd, Mt Albert,Private Bag 92169, Auckland, New Zealand. Phone: (64)99257267,Fax: (64)99258628, E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Dr.Errol W. Hewett, Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Science, Instituteof Food, Nutrition & Human Health, PO Box 158, Oneroa, WaihekeIsland, 1820 Auckland, New Zealand. Phone: (64) 9 372 7576, Fax:(64) 9 372 7576, E-mail: [email protected] symposium: [email protected]: http://www.postharvestpacifica.org.nz/

� November 15-19, 2009, Reñaca, Viña del Mar (Chile):VI International Cherry Symposium. Info: Dr. Marlene Ayala,Departamento de Fruticultura y Enología, Facultad de Agronomía eIngeniería Forestal, Casilla 306 Correo 22, Santiago, Chile. Phone:(56)6864159, Fax: (56)5534130, E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Juan

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Pablo Zoffoli, Av Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Dept. Fruticultura yEnologia, Santiago 30622, Chile. Phone: (56)2 686 4159, Fax: (56)25534130, E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.cherrychile2009.cl/

� November 25-27, 2009, New Delhi (India): II InternationalSymposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants. Info: Dr.Sushil Chandra Mahapatra, All India Institute for Medical Sciences,Nutrition&Phytomed. Lab, - Dept. Physiology, Ansari Nagar, NewDelhi 110 608, India. Phone: (91)1126594812, Fax:(91)1126588641, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail sympo-sium: [email protected] Web: http://ismnp2009.org/

� November 30 - December 2, 2009, Catania (Italy): II InternationalCitrus Biotechnology Symposium. Info: Prof. Dr. AlessandraGentile, Istituto Coltivazioni Arboree, Via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123Catania, Italy. Phone: (39)095234430, Fax: (39)095234406, E-mail:[email protected] or Prof. Dr. Eugenio Tribulato, University of Catania,via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]

� December 6-10, 2009, Nazareth (Israel): International OliveIrrigation and Oil Quality Symposium. Info: Prof. Shimon Lavee,Institute of Plant Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew Universityof Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Phone: (972)8-948-9635, Fax:(972)8-948-9899, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Uri Yermiyahu,Gilat Research Center, Soil and Water, Mobile Post Negev 85280,Israel. Phone: (972)89928649, Fax: (972)79926485,E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected]: http://www.olive-irrigation-symposium.org/

YEAR 2010

� January 12-15, 2010, Taichung (Taiwan): I International OrchidSymposium. Info: Dr. Yung-I Lee, Botany Department, NationalMuseum of Natural Science, N0 1, Kuan-Chien Rd., Taichung 404,Taiwan. Phone: (886)-4-23226940-153, Fax: (886)-4-23285320,E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Erik Runkle, A240-C Plant &Soil Sci. Bldg., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824,United States of America. Phone: (1)517.355.5191 x350,Fax: (1)517.353.0890, E-mail: [email protected]: http://hrt.msu.edu/IOS/

� March 8-12, 2010, Sanya, Hainan Island (China): IX InternationalMango Symposium. Info: Dr. Ping Lu, PO Box 42238, Casuarina,NT 0810, Australia. Phone: (61)889 271547, Fax: (61)889 271547,E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Qiubo Chen, ChineseAcademy, Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou, Hainan Province571737, China. Phone: (86)89823300207/196,Fax: (86)89823300157, E-mail: [email protected]

� March 8-13, 2010, Singapore (Singapore): InternationalConference and Exhibition on Soilless Culture - ICESC2010.Info: Dr. Mallick F. Rahman M., Hydroponics & Plant Care Pte LTD,Block461#13-75 Crawford Lane, Singapore 190461, Singapore.Phone: (65)62918153, Fax: (65)62987978, E-mail: [email protected]

� April 19-21, 2010, Shiraz (Iran): International Medicinal andAromatic Plants Symposium 2010: IMAPS2010. Info: Prof.Morteza Khosh-Khui, Department of Horticulture, College ofAgriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. Phone: (98)71643978,Fax: (98)7128193, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. JalalGhaemghami, Director of SHMEN Inc., PO Box 320172, WestRoxbury, MA 02132, United States of America. Phone:(1)6176782157, Fax: (1)3174690024, E-mail: [email protected]: www.imaps2010.com

� May 3-6, 2010, Antakya-Hatay (Turkey): III InternationalSymposium on Loquat. Info: Prof.Dr. A. Aytekin Polat, MustafaKemal University, Faculty of Agriculture, Dept. of Horticulture,Antakya Hatay, 31034, Turkey. Phone: (90)6232455605,Fax: (90)3262455832, E-mail: [email protected]

� June 15-19, 2010, (Turkey): I International Mulberry Symposium.Info: Prof. Dr. Sezai Ercisli, Ataturk University Agricultural Faculty,Department of Horticulture, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey. Phone: (90)442-2312599, Fax: (90) 442 2360958, E-mail: [email protected] symposium: [email protected]

� July 25-30, 2010, Ischia, Naples (Italy): III International Symposiumon Tomato Diseases. Info: Prof.Dr. Aniello Crescenzi, Dip.di Biol,Difesa e Biotech Agro-Forestale, Fac. di Agraria, University ofBasilicata, Via dell’At. Lucano 10, Lotto 3a, Stanza 310, 85100Potenza (Potenza), Italy. Phone: (39)0971205700, Fax:(39)0971205703, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail sympo-sium: [email protected] Web: http://www.3istd.com/

� August 1-5, 2010, Geneva, NY (United States of America):X International Conference on Grapevine Breeding andGenetics. Info: Bruce Reisch, NY State Agric. Exp. Station, 630 W.North Street, Geneva, NY 14456, United States of America. Phone:(1)3157872239, Fax: (1)3157872216, E-mail:[email protected] Web: http://www.grapebreeding2010.com

� August 15-19, 2010, Warsaw (Poland): XII InternationalWorkshop on Fire Blight. Info: Dr. Piotr Sobiczewski, Res. Inst. ofPomology, Ul. Pomologiczna 18, 96-100 Skierniewice, Poland.Phone: (48)46 8332021, Fax: (48)46 8333228, E-mail:[email protected]

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): XXVIII InternationalHorticultural Congress - IHC2010. Info: Prof. Dr. António A.Monteiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical University ofLisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal. Phone:(351)213653451, Fax: (351)213623262, E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Víctor Galán Saúco, Inst. Canario de Inv. Agrar., I.C.I.A.,Apartado 60, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Phone:(34)922476321, Fax: (34)922476303, E-mail: [email protected] E-mailsymposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org

SYMPOSIA AT IHC LISBOA 2010:� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Berries: From

Genomics to Sustainable Production, Quality and Health. Info:Prof. Dr. Bruno Mezzetti, Dip.di Scienze Amb. e delle Prod.Veg.,Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, Ancona60100, Italy. Phone: (39)0712204933, Fax: (39)0712204858, E-mail:[email protected] or Mr. Pedro N. Brás Oliveira, DepartamentoProd. Agricola, Av.da República, Nova Oeiras, 2784-505 Oeiras,Portugal. Phone: (351)214403500, Fax: (351)214411797, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium on Post-har-vest Technology in the Global Market. Info: James R. Gorny,University of California, Davis, USA and Domingos P.F. Almeida,University of Porto, Portugal. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax:(351)214411797, E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Greenhouse2010: Environmentally Sound Greenhouse Production forPeople. Info: Dr. Nicolas Castilla, IFAPA-Centro Camino de Purchil,Camino de Purchil, 55, Apartado 2027, 18004 Granada, Spain.Phone: (34)958895309, Fax: (34)958895203, E-mail:[email protected] or Prof. Dr. Olaf Van Kooten, HorticulturalProduction Chains Group, Marijkeweg 22, 6709 PG Wageningen,Netherlands. Phone: (31)317-484096, Fax: (31)317-484709, E-mail:[email protected] or Dr. Sadanori Sase, National Institute forRural Engineering, Kannondai 2-1-6, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8609,Japan. Phone: (81)298387594, Fax: (81)298387609, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium onHorticultural Crop Genomics. Info: Dr. Kevin Folta, University of

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Florida, Horticultural Sciences Dept., 1301 Fifield Hall, Gainesville, FL32611, United States of America. Phone: (1)352-392-1928 x269, E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Dr. Manuel Talón, IVIA, CentroGenomica, Carretera Moncada - Náquera, Km. 4,5, 46113 Moncada(Valencia), Spain. Phone: (34)96 342 40 00, Fax: (34)96 342 40 01,E-mail: mtalon.ivia.es E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium HortGen:Genetically Modified Horticultural Crops, from the Lab to theField. Info: Prof. Dr. Richard Litz, Tropical Research Education Center,University of Florida, 18905 SW280 St, Homestead FL 33031-3314,United States of America. Phone: (1)305 246 7001, Fax: (1)305 2467003, E-mail: [email protected] or Fernando Pliego Alfaro, University ofMalaga, Department of Plant Biology, Campus de Teatinos S/N,29071 Malaga, Spain. E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium MediterraneanFruits and Nuts: Plant Material and Cropping Issues ofMediterranean Fruits and Nuts for Sustainable Production.Info: Dr. Ignasi Batlle Caravaca, IRTA, Centro de Más Bové, Apartado415, 43280 Reus, Spain. E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. TizianoCaruso, Dipartimento Colture Arboree/Fac.Agraria, Univ.degli Studi diPalermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy. Phone:(39)0916521100, Fax: (39)0916521098, E-mail: [email protected] symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium FAV Health:Emerging Health Issues in Fruits and Vegetables. Info: YvesDejardins, University of Laval, Canada and Francisco Tomás Barberán,CEBAS-CSIC, Spain. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax: (351)214411797,E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Olive Trends:from the Olive Tree to Olive Oil: New Trends and FutureChallenges. Info: Dr. Manuel Pedro Fevereiro, ITQB, Quinta doMarques, Apt 127, 2780 Oeiras, Portugal. Phone: (351)214469447,Fax: (351)214411277, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Joan TousMartí, IRTA, Centre de Mas Bové, Apartat 415, 43280 Reus,Tarragona, Spain. Phone: (34)977328424, Fax: (34)977344055, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Riccardo Gucci, Dipartimento diColtivazione, e Difesa delle Specie Legnose, Via del Borghetto 80,56124 Pisa, Italy. Phone: (39)050571550, Fax: (39)050544420, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Ornamentals:Diversity and Opportunities in Ornamental Horticulture. Info:Julie Plummer, University of Western Australia, Clawley, Australia andPedro Cermeño, IFAPA, Sevilla, Spain. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax:(351)214411797, E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Horticulturefor Development. Info: Dr. Rémi Kahane, Global HorticulturalInitiative, c/o AVRDC, PO Box 10, Duluti - Arusha, Tanzania. Phone:(255)272553093, Fax: (255)272553125, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Lusike Wasilwa, KARI, Horticulture and IndustrialCrops, PO Box 57811, Nairobi 00200, Kenya. Phone: (254)20 4183301, Fax: (254)20 418 3344, E-mail: [email protected] orLuis Manuel Ferro Correia, Rua Centro Transmontanto de S. Paulo n°69, 5370-381 Mirandela, Portugal. E-mail: [email protected] E-mailsymposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium ISAFRUIT:Increasing Consumption of Fruit by Meeting Consumer Needs:Science Overcomes the Bottlenecks. Info: Dr. Ole Callesen,Aarhus Universitet, Fac.of Agric.Sciences - Dept. of Hort.,Kirstinebjergvej 10, 5792 Årslev, Denmark. Phone: (45)8999 3265,Fax: (45)8999 3493, E-mail: [email protected] or Joan Bonany,Mas Badia, 17134 La Tallada, Spain. Phone: (34)972780275, Fax:

(34)972780517, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium GeneticResources: New Tools for the Conservation and Managementof Genetic Resources in Horticulture. Info: Kim E. Hummer,USDA-Corvalis, USA and María José Díez, Polytechnic University ofValencia, Spain. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax: (351)214411797, E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Vegetables:Quality-Chain Management of Fresh Vegetables: From theSeed to the Plate. Info: Eduardo Rosa, University of Trás-os-Montese Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal; Andres Casas, University of LaMolina, Peru and Changhoo Chun, Seoul National University, Korea.Phone: (351)961068237, Fax: (351)214411797, E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium OrganicHort:Sustainability through Integrated and Organic Horticulture.Info: Uygun Aksoy, Ege University, Turkey and Isabel Mourão, ESA-Ponte de Lima, Portugal. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax:(351)214411797, E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium ClimWater2010: Horticultural Use of Water in a Changing Climate. Info:Dr. José Enrique Fernandez, Inst. de Rec. Nat.y Agrobiol., Campus deReina Mercedes, Apartado 1052, 41080 Sevilla, Spain. Phone:(34)954624711, Fax: (34)954624002, E-mail: [email protected] orProf. Dr. Maria Isabel F.R. Ferreira, Instituto Superior de Agronomia,Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Tapada de Ajuda, 1349 - 017 Lisboa,Portugal. Phone: (351)213653476, Fax: (351)213621575, E-mail:[email protected] E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web:http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Viticulture andClimate: Effect of Climate Change on Production and Qualityof Grapevines and their Products. Info: Prof. Dr. HipolitoMedrano, Universitat de les Balears, Departament de Biologia, CrtaValldemossa Km 7,5, Palme de Mallorca 07071, Spain. Phone:(34)971173168, Fax: (34)971173184, E-mail:[email protected] or Prof. Dr. Ben Ami Bravdo, Hebrew Univ.of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, PO Box 12, Rehovot 76-100,Israel. Phone: (972)89489094 or (972)522608068, Fax:(972)89462817, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium on Protea.Info: Kenneth Leonhardt, University of Hawaii, USA and Maria JoséLeandro, Portugal. Phone: (351)961068237, Fax: (351)214411797,E-mail symposium: [email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

� August 22-27, 2010, Lisbon (Portugal): Symposium Bananas andother Tropical Fruits under Tropical Conditions: Challenges andInnovative Solutions. Info: Hamide Gubbuk, Akdeniz University,Faculty of Agriculture, 7059 Antalya, Turkey. E-mail: [email protected] or Prof. Dr. Jens N. Wuensche, University of Hohenheim,Dept.Special Crops&Crop Physiology, Inst. Fruit Sci. (370d), Emil-Wolff-Str. 25, 70599 Hohenheim, Germany. Phone: (49)711-459-2368 or 160-9700-6229, Fax: (49)711-459-2351, E-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Domingo Haroldo Reinhardt,Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits, Caixa Postal 7, 44380-000 Cruzdas Almas, BA, Brazil. Phone: (55) 75 3621 8002, Fax: (55) 75 36218097, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail symposium:[email protected] Web: http://www.ihc2010.org/

For updates logon to www.ishs.org/calendar

ISHS • 52

Available numbers of Acta Horticulturae (in print for-mat). These as well as all other titles are also availablein ActaHort CD-rom format. For detailed informationon price and availability, including tables of content, orto download an Acta Horticulturae order form, pleasecheck out the ‘publications’ page at www.ishs.org orgo to www.ishs.org/acta

Acta Acta Title ActaNumber Price (EUR)

825 I Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing 125

824 International Symposium on Application of PrecisionAgriculture for Fruits and Vegetables 92

823 XI International Symposium on the Processing Tomato 68

822 VI International Pineapple Symposium 81

821 International Symposium on Tomato in the Tropics 67

820 VIII International Mango Symposium 161

819 International Symposium on Growing Media 2007 102

818 I International Symposium on Pomegranate and MinorMediterranean Fruits 92

817 I International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe 89

816 IV International Phylloxera Symposium 44

815 International Workshop on Chestnut Management inMediterranean Countries - Problems and Prospects 76

814 XII EUCARPIA Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics 178

813 VI International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops 144

812 III International Symposium on Acclimatization andEstablishment of Micropropagated Plants 123

811 VI International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal 98

810 IX International Vaccinium Symposium 186

809 International Symposium on the Socio-Economic Impactof Modern Vegetable Production Technology in Tropical Asia69

808 II International Symposium on Tomato Diseases 100

807 International Symposium on Strategies TowardsSustainability of Protected Cultivation in Mild WinterClimate 161

806 International Symposium on Underutilized Plants for FoodSecurity, Nutrition, Income and Sustainable Development 155

805 VIII International Protea Research Symposium 56

804 Europe-Asia Symposium on Quality Management inPostharvest Systems - Eurasia 2007 138

803 VIII International Symposium on Modelling in Fruit Researchand Orchard Management 81

802 IV International Symposium on Applications of Modellingas an Innovative Technology in the Agri-Food-Chain:Model-IT 100

800 X International Pear Symposium 225

798 III International Symposium on Fig 84

797 International Workshop on Greenhouse EnvironmentalControl and Crop Production in Semi-Arid Regions 106

796 International Conference on Ripening Regulation andPostharvest Fruit Quality 67

795 V International Cherry Symposium 197

792 V International Symposium on Irrigation of HorticulturalCrops 146

791 V International Symposium on Olive Growing 157

790 VIII International People-Plant Symposium on ExploringTherapeutic Powers of Flowers, Greenery and Nature 75

788 International Workshop on Ornamental Plants 58

787 International Workshop on Tropical and Subtropical Fruits 93

779 International Symposium on Growing Media 146

775 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Horticultural Practices andTherapy for Human Well-Being 55

774 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Endogenous and ExogenousPlant Bioregulators 100

773 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Citrus and Other Tropical andSubtropical Fruit Crops 76

772 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Enhancing Economic andEnvironmental Sustainability of Fruit Production in a GlobalEconomy 112

771 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Seed Enhancement andSeedling Production Technology 67

770 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Cultivation and Utilization ofAsian, Sub-tropical, and Underutilized Horticultural Crops 61

769 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Asian Plants with UniqueHorticultural Potential 112

768 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on The Role of PostharvestTechnology in the Globalisation of Horticulture 125

765 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Plants as Food and Medicine:The Utilization and Development of Horticultural Plants forHuman Health 84

764 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Plant Biotechnology: FromBench to Commercialization 83

763 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Structural and FunctionalGenomics of Horticultural Plants 79

762 XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006:International Symposium on Horticultural Plants in Urbanand Peri-Urban Life 100

For an updated list of all titles (in print or ActaHort CD-rom for-mat) logon to www.actahort.org

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Chronica Horticulturae volume 49 number 2 (2009) · 2009-05-18 · CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 49...

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