(ISTA News Bulletin) No. 136, October 2008 - International Seed ...

Training and Education
ISTA Workshop reports
The poster session.
The open-bush gala dinner.
ISTA Method Validation Programme, and
then chaired a workshop with Mr Harrie
Koenraadt on seed sampling for seed
health testing. This again resulted in an interactive
discussion among the delegates.
At the close of day some of the delegates
jumped aboard the open game-viewing vehicles
armed with big spotlights to try their
luck at spotting the Big 5. Others chose to
go for early morning game walks following
close behind well-armed game rangers.
The final day of the symposium was
opened by a plenary lecture by Dr Guro
Brodal (Norway), followed by various
papers on seed-borne pathogens and mycoflora
and seed health testing techniques.
The poster presentations on seed-borne
mycoflora were made after lunch, followed
by a summary of the symposium by Prof.
Reyes Blanco. Prof. Terry Aveling closed
the symposium.
That evening the gala dinner took place
beneath the African sky. Delegates were
loaded into game-viewing vehicles and
taken for a sundowner game-viewing experience.
Most were incredibly lucky and
succeeded in spotting lion, leopard, elephant,
rhino and buffalo (the big 5) on
this one drive – talk about beginner’s luck!
Spotlights focused on the green eyes of impala
buck in the darkness on the way to the
site of the open-bush dinner. The staff of
the Kruger Park treated the delegates to
a wonderful dinner under the stars, and
many of the delegates were relieved to see
the game rangers patrolling the perimeter
of the site with their big guns. A memorable
end to the symposium before the long
bus trip back to Pretoria and the airport
the next morning and farewell to South
Africa.
Special thanks to the 6th SHS organizing
committee. Thanks also to Ms
Veloshinie Govender and Dr Quenton
Kritzinger for their audiovisual technical
assistance during the symposium, to Ms
Kerien van Dyk who played taxi driver,
to Dr Eugenia Barros who kept the peace,
and to Agricultural Tours Worldwide, who
made sure that everyone arrived safely and
had a roof over their heads. The National
Research Foundation, University of
Pretoria, Pannar, CSIR, Bayer Cropscience
and Syngenta are gratefully acknowledged
for funding and sponsorship. •
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Seed Testing International No. 136 October 2008