Chronica Horticulturae volume 49 number 2 ... - Acta Horticulturae

Participants at the Organic Fruit Conference, gathering in a courtyard of Vignola Castle (Rocca di Vignola).
both congresses without planning conflicts and
to attend the numerous pre- and post-conference
excursions or events offered through
IFOAM. The IFOAM Congress secretariat handled
all financial and logistical issues which
reduced costs including registration fees. Thus,
the IFOAM collaboration allowed the ‘Organic
Fruit Conference’ Conveners (Franco Weibel
and Robert Prange) to focus primarily on the
planning of the scientific program.
Approximately 150 persons from 38 countries
from all continents attended the Organic Fruit
Conference. The largest representation was
from Italy, followed by other countries in
Europe, e.g. Great Britain, Switzerland,
Germany, Romania. But there was also significant
representation from Canada, United
States, New Zealand and Asian countries.
The ISHS Conference was located in the historic
“Rocca Castle” (A.D. 1178) in the centre of
Vignola. In the ground floor of this beautiful
building comfortable conference rooms with
up-to-date technical equipment offered a perfect
infrastructure and unique atmosphere to
unwind and enjoy the scientific program.
The program was structured: a) excursions on
Sunday afternoon; b) half day plenary sessions
on the world market situation, comparison of
Use of nets to control Cherry Fruit Fly
(Rhagoletis cerasi) at the CRPV Campo
Sperimentale Dimostrativo Ciliegio, located
near Vignola.
Participants enjoying a specially-organised
evening dinner at Giovannni Montanari’s
famous organic restaurant, Osteria Vecchia
in Guiglia, near Vignola.
organic vs. conventional production, postharvest
and quality; c) half day parallel sessions on
organic plant protection, organic tree nutrition
and soil fertility, tropical fruit, Mediterranean
and stone fruit, apple and pear, small fruit and
berry crops, economy and consumer behaviour;
and d) evening colloquia on experiences and
visions to develop the organic fruit market and
production, and on the controversial topic of
using GMO cultivars for organic production.
The keynote speakers were:
Dr. David Granatstein – Organic temperate
fruits: Current world status
Dr. Steve Wratten – The importance of ecological
engineering to enhance ecosystem service in
organic fruit production
Mr. Harold Ostensen – Organic pome and cherry
production and marketing issues: Past, present
and future
Dr. Salomon Soldevilla – Organic bananas in
Peru: Its social and economic impacts
Dr. Donn Johnson – Alternative pest management
practices for fruit in the Southern USA
Dr. Silviero Sansavini – Aiming for compatibility
with organic farming: Will cis-genic plants take
the scare out of GMOs?
At the final plenary session, it was concluded
that the goal of the Conference was achieved.
The scientific community that is interested in
working on organic fruit had come together –
literally – from around the world – for the first
time in such high numbers and on such a high
The conference was held during Vignola’s
annual Cherry Festival.
scientific level. There were 48 oral presentations
and 24 posters that gave new insights and stimulated
lively discussions on new findings and
progress on a wide spectrum of topics from
temperate to tropical; pip to stone to berry to
tropical fruit; agronomy to economy; from soil
to fruit quality; diseases and pests to cultivar
and genetic modification aspects; from farm
experience reports to scientific research methods.
This 2 1 / 2 -day conference did not do justice
to all of the topics, leaving many opportunities
for future conferences.
The next conference sponsored by the
Commission will be a Symposium on Integrated
and Organic Horticulture, held within the 2010
International Horticultural Congress in Lisbon,
Portugal. The Conveners are Prof. Dr. Uygun
Aksoy and Dr. Isabel Mourão.
CONTACT
Franco Weibel and Robert Prange
Dr. Franco Weibel, Research Institute of Organic
Farming (FiBL), CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland,
email: Franco.Weibel@fibl.org
Dr. Robert Prange, Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada, Atlantic Food and Horticulture
Research Centre, 32 Main St., Kentville NS B4N
1J5, Canada, email: Robert.Prange@agr.gc.ca
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 49 • NUMBER 2 • 2009 • 37