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

Poster session.
adapted cultivation procedures would be an
interesting strategy to lower the production
costs as was shown for raspberries and blackberries.
A small number of presentations dealt with the
impact of changing climate and berry production
systems on pests and diseases. Especially in
Northern countries an increased incidence of
berry pests could be observed in the last years
when mild winters favoured over-wintering of
insects. Also, in the Nordic countries new diseases
and more problems with already common
diseases are expected on all berry species due to
higher rainfall, higher temperature and an
increase of international plant trade. Another
general aspect that could be a major issue for
the future might be the pesticide restrictions
leading to a growing importance of resistance
breeding against pests and diseases, as well as
the development of efficient biological control
methods. These were shown for raspberries.
In the breeding session, programs focused on
the selection of genotypes with good environmental
adaptation to water stress and still winter-hardiness
in the Eastern part of Europe.
Another aspect was the identification of QTLs
linked to the modes of strawberry flowering,
which affects the flowering duration and therefore
the period of fruit production. Three significant
QTLs were detected; two of them seem to
be strongly influenced by the environment.
Another aspect was the fruit quality and nutritional
values of berry fruits. Varying pre-harvest
factors such as production system, deficit irrigation,
physiological stages of the plant were
shown to be sometimes important and sometimes
not significant for sensory and nutritional
fruit quality. More information is needed to
increase fruit quality of berries in the future.
The final discussion highlighted the needs for
further research and collaborations. The most
important research topics on berry crops are a
better knowledge on requirements for flower
initiation and chilling completion of the most
important cultivars. There are also needs to
develop better models for predicting these
processes. A second important topic for the
future is information on an efficient use of
water in protected environments. Other
research needs mentioned were the pre-harvest
effects on fruit quality and the development of
efficient biological control systems. Breeding
for higher plant plasticity by out-breeding
strategies might be a possibility to get cultivars
with higher tolerance to climate injuries.
Furthermore, basic knowledge on genes controlling
mechanisms related to increased adaptability
to these changes may help breeders to
find more tolerant cultivars against climate,
pest and disease stress.
The organiser acknowledges all presenters and
the fruitful discussions during the workshop.
Special thanks are addressed to the COST
Office in Brussels for supporting the meeting.
Papers given at this meeting will be published
as a Workshop Proceedings in the Acta
Horticulturae series, issued by the ISHS.
CONTACT
Erika Krüger and Christoph Carlen
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: Krueger@fa-gm.de
Dr. Christoph Carlen, Station de recherche
Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, Centre
de recherche Conthey, 1964 Conthey,
Switzerland, Phone: +41-27 345 35 13,
Fax: +41-27 346 30 17, email:
christoph.carlen@acw.admin.ch
Commission Irrigation and Plant
Seventh Int’l Workshop on Sap Flow
Water Relations
The 7th International Workshop on Sap Flow
gathered some 110 delegates from 25 countries
to debate on methodologies to measure
sap flow in plants, and on how they are being
used for a better understanding of the plant
functioning. New methods and recent improvements
to existing ones were displayed and discussed,
both by scientists and manufacturers.
Most contributions revealed new aspects of
physiological processes, mainly those related to
water use and water consumption, and of the
development of new approaches for improving
management practices both in forestry and
agriculture.
The workshop, held in Seville, Spain, from
October 21-24, 2008, was convened by Dr.
Enrique Fernández from the Instituto de
Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNAS-CSIC,
Spain). Prof. Isabel Ferreira (ISA, Technical
University of Lisbon, Portugal), Chair of the
ISHS Commission Irrigation and Plant Water
Relations, acted as representative of the Society.
Scientific contributions amounted to three invited
lectures, 48 oral presentations and 18
posters. The contributions were grouped into
three different Sections: Methodological
Aspects, chaired by Dr. Brent Clothier
(HortResearch, New Zealand); Water Use &
Irrigation Scheduling, chaired by Dr. Steve
Green (HortResearch, New Zealand); and From
the Tree Architecture to the Stand Level, chaired
by Prof. Jan Čermák (Mendel University of
Agriculture and Forestry, Czech Republic). An
open forum discussion took place after each
Sensors for simultaneous readings of sap
flow and trunk diameter variations in the
trunk of a peach tree. Photo Dr. J.L. Muriel.
ISHS • 42