Horticultural Science News - Acta Horticulturae

NEWS FROM THE BOARD
NEWS FROM THE BOARD
IN THIS ISSUE
From the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
A History of the Section Vegetables
of the ISHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
I International Symposium on
Rootstocks for Deciduous Fruit
Tree Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
V International Kiwifruit Symposium 12
VII International Mango Symposium 13
Mango: Emerging Tropical Export
Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CGIAR – Future Harvest Program for
Musa in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Innovation Policy and Key Issues of
the Horticulture System . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Vocation of the Agronomists . . 32
The Media and Decision Making in
Science and Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Japanese Society for
Horticultural Science (JSHS) . . . . . . . 35
New Books, Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Courses and Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . 38
From the Secretariat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Acta Horticulturae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Foto on cover: Mango fruit ready
for harvest.
From the President
Horticulture and the
World Food Prize
On October 24 I had the privilege to participate, at Ames, Iowa, in the presentation
of the 2002 World Food Prize to Dr. Pedro Sanchez. This annual prize,
accompanied by an award of $250,000, is awarded to individuals who have
“advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability
of food in the world.” Dr. Sanchez received this honor for his major
achievements in improving the productivity of tropical soils. During the event
I talked to Pedro Sanchez and Dr. Norman Borlaug (1970 Nobel Peace Prize for
his contributions to the ‘Green Revolution’) and was forcefully reminded of the
contributions of horticultural science to international development.
Norman Looney
Dr. Sanchez clearly understands, indeed
exemplifies, these contributions. In his
video-taped comments prepared for the
Opening Ceremony of our Toronto
Congress, Pedro Sanchez expressed very
clearly his belief that horticultural science
and industry are key to alleviating rural
poverty in emerging economy countries.
His work in South America and Africa
convinced him that while the first
advance arising from improved soil fertility
is improved food security, it is not until
farmers diversify to include high value
horticultural crops for local, regional, and
international markets that we see significant
alleviation of poverty and hopelessness.
Farmers can finally send their children
to school and become engaged in
social progress on many fronts.
In his Iowa lecture, Dr. Sanchez further
developed this connection between horticulture
and poverty reduction. He specifically
mentioned the economic and human
health gains he had seen when farmers
were able to produce good yields of fruits,
vegetables, medicinals, and ornamentals
for national and international distribution.
As a former Director of the International
Centre for Research in Agroforestry
(ICRAF; a CGIAR Future Harvest Centre
in Nairobi, Kenya), Pedro Sanchez has a
special appreciation for the role of high
value tree crops, often produced in integrated
systems involving animals and
annual crops, for improving the livelihood
of African farmers. Given the growing
concern about environmental degradation,
loss of genetic resources, and the
connection between increasing atmospheric
CO 2 levels and global warming, Dr.
Sanchez called attention to the important
role of agroforestry in preserving biodiversity,
limiting erosion, and removing
millions of tons of carbon from the
atmosphere.
To learn more about Pedro Sanchez and
the World Food Prize visit www.worldfoodprize.org
and www.cgiar.org. There is
a wealth of information about agroforestry
at www.worldagroforestrycentre.org
ISHS • 2