Acta Horticulturae

Opportunities
Vegetable Breeder for the Sudano-Sahelian Region (an AVRDC-ICRISAT
joint appointment), Sadore, Niger
Assistant Professor, Sustainable Vegetable Production, Michigan State
University, USA
Company Horticulturalist, Gisborne, New Zealand
Coordinator of AVRDC’s sub-regional office in Mali, Bamako, Mali
Assistant/Associate Professor of Floriculture, with responsibilities for
extension, research, and teaching, Purdue University, West Lafayette,
Indiana, USA. Info: Cary Mitchell, cmitchell@purdue.edu
For more information visit www.ishs.org/general/index.htm
SYMPOSIA AND WORKSHOPS
Section Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Int’l Symposium on the Labiatae:
Advances in Production,
Biotechnology and Utilization
The International Symposium on Labiatae,
held in Sanremo, Italy from 22 to 25 February
2006 at the Congress Centre of the Hotel
Londra, highlighted probably the most important
family of aromatic plants. Organized by the
Italian Council of Agricultural Research -
Experimental Institute for Floriculture of
Sanremo (CRA-ISF) under the auspices of the
ISHS Section Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, the
Italian Horticultural Society (SOI), and with an
economic support of the Italian Ministry of
Agriculture, the Fondazione CARIGE, and the
The Symposium venue in Sanremo.
Prof. Lyle Craker at the opening Ceremony.
Sanremo Municipality, the symposium attracted
130 researchers and delegates of private companies
from 23 countries.
The current Symposium was structured to
emphasize a common link among different
issues, taking into consideration various competences
in botany, phytochemistry, genetic
improvement, biotechnology, and agronomy.
At present, the Labiatae are becoming more
and more important in many economic fields
due to a wide range of potential and contemporary
multipurpose uses. The Symposium follows
a first congress on the Labiatae that was
held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, during
April, 1991, that focused mostly on botanic,
chemical, and ethnobotanic aspects of the
family. The Symposium in Sanremo was linked
to the final meeting of the European Project on
valorisation of the genus Salviae (INTERREG -
ALCOTRA N. 74). This later event was important
for discussion on experiences with Salviae
and for assessment of the worldwide research
made on aromatic plants belonging to the
Labiatae family.
In the opening ceremony of the Symposium,
Prof. Lyle Craker (USA), today former Chairman
of the ISHS Section Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants, presented greetings and welcome from
the ISHS. This was followed by greetings and
ISHS • 38