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Events

International Workshop

An international workshop on sort fruit crops was organized in Lemesos, Cyprus during the period 4-5 of November. The program was comprised of 34 oral presentations, allocated in six thematic sessions and two round table discussions. (click here to download the Book of abstracts)

Scientific sessions

  • Priming technologies to combat abiotic stress conditions
  • Breeding strategies towards resilient berry production
  • Defining qualitative and phytochemical attributes of berry crops
  • Production models and cultivation practices
  • Sustainable solutions towards production of berry crops
  • Challenges in the soft fruit production sector in different climatic conditions

Round table discussions

  • Advancing research activities and extension services in berry crops
  • What the companies seek from academia?

List of speakers

  1. George Manganaris, The PRIMESOFT project in a snapshot
  2. Vassilis Fotopoulos, Plant and seed priming as green tools for sustainable agriculture on soft fruits under a changing climate
  3. Bernd Müller-Röber, The concept of priming: How to trigger stress preparedness in plants
  4. Salma Balazadeh, HOTmemory – How plant develops tolerance to recurring heat stress
  5. Bruno Mezzetti, Pre-breeding strategies for obtaining new resilient and added value berries
  6. Bertus Meijer, Challenges in the raspberry breeding sector towards development of elite and resilient cultivars
  7. Marco Bertolazzi, Breeder and marketer collaborative innovations in accelerating the berry variety commercialization
  8. Graham Clarkson, Breeding, propagation, production and supply chain management protocols of Edward Vinson Ltd. for UK strawberries
  9. Evangelos Tsormpatsidis, Strawberry production in Greece: challenges and opportunities for development through breeding
  10. Felicidad Fernandéz-Fernandéz, Breeding raspberries and blackberries for year-round supply of the northern European market
  11. Francisco A. Tomas-Barberan, Strawberry and raspberry are excellent sources of valuable bioactives with impact on human health
  12. Carlos Garcia, Metabolomics in Agri-food: Analysis of soft fruit-relevant phytochemicals and priming to enhances their quality
  13. Bart Nicolai, Advances in online quality grading of fruit
  14. Maarten Hertog, Volatile organic compounds and aroma profile as an intricate part that defines fruit quality
  15. David Bryla, Blackberry production trends and adaption to diverse climates in the United States
  16. Wendy Schotsmans, JanssenPMP vision for the future in soft fruits
  17. Jorge Duarte, The blueberry fruit production within a global context: challenges and constrains
  18. David Percival, Empowering wild blueberry plants and mitigating floral diseases with the use of biotic priming trechnologies
  19. Robert Veberic, Unveiling the impact of controlled environments on highbush blueberry cultivation
  20. Nicolas Valanides, Establishing a soft fruit program in Cyprus and the exploitation of different mesoclimates: lessons received and lessons learned
  21. Zoran Radovanovic, Raspberry cultivation for processing and fresh market in Serbia
  22. Magda Krokida, Life cycle analysis as an intricate part of assessing the enironmental and socioeconomic impact of berry crops’ production models
  23. Ellen Thompson, Breeding for sustainability and breeding for the global premium market
  24. Jasminka Milivojević, Microalgae-based products as innovative technological approach to enhance performance of soilless cultivated highbush blueberries
  25. Sujeeth Neerakkal, Sustainable technologies to enhance crop resilience to the effects of climate change
  26. Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Beat the heat – mitigating heat damage in raspberry
  27. Itay Maoz, Exploring the VOC profiles within the local population of new primocane lines toward flavor-guided breeding
  28. Vera Theelen, Sustainable year-round strawberry cultivation with fresh everbearer plants
  29. Antonios Petridis, Securing soft fruit production in Denmark
  30. Amparo Monfort, Genomics to achieve disease and pest resistant strawberry cultivars as a priority in breeding programs
  31. Monia Dall’ Ara, Breeding’s concepts for a stronger and equilibrate growth of the berry industry
  32. Costanza Zavalloni, More berry with less resources: building resilient production systems
  33. Dimitrios Doukas, Specialty plastic films for soft fruits
  34. Sonja Bergner, EU funding landscape and upcoming opportunities for Agricultural/Food-related R&I

Infodays

Two info days at Cyprus will take place at Cyprus targeted to local stakeholders and the general public.

Soft fruit production within a global context: Challenges and constraints in the cultivation of strawberry and raspberry towards enhanced yield efficiency

Venue: I, Tassos Papadopoulos Building, Cyprus University of Technology, Themidos & Ifigeneias corner, Limassol

Date: Thursday 14 September 2023, 18:30-20:30

Attendees: 110

Download The PDF

Speakers:
Prof. Jasminka Milivojević, University of Belgrade
Constraints and challenges on raspberry production in Serbia

The Republic of Serbia is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of raspberries, with an average annual production of 117,214 tons in the last five years. More than 90% of raspberries produced are exported frozen to foreign markets, while the export of fresh raspberries is almost negligible. Although the total area under raspberry cultivation has increased to 20,807 ha, the average yield per hectare has steadily decreased and in 2021 was 5.3 tons (FAOSTAT, 2023). Raspberry production is concentrated in the western and southwestern parts of Serbia mainly on small farms with an average area of 0.25 ha. ‘Willamette’ is still the predominant floricane fruiting cultivar in raspberry plantations, occupying more than 90% of the total area under cultivation. The main reason for the slow replacement of this cultivar by the new and better cultivars is the high demand of the Western European processing industry for its dark red and delicious fruits, which are mostly exported frozen to foreign markets. The floricane fruiting cultivars ‘Meeker’ and ‘Fertödi Zamatos’, suitable for both frozen and fresh consumption, are slowly spreading and currently account for 3-5% of the total cultivated area. Other cultivars, such as ‘Tulameen’ and ‘Glen Ample’, which are suitable for fresh consumption, are grown only on a small scale, as there is no organized export of fresh raspberries from Serbia. Recently, primocane fruiting cultivars ‘Enrosadira’ and ‘Kwanza’ have been spread in protected environments (greenhouses) to meet the growing needs of producers and consumers. These cultivars continually set fruit on the current season's canes from mid-July to fall and in early June on the previous season's canes, extending the harvest season and providing the total yield of the two crops to exceed 30 tons per hectare. In contrast, average yields of floricane fruiting raspberry cultivars vary and range from 5 to 20 tons per hectare, depending on the orchard management. The floricane fruiting cultivars are cultivated in the vertical trellis system consisted of pillars with two wires and an additional support for long fruiting branches, while the primocane fruiting cultivars are grown in the hedgerow system with additional trellises, depending on the vigor and yield potential of the cultivar. Main constrains in raspberry production include: the poor quality of planting material; the choice of unsuitable locations for establishment of new plantations; the adverse effects of climatic factors; the lack of field extension services and, accordingly, inadequate management of raspberry plantations. The challenges in raspberry production are related to the development of new cultivation techniques through the use of soilless systems, anti-hail nets, rain shelters, and plastic tunnels to avoid unfavorable climatic and soil conditions, and infestation with various fungal diseases.

Dr Ευάγγελος Τσορμπατσίδης, Βerryplasma Worldwide
H καλλιέργεια της φράουλας στην Ελλάδα: νέες προκλήσεις και προοπτικές ανάπτυξης μέσω προγραμμάτων γενετικής βελτίωση για την ανάπτυξη νέων ποικιλιών

Η Ελλάδα είναι μια από τις πιο σημαντικές ζώνες για πρώιμη παραγωγή φράουλας στην Ε.Ε. Το 2022/2023 καλλιεργήθηκαν 20000 στρέμματα με αξία προϊόντος περισσότερο από 150 εκατ. €. Παρόλο που διαθέτει συγκριτικά πλεονεκτήματα, στερείται δικών της ποικιλιών φράουλας. To υπάρχον μοντέλο παραγωγής βασίζεται σε διεθνείς ποικιλίες, τα χαρακτηριστικά των οποίων είναι προσαρμοσμένα στις απαιτήσεις των χωρών που αναπτύχθηκαν. To πρόγραμμα ανάπτυξης ποικιλιών της Berryplasma στοχεύει στην δημιουργία γενοτύπων φράουλας οι οποίοι να συνδυάζουν βελτιωμένα παραγωγικά χαρακτηριστικά (πρωιμότητα, μέγεθος καρπού, συνολική παραγωγή) και ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά όπως μετασυλλεκτική διάρκεια ζωής του καρπού και υψηλό % εμπορευσιμότητας. Στα πλαίσια του προγράμματος έχουν αναπτυχθεί 4 ποικιλίες, 3 Short day (Kallisti, Elektra and Phaedra) και 1 Day neutral (Aethra) απόλυτα προσαρμοσμένων στις συνθήκες την Νοτίου Ευρώπης συνδυάζοντας ταυτόχρονα όλα τα επιθυμητά εμπορικά και ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά.