Scripta Horticulturae Number 6
Global Conservation Strategy for Fragaria (Strawberry); A consultative document prepared in collaboration with partners in the Fragaria germplasm, genetics research-and-development community.
ISBN 978-90-6605-129-4 (87 pages) - March 2008
In 2005, about 3.6 million MT of strawberries, Fragaria L., were produced in 75 countries. Strawberry species have a complex background including natural diploid, tetraploid, pentaploid, hexaploid and octoploid genomes. Centers for strawberry species diversity include Eurasia and North and South America. The primary cultivated gene pool is octoploid and the hybrid berry that dominates the commercial market has only been developed within the last 350 years. Wild species distributions are limited and landraces may be lost with encroachment of human development. Molecular geneticists are beginning to realize the advantage of working with Fragaria and its small-sized genome. Breeders plan to incorporate new sources of wild plant material to expand the restricted cultivated genepool. Vulnerable wild collections have been identified for future collection and preservation efforts. Internationally, 27 countries and two genebank networks, maintain more than 12,000 accessions in about 57 locations. Roughly half of these represent advanced breeding lines of the cultivated hybrid strawberry, F. ×ananassa, some of which are proprietary. It’s estimated that in addition to public collections, global private corporations also maintain a similar amount of proprietary cultivated hybrids for internal use. Primary collections at national genebanks consist of living plants, protected in containers in greenhouses or screenhouses, or in the field. Secondary backup collections are maintained in vitro under refrigerated temperatures. Long-term backup collections of meristems are placed in cryogenic storage at remote locations to provide decades of security. Species diversity is represented by seed lots stored in -18 °C or backed up in cryogenics. Conservation of vegetatvely propagated material is more complicated and expensive than that of crops that are maintained in the form of seed. The health status of both forms of storage is key for safe global distributions to meet plant quarantine regulations. An international expert committee meeting was held from July 5 to 8, 2006, at the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Clonal Gemplasm Repository, NCGR, Corvallis, Oregon, United States. “Global Conservation Strategy for Strawberry” is based on a strawberry genebank questionnaire completed by 37 responders from 27 countries, about one third of the total countries reporting annual production to FAO (FAO, 2007), provided specific information concerning their collections. From published journals, it is expected that additional major collections are located in China, although no responses were received from collections there. The committee suggested that the development of two country genebanks be supported in China and Chile. A granting system for improved health of strawberries in genebanks should be supported. Limited resources are constraining genebanks from sufficient personnel, secure backup, adequate facilities, and equipment. Training of genebank staff in standard protocols is needed. Coordination of characterization data and web accessible database listing of strawberry genetic resources should also be supported.
More than 1400 species have been recognized in the ancient Proteaceae family
(Rebelo 1995). Their occurrence is mostly distributed between Australia with about 800 species and Africa with about 400 species with the remainder found in South America, the islands east of New Guinea, and a few species in southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Madagascar. They are broadly referred to as proteas, although we identify specific genera by their Latin names. The subfamily Proteoideae, largely found in Africa, has contributed the genera Protea, Leucadendron, and Leucospermum to floricultural trade, while the Australian Grevilleoideae has contributed Banksia and Grevillea that have found similar use in floriculture and landscaping. Other genera are still emerging in importance (Criley, 2001). Registration of proteaceous ornamentals by the International Protea Register is web-based: http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/Protea2002/proteaceae_register.htm. Recognizing the importance of these plants, Dr. Jules Janick, editor of the Horticultural Reviews series, enlisted a number of authors to prepare reviews of four genera: Dr. Margaret Sedgley (1998) to cover Banksia, Dr. Richard Criley (1998) to cover Leucospermum, Drs. J. H. Coetzee and Gail Littlejohn (2001) to cover Protea and Drs. Jaacov Ben-Jaacov and Avner Silber (2006) to cover Leucadendron. Since the literature about these plants is quite diverse and some is published in less-than-widelyread languages such as Afrikans and Hebrew, these authors have brought to the fore syntheses of the taxonomy, culture, breeding, propagation, nutrition, disease and insect pests, and postharvest practices that would otherwise remain out of the grasp of most readers. Obviously, some of the information on economics and areas of production were out-dated at the time of this re-publication, and additional research has been published. Although these reviews summarize many sources of literature for these ornamentals, the Protea Working Group of the International Society for Horticultural Science also has generated significant information from seven symposia and one workshop on proteas, with papers published in the Acta Horticulturae series.(listed below).Moreover, students of Professor Gerard Jacobs of the University of Stellebosch in South Africa have published theses that have added significantly to our knowledge of physiology and management of the South African Protea and Leucospermum, while Dr. Sedgley’s students at the University of Adelaide have contributed to our knowledge of Banksia. Research has been conducted in many of the Mediterranean climates in which proteas survive and thrive, most notably South Africa, Zimbabwe, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, southern California, Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Portugal, and France, but the search for “new” floral crops has lead to evaluations in Chile, Costa Rica, Thailand, and interest in other parts of the world has grown as well. Through the joint efforts of the International Protea Association and the International Society for Horticultural Science, it has been possible to gather together the reviews on Banksia, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, and Protea into this volume of Scripta Horticulturae. We thank the publishers of Horticultural Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., for permission to bring these valuable sources together into one book. May this volume stimulate additional research and understanding of these fascinating plants!
People's identity is formed by the interactions of a large number of circumstances, factors and elements which, in the course of the time, have given origin to traditions and habits linked to ethnic groups living in certain geographic conditions.
Typical agro-alimentary products are important and valuable tools to identify a culture because they reflect the specific pedo-climatic, technical, cultural and organizational events, which are necessary to call to life certain mechnisms for the development of local communities. In this sense, almond cultivation has an emblematic meaning either in terms of landscape and folklore, as well as for gastronomic reasons. 
The production of horticultural commodities offers potential to alleviate poverty, meet domestic human nutritional needs and stimulate growth in emerging economies of the world. Healthy people are more able to develop economic infrastructure and improve their standard of living. Horticultural crops–which include fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, medicinal plants and ornamentals–represent a wide range of species that can be grown in diverse agro-ecological zones over extended periods of the year. Integrating horticultural crops into diets can increase dietary diversity, thereby minimizing the potential loss of human cognitive and physical development that is a result of nutrient deficiencies. The introduction of horticultural crops increases the diversity of the production system, which promotes agricultural and ecological sustainability, while contributing to domestic food production.
In September 2004, the University of California, and colleagues, initiated an in-depth, highly collaborative analysis of the opportunities and challenges for global horticultural development, the first study of its kind. A series of workshops brought together leading experts and key stakeholders to discuss the potential of horticulture to enhance the well being of developing countries and their peoples. The specific goal of the workshops was to develop the guidelines for implementation of a regional assessment project that will serve as a basis for USAID activities in this sector. Attendees of the workshops were leading development colleagues including: USAID-Washington, USDA, university horticultural scientists, ISHS, horticultural industry private sector representatives, NGO’s and donor agencies.
The concluding document, of these workshops was published as Scripta Horticulturae n° 3.
Market access to
Western European markets for developing countries is a key issue in the 2004-2007
policy programme 'Vital and Together' of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality. The Netherlands helps developing countries to improve their market performance by means of
public-private partnerships, capacity building and the provision of access to
Western markets. The aim is to stimulate sustainable agricultural development
and to decrease poverty in developing countries. This report describes
theoretical approaches to ensure the sustainable development of floriculture in
developing countries. Market growth and competitive advantage are used as
indicators for sustainability. The report also provides an overview of
floriculture worldwide. Large importing countries as well as the main exporting
countries are reviewed. Next the report tests the empirical findings against
the theoretical approaches. The conclusion is directed to the usefulness of the
theoretical approaches for analysing the sustainable development of the floriculture
industry in developing countries. The impact on poverty reduction and the issue
of capacity building are not within the scope of this study.
Following the introduction, chapter two presents the economic environment and the attendant dynamics,
focusing especially on general economic development and key indicators, service delivery,
government policies relevant to the horticultural sector, infrastructure and entrepreneurship.
Chapter three describes the horticultural sector, its institutional context and services,
key policies and existing national programmes related to the sector.
Chapter four analyses the international and European market developments and links with products from developing countries.
National, regional and international trends in production and consumption are analysed.
In Chapter five, the production trends, marketing and post harvest aspects of selected horticultural crops are presented in detail.
Lastly, constraints, opportunities and the competitiveness of the Uganda horticultural sector are presented in Chapter six.