In order to reach the various target audience, which include the supply chain, the conference included professional lectures with the top lecturers, some of whom are stated below, who shared their extensive knowledge in the following fields with the large audience present:
- Daniel Goldman from Bio-Bee Sde Eliyahu aroused great interest in his lecture about IPM Bio-Control in Israel: Challenges, difficulties and future possibilities. Today, the bio-control program is implemented in around 830 hectares of Israel’s conventional and bioorganic pepper crops, which comprises half the export growing fields.
- Amnon Koren, Head of Plant Protection and Grafting at Hishtil Nurseries in Israel spoke about Israel’s 15 years of hybrid vegetable: Successes, limitations and what next? Today, around 80% of the watermelon and 30% of the tomato fields are planted with hybrid seedlings, and the use of hybrid melon seedlings is on the upswing, mainly during winter. There are numerous advantages in hybrid tomatoes: Increased yield, resistance to various soil diseases, fewer seedlings per hectare, and more. Grafting robust scions on strong rootstock causes unbalanced growth in the hot seasons, and disrupts blossoming and fruit ripening. Matching the rootstock and the scion is an essential reality. Amnon concluded his lecture about the future trends in hybrid tomatoes, which are finding salt-tolerant rootstock in order to extend fields also to areas with inferior water; searching and finding rootstock resistant to low soil temperatures and soil diseases, such as Verticillium, tolerant to Nematodes in high temperatures and Clavibacter.
- Yoram Kahlon, Technical Manager; Soiltech Ltd. introduced the curious audience to the subject of methyl bromide alternatives for soil sterilization. Yoram recommended criteria to examine methyl bromide alternatives:
1. Effective nematode control (all kinds);
2. Effective soil borne disease control;
3. Effective weed control;
4. Yields and vegetation similar to those achieved with methyl bromide sterilization;
5. 5. Regulations: The alternative substances must be regulated to enable easy application without special restrictions.
In addition, he recommended possible alternatives: Solutions containing Telone (1, 3-dichloropropene) in combination with chloropicrin (tear gas) or metham-sodium and herbicides (as needed) contain the above mentioned criteria and can be used as alternatives to methyl bromide. In many countries, Telone substances constitute the key component in research programs to phase out methyl bromide, chiefly in vegetable crops. Telone/chloropicrin solutions could be used to sterilize soil in a wide variety of crops.
- Dr. Gary Ward, R&D Director of StePac expanded our knowledge on the collaboration between seed breeding companies and StePac in developing customized packaging solutions for a variety of new products. The variety of packaging solutions enables providing the conditions necessary to preserve the quality and takes into consideration different elements such as the respiration rate and physiology of the packaged product. Gary spoke about the fact that these packaging solutions allow significant saving in transportation costs of fresh produce and often allow bridging seasonal shortages and market expansion. After the lecture, Dr. Ward was asked whether StePac examines a company’s field prior to making decisions. In response, he confirmed that the company has started sending experts prior to picking in order to make the best decisions for the customer.
- In a particularly spellbinding lecture, Dr. Yonatan Elkind, Head of Pepper Breeding Team, HUJ Faculty of Agricultural, Food & Environmental Quality Sciences delved into the subject of pepper seed breeding and adapting the crop to mild winter conditions. Peppers are known for being one of the key vegetable crops globally. In Israel, it is the leading export vegetable with a market value of USD 130 million in the 2006-2007 seasons. Over the last decade, pepper breeding has led to a number of new varieties, like Cannon, Melchor, and Godzilla. These hybrids are characterized by relatively high yields also in conditions where minimal night temperatures reach 10oC, which is much lower than previous varieties which required temperatures of over 18oC and as a result, required expensive heating to grow and develop. The plants are vigorous and produce high yields throughout an extended season. These varieties are also characterized by firm fruit, good vine storage capacity as well as long shelf-life. Another advantage is low sensitivity to fruit cracking which is a real problem in most spring varieties. In conclusion, the genetic improvement in these varieties expands the ecological assimilation of the pepper and promotes using simple greenhouses and shade structures in mild winter conditions rather than expensive structures. Their resistance to Pepper Mild Mottled Virus (PMMV) and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) is also determined and serves as a selection criterion. During the lecture, which triggered great interest, Dr. Elkind was asked by one of the growers which rootstocks suit pepper growing, and he answered that if, for example, a TSWW resistant pepper variety is grown, then the rootstock must also be TSWW resistant. When he was asked about green peppers, he replied that if peppers are picked when they are green, the fruit will remain that way for up to three weeks under cold storage conditions. In addition, he added that if the area on the bush where the fruit grows in not illuminated, the green attributes will not appear and it will change color.
Meirav Mor-Ophir, M.Sc. Clinical Dietician, mesmerized the audience on the closing day of the seminar when she spoke about the Phytochemical Revolution – Health benefits in vegetable colors. Meirav spoke about the recommendation to increase our fruit and vegetables consumption, variety and eating from all 5 color groups: Red, orange, green, white and purple! This is essential since each vegetable activates different protection systems against damaging substances and processes, and thus, the combination covers a wider range of protection. The lecture, which aroused widespread interest among the audience, resulted in a number of questions such as the decrease in the health effect of vegetables after ripening, and the nutritional value of fresh fruit and vegetables as opposed to freshly squeezed juices. Meirav responded that fruit and vegetables should be ripened as little as possible so as not to lose the health component, and that some fruit and vegetables are damaged more or less prior to and after preparing them as juice.