The tree crop nursery sector is going to face big challenges in the near future to meet an increasingly high demand for certified plants, from the genetic and health point of view, suited to very different environmental and growth conditions. To address this high international demand for plant material at sustainable costs, the nursery industry will need new infrastructures and equipment to support more precise management practices. Plant production systems need to be flexible and reliable; lines of plant material should be grown on artificial substrates, since they are low cost and do not harm the environment but should be also able to sustain plant growth in the nursery, improve plant tolerance to long distance transportation, decrease post planting stress in the field, ensure food security and environmental and social sustainability.

One big challenge will be to maintain these properties when plants are grown in small containers: the use of small containers would decrease the costs of production and transportation but, at the same time, would increase the occurrence of abiotic and biotic stress. Mycorrhiza technologies, by exploiting natural symbiotic relationships, can increase plants tolerance to abiotic stress, the main challenge to plant survival both in the nursery and in the post-planting period in the field.

Tree crop genetic and health certification allows safe international trading, in order to prevent and contrast phythosanitary emergencies, aspect that is being of strategic relevance at global level.

The symposium will focus, for large part, on the above mentioned aspects.

The tree crop nursery sector is going to face big challenges in the near future to meet an increasingly high demand for certified plants, from the genetic and health point of view, suited to very different environmental and growth conditions. To address this high international demand for plant material at sustainable costs, the nursery industry will need new infrastructures and equipment to support more precise management practices. Plant production systems need to be flexible and reliable; lines of plant material should be grown on artificial substrates, since they are low cost and do not harm the environment but should be also able to sustain plant growth in the nursery, improve plant tolerance to long distance transportation, decrease post planting stress in the field, ensure food security and environmental and social sustainability.

One big challenge will be to maintain these properties when plants are grown in small containers: the use of small containers would decrease the costs of production and transportation but, at the same time, would increase the occurrence of abiotic and biotic stress. Mycorrhiza technologies, by exploiting natural symbiotic relationships, can increase plants tolerance to abiotic stress, the main challenge to plant survival both in the nursery and in the post-planting period in the field.

Tree crop genetic and health certification allows safe international trading, in order to prevent and contrast phythosanitary emergencies, aspect that is being of strategic relevance at global level.

The symposium will focus, for large part, on the above mentioned aspects.

Dear Colleague,

as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision has been made to reschedule the meeting from September 28-30, 2020, to October 4-6, 2021 in hybrid form. The I CERTFRUIT Symposium will be held in Bari (Southern Italy) at CRSFA in Locorotondo, with the co-organization of the Italian Society for Horticultural Science (SOI).

The symposium will consist of a three-day scientific program, and a two-day post-congress tour of the following topics:

The event will be open to all involved in the research, teaching, and extension community, as well as producers and marketers involved in the nursery industry. The goal is to promote international cooperation and dissemination of the latest information regarding certificated fruit tree.

We encourage you to visit the symposium website, available at www.certfruit2020.org and follow updates for deadlines. Remember that the manuscripts should be as concise as possible in order to reduce to a minimum the number of pages of Acta Horticulturae. As a general rule, the maximum recommended length of an invited paper is 16 pages and of a submitted oral, or poster paper is 8 pages, including figures and tables. An average page of text will contain about 500 words. You can download the paper format at the following webpage https://www.ishs.org/authors.

Please use ROSA system to upload the paper. You can access the system from this webpage:https://www.ishs.org/symposium/607.

Please read the instruction carefully and follow them. If you follow the instruction from the beginning, we will save a lot of time in the review process. You are aware of the new policy of ISHS. They are asking the Acta Hort. book just after the Symposium.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. The Organizing Committee wishes you, your families, and friends good health over the coming weeks and months.

Stay safe and take care,

Salvatore Camposeo, Tiziano Caruso, Vito Nicola Savino

Conveners

1st International Symposium on Plant Propagation, Nursery Organization and Management for the Production of Certified Fruit Tree