The Chinese capital received of the 18 to 22 February the 7º International Symposium of the Strawberry

Between the days 18 and 22 February 2012 took place in Beijing (China) the 7º International Symposium of the Strawberry. This International Symposium has meant clearly the put of long of the Chinese official science with regard to this important crop.

All the details, from the place of celebration (an enormous resort/hotel of more than 2.000 rooms), the big cartelería delivered in the most important zones of the accesses to the city, an impressesive fair-exhibition, the celebration of the 'Party of the Strawberry', the mobilisation of the media –included the transmission televised of the inaugural acts, festive and newspapers–, etc., have showed an important and decided impulse of the Chinese authorities to the development of this crop that consider socially notable.

Inauguration of the Symposium.

They have contributed the impressesive figures of 117.280 hectares of crop with two million tonnes produced in 2010, what would mean the half of the world-wide production. These official figures, contributed by the president of the committee organiser of the symposium (Dr. Zhang), crusades with data that the author of this article has, could mean that near of 900.000 agriculturalists, many of them associated in cooperatives, went at present producers of strawberry in China. Remember that in our country (Huelva), important producer, can estimate some 2.000 freseros active.

Regarding human participation, this symposium has beaten all the records of the previous congresses with 1.100 registrations, 60 countries of origin and 375 works presented. With the general subject 'Health, Development and Share...' And the slogan 'The strawberry does the sweetest life' presented the works and discussions delivered in the classical divisions: genetic Improvement; Conservation and use of germoplasma wild; Biotechnology; Physiology; Technicians of production; Nurseries; Crop protection; Disinfection of floors; ecological Production; Crop out of floor; Poscosecha; Industry; Nutrition; and Quality.

The Dr. John Maas (in the centre) was one of the lecturers invited more notable.

The works presented consisted in 15 conferences invited, 107 oral communications and 253 posters. Between the lecturers invited found researchers and professors so notable in the world of the strawberry like the Drs. John Maas and Douglas Shaw (United States), David Simpson (EE UU), P. List (Belgium) and the modest author of this review, that carried out an update of what the agriculturalists and viveristas are realising, like technicians of densisfestación of the floor in strawberry, after the set up of the Protocol of Montreal (withdrawal of the Bromide of methyl) in more than 20 important countries in this crop.

From the point of view of the subjects of greater discussed interest in the Symposium, these are so numerous (375) and miscellaneous that hardly in some pages could enumerate in his whole. However, doing a difficult summary would centre them in two appearances: to) jump advance of the technology and the Chinese science (truth or fiction?) And b) some subjects of impact for the present and the future of the crop of the strawberry.

With regard to the first subject are clear exponents the exhibition realised in the impressesive Expo Garden and the technical visits of the symposium so much to centres of investigation as to cooperatives in the surroundings of Beijing: an imponente development of the technology of crop out of floor in his diverse specialitys and nuances; the possibility of harvest during all the year with the employment of the new varieties of neutral day in China; and the put of long of the interesting and social small invernadero solar Chinese. They are units very small (of less than 1.000 square metres) that install in shape of big batteries of greenhouses in enormous cooperative managed by numerous partners supported by the institutional politics of the Chinese government. These greenhouses solar go winning terrain, at least, in the province of Beijing and in the colindantes (for example Hebei). His operation is simple and economic take advantage of the heat (rays infrarojos) that penetrates during the day in the plastics oriented southeast that they accumulate in the black body (floor, plants, and especially the rear wall of material of construction that absorbs the solar power and gives it back to the interior of the invernadero in the hours of darkness by what remains retained (effect invernadero) helped by some rolls of cloth arpillera (or similar materials) with which covers the surface of transparent cover in the night. Partly, they are family of the Insole that developed in the years 80 in Almería.

Visit to the classical greenhouses solar Chineses.

With regard to subjects of impact in the symposium, perhaps would be a good track follow with attention the greater part of the conferences invited. In you plough to the shortness select only four of them (varieties of neutral day, illnesses of emergent floor, the values nutracéuticos of the fruit of the strawberry and the presence of new industries freseras exotic for our western world):

The revalorización of the varieties of neutral day (or remontantes), scarce in the offer varietal and necessary for a production of fruit along all the year, or at least out of station concerning dominant zones (production of summer/autumn). The subject of the varieties of neutral day and his need was tackled by numerous participants: Shaw (University of California), Bayard and Troop (Meiosis, United Kingdom), Yeoung et al. (Univ. Gangneung, Korea), Zheng (Gongzhuling, China), Sung Lee (Daegu, Korea), Martinelli et al. (CIV, Italy), Chen et al. (Simcoe, Canada), Johnson and Simpson (East Malling, United Kingdom), amongst other.

Maqueta Of the big exhibition and of the Expo Garden.

By his part, the constatación of the new illnesses of floor (Macrophomina phaseolina and Fusarium oxysporum, mainly) surface with strength in the most watched zones by the use of fumigantes chemical. A consequence of the climatic change, or perhaps a consequence of the change of the habits of crop and of the disappearance of the fumigantes chemical? Diverse participants glossed the subject: J. L. Maas (Maryland, United States), J.M. López-Aranda (IFAPA, Spain), Fang and Barbetti (Crawley, Australia), Mattner et al. (Victoria, Australia), Sánchez et al. (Chile), Of The Saint et al. (IFAPA, Spain), amongst other.

Another generic subject of interest was the one of the relative works to characterise and emphasize the healthy properties (nutracéuticas) of the fruit of the strawberry, that beside the rest of the small fruit (raspberry, Muslim and cranberry) follows calando in the public opinion that bears to the big markets of consumption in fresco. In this sense, presented interesting contents on antioxidant properties, flavonoids, etc., by part of Mezzetti (Ancona, Italy), Wang (Maryland, United States). Especially documented was the conference invited of the possible future director And. Desjardins, beside works of Khanizadeh (Quebec, Canada), Vandendriessche et al. (Lovaina, Belgium), X. Li (Hiroshima, Japan), amongst other.

Visit to the exhibition of new technologies.

Finally it wanted to stand out the presence of works that characterise the situation of the industry fresera in exotic countries that do not are used to to participate in this type of events and that, perhaps by the geopolitical influence of the impressesive Popular Republic Chinese, encouraged to participate with his interesting communications in this international symposium. They presented data on India (Murthy et al., Singh et al., Gupta), Bangladesh (Ahmad and Uddin, Uddin et al., Roy), Kazakhstan (Natalya), Iran (Farahi et al., Lotfi et al., Golami et al.), Pakistan (Qureshi et al.), Georgia (Nadirzade and Phirosmanashvili), Thailand (Chaiprasat), Kenia (Mwangi), Philippines (Bouquets et al.), amongst other exotic countries for our crop, understands .

The Spanish works presented like oral communications were: the study of some genes that control the aroma of the strawberry (Iraida Amaya, IFAPA); several studies on the illness antracnosis in strawberry (Francisco Amil, IFAPA) and the desinfectación of floors in nurseries (David García, ITACyL). The scientific representation Spaniard in shape of poster was very numerous, standing out eight pósteres of ADESVA devoted to diverse appearances of the technology of the crop, such like utilisation of plastics, transplantation and harvest mechanised, mathematical models of prediction of harvests and diverse subjects of poscosecha (4). New varieties were presented by the IFAPA and the FNM; studies on the delicate emergent illness 'Macrophomina phaseolina' were presented by the IFAPA, the University of Seville and the FNM; works on the biocontrol were presented by the IFAPA and the CSIC; physiology of the fruit and of resistance to illnesses by part of the Universities of Málaga and Córdoba; appearances of quality of fruit and genetic mapping by part of the IRTA and Planasa; and, finally, the problems of the dry chalices were presented by the University of Huelva.

Images of the conference invited given by José Manuel López Aranda (Spain).

The Spanish participation was very numerous and of high scientific and technical quality. It wanted to mention the participation of groups of work of nurseries such as Rio Eresma, The Pinewood, Vimuska and others, as well as the nourished representation formed by technicians, viveristas and agriculturalists of several countries organised by Eurosemillas. During the last official day of the Symposium argued democratically the headquarters for the next VIII International Symposium of the Strawberry, in 2016, being finally chosen the candidature presented by Canada (Quebec).

With the development of a destacadísimo international event (the seventh), the crop of the strawberry has reinforced with an important injection of science and knowledge, necessary to fulfil with the general subject proposed by this VII International Symposium of the Strawberry (Beijing, 2012, China): “Health, Development and Share, ... Knowledges”.

The director of the Symposium, Dr. Yun-tao Zhang (centre), with the Dr. López Aranda (izq.).