Strawberries, Rimini hosts the IX edition of the International Strawberry Symposium

The IX Edition of the International Strawberry Symposium, organised by Università Politecnica delle Marche and CREA - the Italian Council for agricultural research and analysis of the agricultural economy - in association with the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), will take place in Rimini from 2 to 6 May 2020. The ISS 2020 (International Strawberry Symposium), which follows the 2016 Symposium held in Quebec, will offer a completely fresh approach to the topic of strawberries, aiming to bridge the gap between the worlds of research and industry by involving the entire panorama of potential stakeholders: from academics to producers to industry and the market, right through to the final consumer. In fact, the ISS 2020 will be open to experts from the whole world and will focus in particular on developing countries, where strawberry growing is expanding and is proving to be a new income opportunity for rural areas. In the same context, scientists will have the opportunity of presenting the latest research on the subject, meeting colleagues for further discussions, and developing ideas for new projects and interdisciplinary collaborations. The ISS 2020 programme is particularly rich and varied, to respond in full to the highly diversified needs of the guests attending. Even before the official start of the Symposium, scheduled for 2 May, a three-day pre-tour, starting on 30 April, has been planned to offer the chance to visit two of the areas of Italy most ideally suited to strawberry production: the Campania and Basilicata regions, which in the last three years accounted for 26% and 24% respectively of the country's total output (source: CSO). The producers featured on the tour include Coop Sole, Vivai Mazzoni, Salvi Vivai, Planitalia, Nova Siri Genetics, Apofruit Italia and Alsia. Guests will be offered a similar opportunity just after the Symposium, on 7 and 8 May, with the chance to view farms in other areas where strawberry growing is highly developed, such as the Romagna region and the province of Trento, with visits to Astra Innovazione, CIV, Vivai Mazzoni, Salvi Vivai and Cooperativa Sant’Orsola. Specifically for the academic world, the Berry School, held on the same days (7 and 8 May), will enable a selection of international students to meet and exchange ideas with the Symposium researchers at the Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona. The Symposium itself will be structured in 4 parallel sessions, each covering a different research area, comprising a total of 48 presentations, plus the 12 keynote speeches by Italian and international invited experts. Registration to attend the event is already open online at the following link: https://www.iss2020.com/registration/ The worldwide strawberry tradeInternationally, the world's top strawberry producer is China, which alone accounts for about 40% of global output, with more than 3.1 million tonnes, followed by the United States (about 1.4 million tonnes) and Mexico (about 460,000 tonnes). The European table is headed by Spain (just under 300,000 tonnes), closely followed by Poland and Germany (source: CSO and FAO). The world's biggest exporter is the United States, especially throughout the Pan-American area, while the European number one is again Spain, followed by countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, which in part export their own output and in part distribute product grown in other states. For further information: https://www.iss2020.com  For the presentation of abstracts: https://www.iss2020.com/abstract-submission/  Tour:Pre tour | 30 April – 02 May: https://www.iss2020.com/event/pre-tour-30-april-2-may-2020/ Post Tour | 7 – 8 May: https://www.iss2020.com/event/post-tour-7-8-may-2020/  Berry School: https://www.iss2020.com/faculty/  Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/ISS.RIMINI2020/ https://twitter.com/IssRimini2020 https://www.instagram.com/iss.rimini2020/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/iss-rimini2020/