Interpoma Congress 2022 to focus on USA and picking robots

New dynamics in the US apple industry and state-of-the-art robotic harvesting solutions will be the focus of the Interpoma Congress 2022, which will take place on November 17 and 18 in its regular slot at the international apple trade show Interpoma (November 17-19).

Each edition of the congress addresses the latest trends in the apple sector in the presence of experts from all over the world. And there will be no shortage of innovations this year too, starting with the new coordinator: Walter Guerra, head of the Pomology Working Group at the Laimburg Research Center since 2005 and the center’s deputy director since 2021, will be presenting two exciting topics and ten top-notch speakers in his debut in this role.

Interpoma Congress 2022 will take place on two mornings, November 17 and 18. The first day will be chaired by Gerhard Dichgans, who was director of the trade association VOG for almost 30 years, and will focus on the latest developments in the apple sector in the United States. Following Dichgans’s introduction to the subject will be Tim Welsh of Columbia Fruit Packers, Susan Brown of Horticulture and Plant Breeding Sections Cornell AgriTech, Tom Barnes of Category Partners, LLC, and Stefano Musacchi of Washington State University. Speaking from the perspective of the farmer, the variety breeder, the marketer, and the researcher/consultant, the four speakers will dive deep into the ongoing and emerging upheavals in US apple production.

Day two will be dedicated to the subject of automated harvesting and will be attended by the world’s leading manufacturers of picking robots, who will also present and exhibit their innovative machines. Elia Bruni of Aigritec (Italy), Avi Kahani of FFRobotics (Israel), Chao Chen of Monash University (Australia), Han Smits of Munckhof (Netherlands), Leopold Lucas of Ripe Robotics (Australia), and Ittai Marom of Tevel Aerobotics Technologies (Israel) will take turns on the Interpoma Congress stage. This will be followed by a panel discussion with all the speakers.

Thomas Mur, director of the Fiera Bolzano Exhibition Centre, explains:

 “As the leading trade fair for the apple industry, Interpoma has always demonstrated that it is ahead of its time, offering a highly attractive program for the international players in the sector every two years. This year, too, we have focused our selection on some of the most interesting current trends that impressively document how strongly and quickly the world of apples is changing and developing.”

Tickets to the Interpoma Congress are available online at a fee of €69, or €54 with the early bird discount until August 31.