?What is new in the "peach world"?

The 10th ISHS International Peach Symposium took place during the period May 30 ? June 3, 2022 in the city of Naoussa that is located in the Prefecture of Macedonia, Greece. From a cultural perspective Naoussa is a historical landmark since it is the place where the greatest philosopher Aristotle taught the greatness of classical Greek thought and the ideals of Platonic philosophy to the son of the King of Macedonia Phillip II, Alexander, and the other nobles of the Macedonian court. Noteworthy, Naoussa is the place where the peach production was first introduced in Greece back in 1938. In addition, Naoussa and the wider regions of Imathia and Pella are the epicenter of peach fruit production in Greece with leading cooperative units with international impact and worldwide leading role in canning industry. The Conference was the first one held in an Open-Air Environment with the employment of state-of-the-art audiovisual infrastructure. The Venue was located within the Municipality Park of Naoussa, a unique example in the history of Landscape Architecture in Greece that is nowadays officially an integrate part of the European Route of Historic Gardens. The organization of this event was an initiative of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology & Food Science. It is worth noted that CUT is a newly established university in the Republic of Cyprus that welcomed its first students only on September 2007 and managed within few years to develop itself into a modern, pioneering and well recognized university, able to offer education and high-level research in leading fields of research. Conference was attended by more than 200 delegates and accompanying persons, mainly originated from Greece, Spain, Italy and the United States.?Conference website during its lifespan exceeded the 12,000 unique visits from nearly 150 countries.? Scientific part The Conference brought together researchers from diverse fields of study who shared a common interest on peach fruit production covering the state of the art, spanning from breeding, development and testing of new cultivars, to fruit physiology and advancements on training systems, to pest and disease management as well as to aspects related to fruit quality postharvest management and processing. All those disciplines were brought together in a coherent manner through a concrete scientific program, comprised of 16 plenary talks, 54 oral talks and 67 poster contributions. The?Book of abstracts?has been disseminated to several thousands of recipients by electronic means through Conference and ISHS dissemination and communication channels. Keynote speakers- Pere Ar?s, The peach genome and its breeding applications- Daniele Bassi, Are we ready for the next peach? A still under-explored crop- Tiziano Caruso, Propagation techniques and nursery management for the production of certified peach plants- Thomas Gradziel, Exotic genes for solving emerging peach production challenges- Theodore DeJong, Understanding peach fruit development and growth- Vassilis Fotopoulos, Priming technologies in peach: where are we now, where do we go from here?- Guido Schnabel, Peach skin disorders: causes and mitigation measures- Andronikos Mauromoustakos, Exciting times with statistically thinking for industrial problem solving strips- Nikos Papadopoulos, Challenges and opportunities in management of emerging and alien invasive pest in peaches- Pavlina Drogoudi, Climate change and the peach production sector: Challenges and adaptation strategies- Costas Biliaderis, Emerging food processing technologies towards production of added value peach products- Guglielmo Costa, Peach fruit thinning: can we go beyond the current solutions?- Magda Krokida, Evaluation of environmental and economic performance of peach fruit production using LCA and LCCA tools- Mar?a Fabiana Drincovich, The metabolic diversity of peach fruit and its usage as phytochemicals resources with roles in human nutrition and health- Rosario Torres, Advances in management of fungal diseases in peach- Jim Adaskaveg, Overview practices to combat postharvest diseases of peach fruit Notably, a dedicated session with 8 oral presentations on peach pest management was supported by the Fruit Flies-IPM (Horizon 2020 project), coordinated by Prof. Nikos Papadopoulos, Head of Insect Biology Lab - University of Thessaly. Social part of the ConferenceThe social program of the conference included a welcome reception party, an official dinner, a cocktail event and a Gala dinner. All details about the conference, including a descriptive set of photos from the Scientific and social program of the Conference can be retrieved from the following Google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l7Sd6tFDnvNr6A9n12UsMDADby1Jjk3i Technical and cultural visit Peaches coming from the Agricultural Protected Region of Naoussa have been recognized as products P.D.O., unique in Greece and one of few in Europe. During technical visit (June 2) delegates visited the premises of A.C. Naoussa and ASEPOP Naoussa who are marketing their premium peach fruits under the brand names Naougusta and Vermina, respectively. Such products are the epitome of the farm to fork concept with no phytosanitary applications upon harvest.Additionally, the tour encompassed guided tours at Aristotle?s School Cultural Center, Mieza Theater and at the Tombs of King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, a UNESCO World Heritage.? Short videos regarding the scientific and social activities are available through the following links:-?Scientific part-?Social part-?Technical tour ?? ISHS Young Mind Awards Mrs Najla Ksouri (CSIC, Spain) won the competition just 1 mark ahead of Mr. David Sterle (Colorado State University, USA) for the best oral presentation. Her presentation was entitled ?Motif discovery within upstream regions of variable length reveals regulatory signatures in peach?. The award of the best poster presentation was given to Mrs Andrea Kohler for her work entitled ?Fruit quality and yield in planar training systems for peach? ISHS Peach Webinar on current trends and future challenges of peach fruit productionThe initially scheduled dates of the Conference (1-4 June 2021) was devoted to a series of webinars with 16 selective talks followed by Q & A sessions. The webinar was attended by nearly 800 attendees and all relevant information is available at https://www.fruitsciences.eu/peach2021/webinar.html The talks are available through the links:-?Day 1-?Day 2-?Day 3-?Day 4? The societal impact of ISHSThe conference resulted in a surplus of 32,400? that was allocated in scholarships of excellence at Cyprus University of Technology (15,000?, 26 beneficiaries) and to non-profit units linked with kids with special needs or low -income in Greece and Cyprus (17,400?). Special thanks to the 33 supporters of the Conference: A.C. Naoussa, ASEPOP Naoussa, BASF, Syngenta, Yara International, Corteva Agriscience, Hellagrolip, Venus Growers, Neos Aliakmon, Vitro Hellas, Tsesmelis Fruit & Nut Nursery, Timac Agro | ????, Felix Instruments, Ecomatik, Papakonstantinou fruits, EuroChem, Bayer, Q-CERT Ltd., AgroFresh, Valent BioSciences, A.C. Episkopi, Agrology, Emphyton, Milis Nurseries, Vitaplant, Compo Expert, Agromillora Group, ASPIS, Agrohellas S.A., Fitotechniki, ASEPOP Velventos, Delcof, Anadiag? AuthorGeorge ManganarisConvenor of the X ISHS International Peach SymposiumCyprus University of Technology, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology & Food Science, 3603 Lemesos, Cypruswww.fruitsciences.eu?