Macfrut, the International Cherry Symposium to be held in 2022

MACFRUT 2022 will be the world capital of cherries thanks to the International Cherry Symposium, to be held from 2 to 6 May. The event was previewed during a session at Macfrut 2021 opened by Renzo Piraccini, President of Macfrut, who said: ‘I believe that cherries truly embody the culture of liberation, and this is why they will be the symbolic fruit of Macfrut 2022, which will be back in May. One of the ways forward is to identify high-value crops such as the cherry tree. We at Cesena Fiera will finance three scholarships for three young people worth a total amount of €50,000.’ The event dedicated to cherries, scheduled for next year, will consist of several separate events: a two-day advanced training session in Bertinoro (2-3 May); a global symposium on key issues relating to the cherry tree (global market, sustainability, variety innovation and covering systems), which will take place at Macfrut in Rimini (4 May); an event focusing on market trends with top players in the sector (5 May), as well as guided visits to leading companies in the sector who will be attending Macfrut (5 May); and, to conclude, a tour of the main cherry tree growers to get a closer look at product innovations (6 May). The conference scheduled on 4 May at Macfrut 2022 will host experts from the USA, Chile and Europe, including Italy, and will focus on key issues in cherry growing. The spotlight will be on the current global market situation, the economic sustainability of new cherry orchards, biotechnologies applied to variety innovation, innovative training systems, precision management of cherry orchards, covering systems, plant protection and postharvest, in a particularly challenging context such as the one we are currently experiencing. On the final day of Macfrut, pioneering companies in the field of biosolutions received awards during the first edition of the Biosolutions International Award, an acknowledgement promoted by Agri2000 and Macfrut as part of the Biosolutions International Congress, which took place in the morning. Two of the solutions proposed were awarded: one by the Canadian company Semios and the other by Cbc Biogard (BIOGARD Division). The solution proposed by Semios (“Semios Variable Rate Mating Disruption for Codling Moth”) won the award for its innovation, the effectiveness of the tool itself and the fact that it offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to improve their knowledge about the presence of pathogenic insects as it is tailored to each farm through simplified methods. It is an integrated system that involves surveying and monitoring environment variables by placing devices in the field that transmit information and can be controlled from a centralised platform. The system allows the release of the pheromone to be modulated to trap pests, thus improving the effectiveness of sexual confusion, which allows the farm to achieve positive economic results. The second award went to CBC Biogard for the product BIOOtwin®L: the world’s first diffuser with power reserve made from biodegradable polymers, which is authorised in Europe for controlling Lobesia botrana (the European grapevine moth) through the technique of sexual confusion. The biodegradable dispenser, which consists of two parallel micro-capillaries and has a special double tube shape, ensures quick and easy application on vine shoots, making it possible to speed up manual assembly operations in the field and its disposal at the end of the season, thus reducing the overall impact on the environment. Awards were therefore given for product innovation, practicality, sustainability and effectiveness.