The 12th International pear symposium ISHS was held in Leuven, Belgium from July 14-18, 2014. Pear experts, extension workers and fruit growers from over 30 countries attended the symposium. The pear symposium is organized by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and held every four years. The main topics in this symposium covered pear genetics, rootstock and cultivar evaluation, orchard design and management, training-pruning, nutrition, water and soil management, plant growth regulation and fruitset, plant protection, fruit quality and postharvest. Prof. Teng Yuanwen from College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University delivered a speech entitled “Genetic clue to origin of cultivated Asian pears inferred from cpDNA haplotypes” and had also a poster presentation entitled “Comparison of anthocyanin accumulation of red Chinese sand pears (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) grown at two locations”.
After the meeting, Prof. Teng visited National Institute for Agricultural Research –Angers (INRA) and AGRO CAMPUS at the invitation of Prof. Buck-Sorlin and Dr. Simard and discussed the possibility in the collaboration of pear rootstock breeding.
