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Abstract Submissions ‑ Innuagral International haskap berry Workshop (at the 12th ISHS Vaccinium Symposium)

Posted by Stephanie Rogers on March 2, 2020 in News

Innuagral International haskap berry Workshop (at the 12th ISHS Vaccinium Symposium) will take place on September 02, 2020 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The workshop is a part of the International Society of Horticultural Science (ISHS) Vaccinium Symposium to encourage those with overlapping interests to attend not only the haskap berry workshop but also the Vaccinium Symposium.

The workshop includes oral presentations, a poster session, a panel discussion, and networking opportunities. The topics of interest include but not limited to breeding and new cultivar development, sustainable crop production systems, value-added food processing, health benefits, and marketing of haskap berry. The day-and-half workshop also includes a field tour of Phytocultures Ltd to learn about field testing of advanced breeding lines and micropropagation of selected genotypes of haskap berry.

Haskap berry (Lonicera caerulea L.), an emerging commercial fruit crop in North America, has been known for its medicinal benefits amongst the people of Russia, Japan, and Northeastern China for centuries. The berry crop has outstanding characteristics as extreme winter hardiness and frost resistance in the flowers, early fruit ripening, which avoids insect and disease pressure reducing the need for pesticides, ability to adapt to a wide range of soil fertility and soil moisture conditions, and perennial nature which reduces environmental disturbance. The abundance of health-promoting phytochemicals such as anthocyanins, vitamins, and minerals, has made haskap berry emerging as a new functional food or superfruit.

The abstract submission to present at the workshop will be open until March 06, 2020. The registration and other details can be found at dal.ca/ivs. For additional information, please contact Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe (vrupasinghe@dal.ca) or Dr. Andrew Hammermeister (Andrew.Hammermeister@dal.ca).