EAPR Conference
On Wednesday 20th June 2007 Higgins Seed Division played host to 65 international scientists as part of the (European Association of Potato Research) EAPR Virology Section Conference. The conference was held at Aviemore for 5 days with Wednesday (20th) as the field day. Visitors, many of whom have direct links to near commercial activity in their own country, hailed from as far afield as Australia and Brazil.
Our guests posed an immediate headache in terms of numbers and we split the party into 2 groups. Group 1 visited the Ardgye minituber production site whilst Group 2 enjoyed the hospitality of the local distillery in Rothes (Glen Grant). At half time, all changed and we repeated the process. All visitors were treated to a full explanation of the production techniques used at Ardgye from the stem cutting in the laboratory to the final harvested clones at the end of the production cycle. We presented our guests with samples of the minitubers produced and they were genuinely impressed by both the size and the quality of the product. The 'dirty lab' was included in the tour for the visitors and they left with an excellent impression of the work we do in the lab at harvest, especially for stocks to be sent across the world soon after harvest and the way we are able to focus on risk management of stocks.
Both groups then convened at Longhillock for a tour of the store and an explanation of the storage and grading process for seed potatoes. The trip to the breeding field and a few commercial crops had to be abandoned due to the inclement weather. Lunch, provided by the delegate�s hotel, was eaten in the store as the planned picnic was also abandoned because of the weather! This provided an excellent opportunity for David, Stephen and I to talk on a one to one with many of the delegates.
Higgins sponsored one of the delegates, Gulsen Sertkaya from Turkey to attend and she really appreciated the support we had been able to offer her. Gulsen is a researcher at the Mustafa Kemal University in Turkey specialising in virus diseases and their transmission in potatoes and told me she is often contracted by FritoLay to advise in Turkey. She left Longhillock with a good impression and hopes we can continue the established contact with her in Turkey.
The EAPR committee wrote after the event to thank Higgins Seed for the work done, for the visit and for our contribution in making the event and the field day in particular one of the most memorable in the history of the conference.