Minas K. Papademetriou*
* Senior Plant Production and Protection Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.Allow me to welcome you to the FAO Regional Office and to this Expert Consultation. The Consultation has been organized and sponsored by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. I am grateful to all of you for coming here to contribute to this Meeting.
When we talk about development of deciduous fruits in Asia our mind goes immediately to the cooler highlands (hill and mountainous areas) of Asia. Those are the areas where the poorest of the poor and the most marginal of the marginal farmers live. The problems of agriculture in those areas are many and complex ones, and they are of concern to every government. They are also of concern to FAO and other International Organizations.
The poor agriculture with its low level of diversification is no longer sufficiently interesting as an economic activity to attract the people who live in those areas. Consequently, many of them abandon the hill and mountainous areas, migrating to the towns with the hope for a better living. This leads to a deterioration of the status of agriculture, not to mention the damage to the natural environment resulting from neglect.
By developing deciduous fruit trees in the highlands the farmers’ income can be substantially improved and erosion problems can be reduced. Deciduous fruits tend to be high value crops and in the tropics are highly marketable. However, on the one hand many technical problems related to the development of deciduous fruits such as apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, persimmon etc., need to be solved. On the other hand the results already obtained in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China and of course Thailand merit dissemination.
Strengthening cooperation among countries and institutions in production development is very important. A forum like this will allow us to learn from each other. We must explore the possibilities of sharing our experiences for mutual benefit. It is in this context that this Consultation has been convened. Briefly its objectives are the following:
a) To review the status of deciduous fruit production in Asia, discuss the problems faced as well as strategies required to overcome existing problems.I wish you all productive discussions and good contacts among one another for the exchange of information and experience.b) Elaborate on the Potential and Opportunities for deciduous fruit development in Asia.
c) Discuss ways and means of strengthening collaboration on deciduous fruit research and development.
