Preface

The FAO Interregional Cooperative Research Network on Nuts was established in Yalova (Turkey) in 1990.

The main objectives are the promotion of exchange of information among the different Mediterranean partners, establishment of joint research programmes, exchange of germplasm, establishment of close links between researchers and fostering a spirit of cooperation.

An important activity of the Network is the compilation of Germplasm inventories and Research catalogues.

The Liason Officer of the different Subnetworks have been asked to prepare the compilation and edition of the germplasm inventory of each species kept in the main research institutions involved and also a survey on the on going research in the main producing countries.

The survey on almond is the first to have been made; catalogues on the other species will follow.

This catalogue is structured in different sections: almond production in the world, almond germplasm inventory, description of the main characteristics of native cultivars of each country, description of research projects, research inventory and selected references.

The information published was provided by scientists involved in almond research all over the world.

Structure of the inter-regional cooperative research network on nuts

Network	Coordination Centre	Coordinator
Nut tree crops	Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries IRTA Centre de Mas Bové Departament d'Arboricultura Mediterrània Apartat 415. E 43280 Reus (Spain) Tel: +34-77-343252 Fax: +34-77-344055	F. J. Vargas
Subnetworks	Liaison Centres	Liaison Officers
Almond	Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura Via di Fioranello, 52. 00143 Roma (Italy) Tel: +39-6-79348106 (direct) - 7934811 (operator) Fax: +39-6-79340158	F. Monastra
Hazelnut	Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Horticulture 06110 - Ankara (Turkey) Tel: +90-312-3170550 Fax: +90-312-3473666	A.I. K'ksal
Walnut	Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique INRA Station de Recherches Fruitières Centre de Recherches de Bordeaux BP. 81-33883 Villenave d'Ornon (France) Tel: +33-556-843277 Fax: +33-556-843083	E. Germain
Pistachio	K.S.U. Faculty Agriculture Department of Horticulture Kahraman Maras (Turkey) Tel: +90-344-2237666 Fax: +90-344-2230048	N. Kaska
Pecan	Cukurova University. Faculty of Agriculture Department of Horticulture. Adana-01330 (Turkey) Tel: +90-322-3386388 Fax: +90-322-3386388	O. Tuzcu
Chestnut	Instituto de Conservaçâo de Natureza (ICN) Parque Natural dasSerras da Aire e Candeiros Jardim Municipal,. 2040 Rio Maior (Portugal) Tel: +351-4390168 Fax: +351-4392605	J.A. Gomes Pereira
Stone Pine	Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria INIA Centro de Investigación Forestal CIFOR. Av. Padre Huidobro, s/n, 28040 Madrid (Spain) Tel: +34-1-3476800 Fax: +34-1-3573107	G. Catalán
Genetic Resources	Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries IRTA Centre de Mas Bové Department d'Arboricultura Mediterrània Apartat 415. E 43280 Reus (Spain) Tel: +34-77-343252 Fax: +34-77-344055	I. Batlle
Economics	Servicio de Investigación Agraria SIA Diputación General de Aragón Apartado 727. 50080 Zaragoza (Spain) Tel: +34-76-576361 Fax: +34-76-575501	L.M. Albisu