The International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet), under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is organizing the first International Conference on Tropical Fruit Pests and Diseases (TROPED 2018) from 25-27 September 2018 at the Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.
TROPED 2018 is supported by the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry and co-organized by the Biotechnology Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, CABI South East Asia, the Department of Agriculture Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute.
Bearing the title “Sustainable Solutions for Tropical Fruit Pests and Diseases,” the conference will feature the following six sessions: New and Emerging Tropical Fruit Pests and Diseases; Challenges and Opportunities in Biosecurity and Quarantine; Plant Health, Soil Nutrition, and Disease-free Planting Materials; Advances in Biological Control Methods; Advances in Biotechnology Research on Tropical Fruit Pests and Diseases; and Developments in Plant Protection: Emerging Trends and Capacity Requirements.
The keynote presentations will be delivered by two international experts on pests and diseases: Dr. Randy Christopher Ploetz from the University of Florida and Dr. Julie Flood from CABI UK.
Dr. Randy Ploetz is a Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida’s Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead. He is an authority on tropical fruit crop diseases and has edited or written four books, 60 book chapters, 200 research publications, and around 150 popular articles on these topics. He was the first to study global populations of the Fusarium wilt on bananas.
Meanwhile, Dr. Julie Flood has extensive experience working with diseases of high value horticultural crops (such as tropical fruits) and others like cocoa, oil palm, coffee, coconut, and cassava. She has worked on institutional development and capacity building particularly in SE Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. Throughout her career, she has had extensive experience in connecting farmers, institutions, and countries to knowledge, experience, and resources — both on national and international levels.
In conjunction with the conference, a free live demonstration of CABI’s Plant Clinic program will be conducted. A field trip to Kundasang, Sabah will also be held after the sessions.
