INTERPERA 2010

The Third Ferrara World Pear Congress, organised by AREFLH (European Regions' Fruit and Vegetable Association) and the CSO (Fruit and Vegetable Services Centre), has come to a successful conclusion.
The great importance at global level of this area of cultivation is attested to by the presence at the congress of 180 delegates from all over the world – from Argentina to South Africa, to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Russia and Switzerland.

INTERPERA 2010 demonstrated the importance for pear-growing of innovation – not so much with respect to the question of varieties as to logistics and organisation, as well as production processes. According to the predictions of Catalonia Qualitat (Spain), production of summer pears is likely to see a relatively substantial fall in supply.

As regards winter produce, the data presented by the CSO on trends for terrain dedicated to pear-growing predict overall stability for the near future, which suggests a relatively stable production potential in the coming years.

"It is clear," said Paolo Bruni at the closing session of the congress, "that there is a need for increasingly focused and active measures to encourage exportation to traditional markets, but also to new destinations." "Global competition and the decline in consumption compel us," he continued, "to implement effective and coordinated measures to demolish the phytosanitary barriers that still exist in many important countries."