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In this publication readers will find the plenary lectures and communications
presented in the First International Symposium on Loquat, held in Valencia (Spain)
from 11 to 13 April 2002.
The loquat is one of the so-called "underutilized" fruit tree species, as it has a small
production and consumption volume in comparison with the main species (apple, pear,
peach, etc.). The "underutilized" feature also influences the research and development
efforts in these fruit tree species, that have been scarce until recent years. However, the
problems of overproduction facing most main fruit tree crops in Europe has led new
crop alternatives to be sought. One of these alternatives is offered by "underutilized"
fruit tree crops, such as loquat, persimmon, fig, pomegranate, etc., most of which are
well adapted to the Mediterranean. For this reason, in Spain and in the other countries
of the Mediterranean basin, growing interest has been shown in acquiring greater
knowledge of this type of fruit crop, especially considering that they have always been
present as individual trees in gardens and small family orchards. Proof of the growing
interest in these fruit tree crops is the creation in 1995 of the Cooperative Working
Group on Underutilized Fruit Crops in the Mediterranean Region, supported by the
CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies).
Spain is the second world producer of loquat fruits (more than 40,000 tonnes), after
China, and is the first exporting country, with 84 % of the total world exports. It is also
the country with the greatest and quickest growth in recent years. The contribution of
the Valencian Community (VC) to the Spanish loquat production is very important, no
less than 75 %. Besides, as stated in one of the papers, loquat in the VC is the species
with the lowest loss of real income in the last two decades. Corresponding with this
importance, the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA) has been working
on the loquat since 1993, with prospection, collection, conservation, characterization
and evaluation work on genetic resources, with the final objective of initiating a loquat
breeding programme.
The success of the First International Symposium on Loquat was not only quantitative
(51 participants from 8 countries, 7 guest plenary lectures, 21 oral communications
and 19 posters) but also qualitative. For the first time there has been an important
exchange of information and establishment of contacts between researchers and
technical experts from the two main loquat growing areas in the world, very distant
from each other (the countries of origin such as China and Japan, and the
Mediterranean countries, which are almost the loquat's "second home" considering
their perfect adaptation to the area). These contacts will be the source of very
necessary future collaborations. We are sure that this Symposium will mark a before
and after in the growing of the loquat worldwide.
