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The Mediterranean area is one of the most important centres of fruit production, not only because of the surface area planted and the quantities produced, but also because of the high diversification and of the valuable quality of the product.
The environmental conditions allow diversification, a sound aspect of Mediterranean fruit culture, since many native and allochthonous fruit tree species (from peach to grape, among the major species ; from fig to pomegranate, from quince to chestnut, from the jujube tree to the carob tree, among minor species) are easily grown. Diversification and quality were also enhanced by the tradition of the Mediterranean people, who for centuries have wisely passed on the technical knowledge of horticulture, the deep-rooted eating customs, and last but not least the most precious resource for fruit production : germplasm.
Over the last few years, various research teams of the Mediterranean area have focused their attention on under-utilised fruit species. This interest gave rise to a working group on this topic, established in 1994 and supported by CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) which has been coordinated with other initiatives promoted by FAO and the European Commission. Recently (1996-1999) persimmon promotion was supported by the EC Project RESGEN29 on the "Conservation of minor fruit tree species".
Persimmon, an allochthonous species that has already been incorporated into the context of fruit culture of some Mediterranean countries (namely Italy and Spain) and is already naturalised in some Mediterranean areas, is one of the species experiencing renewed interest world-wide.
The cultivated surface and production all over the world has more than doubled in the last forty years : in 2000 the production was over 2,300,000 tons and more than 300,000 hectares were devoted to persimmon orchards. Production increased noticeably in China (centre of origin of persimmon), in Korea and in Brazil, while it decreased in Japan and in Italy. Italy's mean production in the last ten years has fluctuated around 63,000 tons but it has decreased to 50,000 tons in a few years. In the Mediterranean context, Spain stands out as a strong emerging persimmon-producing (over 30,000 tons) and exporting country ; the production of Israel (over 13,000 tons), most of which is exported to EU countries is also relevant. Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and to a lesser extent all the Mediterranean countries are progressively coming into the world of persimmon cultivation and must be considered future potential producers.
Hence the "First Mediterranean Symposium on Persimmon" aims to become an occasion to update knowledge on the main productive and commercial aspects of this species by the presentation of technical and scientific contributions not only from the Mediterranean countries.
As appropriately pointed out in the lectures, it is necessary to remove the obstacles that hinder further development of persimmon cultivation in the Mediterranean area. Among which, we must keep in mind the lack of varietal diversification, the almost total absence of technical and scientific support from national and international institutions, the low efficiency of post-harvest conservation and processing of fruits.
