For the years 2007 & 2008

KwaZulu-Natal Branch SASPP

Our lunch time meetings with light snacks and refreshments still prove to be a popular time for SASPP meetings at the University of KwaZulu-Natal with regular attendance of about 60-70 staff, students and visitors.  

In 2007, several post-graduate students, who had attended international congresses in various parts of the world, presented their experiences in attending international congress and presenting papers and posters on their research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2008, Dr. Pat Caldwell presented a talk entitled “ICPP 2008 and a taste of Tuscany” highlighting the International Conference for Plant Pathology, held once every five years.  In 2008 it was held in Turin and the week before the congress, Pat together with some members of her family, had a week’s holiday riding bicycles, sight-seeing and learning to cook Tuscan dishes in Bagni de Lucca just north of Pisa, Tuscany.

Dr. Pat Caldwell

SASPP – UKZ Branch Co-ordinator

Northern Branch SASPP - Prof. T.A. S. Aveling

Western Cape Branch SASPP

Three presentations were held during 2007.

Prof. Pedro W. Crous from the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (Netherlands) spoke on ‘Can we barcode the fungi’. This lecture was held Tuesday 3 April 2007 at the Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch, and attended by 51 people.

Dr. Antonio Vicent from Valencia (Spain) spoke on ‘The current status of Alternaria brown spot of citrus in Spain’.  This lecture was held Monday 13 August 2007 at the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, and attended by 39 people.

Two speakers from New Zealand and one from Australia gave presentations Monday 29 October 2007 at the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch.  Dr. Phillip Elmer from The Horticulture and Food Research Institute spoke on ‘Practical integration of biological control strategies for Botrytis bunch rot management in vineyards.’ Dr. Kathy Evans from the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR) spoke on ‘Aerobic compost extract (ACE) suppresses grapevine powdery mildew and Botrytis bunch rot’. Dr. Jacky Edwards from the Department of Primary Industries in Victoria spoke on ‘Grapevine trunk diseases and their management’.  The meeting was attended by 25 people.

Two events were organized during 2008. A symposium day and an end of the year talk.

Western Cape SASPP symposium held 8 May 2008
The first Western Cape SASPP symposium was held Thursday, 8 May 2008, at the Infruitec-campus of the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij in Stellenbosch. The symposium consisted of twenty-two speakers and poster presentations (10 posters). The day was divided into the following broad topics: the future of fungicide control, alternative control methods, pathogen identification and detection, plant improvement and the management of post harvest diseases.  The aim of the day was to facilitate a network and technology transfer opportunity for members of the SASPP and relevant agricultural industries. The day was attended by 124 participants from different sectors in agriculture including the Universities of Stellenbosch and Western Cape, Agricultural Research Council, Department of Agriculture, fungicide companies, plant improvement organisations, producers and a few international visitors. The day was rounded off with a ‘spitbraai’ held at the Infruitec campus. Fifty-eight people joined the evening function and could recollect over the day and years gone past for some older SASPP members like John Mildenhall of Mildenhall stake fame.
The day’s events was sponsored by the following companies: Villa Crop Crop Protection, BASF, Bayer Cropscience, Syngenta, Du Pont, Kapa Biosystems, Laboratory Specialist Services, ARC, Perdeberg Winery and Keltic Molecular Diagnostics.  
The symposium day was made possible by a committee that included Dr. Lizel Mostert, Mrs. Lizeth Swart, Dr. Ida Paul, Dr. Karin Jacobs, Dr. Francois Halleen and Cobus Visagie.

End of the year talk - Friday 28 November 2008
Prof. Lindsey J. du Toit from the Vegetable Seed Pathologist from Washington State University, Mount Vernon, spoke on ‘Vegetable Seed Production in the Pacific Northwest U.S.: Developing Integrated Disease Management Programs’. The lecture was held at the Department of Plant Pathology and attended by 28 people.

Dr. Lizel Mostert

SASPP – Western Cape Branch Co-ordinator