NASGA prepares for 2023 meeting, conference

The 10th North American Strawberry Symposium (NASS), a meeting of strawberry growers, researchers and other industry members from around the globe, will be held in conjunction with the 2023 NASGA conference.

The conference will be held March 7-10, 2023, in San Luis Obispo, California. Nearly 90% of U.S. strawberries are grown in California, a state featuring a unique coastal environment with its western ocean exposure, moderate temperatures, warm sunny days and cool foggy nights – perfect for growing strawberries year-round.

The symposium will include two and a half days of workshops, reception, research presentations, marketing presentations, poster sessions and an award luncheon. A post-conference tour will follow on March 10, which will encompass strawberry production in the region as well as the research, training and testing facilities at the CalPoly Strawberry Center. The Program Committee is committed to making this a world-class research symposium for growers and scientists.

Subject areas for oral and poster presentations include:

• Global and North American Overviews,
• Breeding,
• Genetics,
• Molecular Biology,
• Disease & Pest Management,
• Propagation & Nursery Management,
• Cultural Practices, Indoor Production,
• Precision Agriculture,
• Robotics,
• Automation,
• Plant Nutrition and Water Management,
• Plant Physiology,
• Economics of Production Practices,
• Post-Harvest Quality Management, and
• Food Safety.

The Program Committee encourages the submission of journal articles of the presented work to be published in a special issue in International J. Fruit Science. To help the committee plan the program, please submit presentation titles as soon as possible and before Oct. 1, 2022, indicating whether the presentation will be oral or a poster, to Kim.Lewers@usda.gov.

Workshop topics under consideration include:

• Disease Management,
• Nursery Developments,
• Entomology,
• Strawberry Breeding Tools and Tips,
• Production Management/Plant Physiology,
• Getting Started with Automation/Precision Agriculture,
• Indoor Production,
• Methyl Bromide Alternatives, and
• Novel Weed Management Approaches.

Look for a mail-in registration form and more program details (abstract deadlines, keynote speakers, etc.) and opportunities for industry, organization and agency sponsorship on the NASGA website in July 2022. Online registration will become available in September.