Mar 12, 2021

Ninth International Blueberry Conference finds success as virtual event

The ninth International Highbush Blueberry Conference was held online this year. It was broadcast live on March 3-4. Thanks to the new formula, foreign guests took part in it in large number.

The conference was an opportunity to listen to many interesting lectures, but also to learn about the exhibitors’ offer contained in the virtual EXPO zone.

EXPO zone with a broad offer

Because there was no possibility of organizing events in a traditional form, this year’s International Highbush Blueberry Conference was held online. The main sponsors of the Blueberry Conference 2021 were Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Yara Poland and Syngenta. In total, 30 companies related to the blueberry industry presented their offers in the EXPO zone.

37 countries, 600 participants

During the conference, 20 lectures were presented by 17 experts. In addition, there was also a discussion panel on practical recommendations on controlling Spotted Wing Drosophila population, led by Tomasz Domański from Koppert.

This year, the Blueberry Conference was really very international. A total of 650 registered participants from 37 countries of the world registered for it. In total, the online conference platform was visited by 1,500 people from 57 countries around the world.  They represented countries from New Zealand to China, from Finland to South Africa.

This only confirms that blueberry is a global fruit and it is grown on all 7 continents of the world. During the live broadcast, viewers could ask lecturers questions on the chat, as well as discuss with other participants, which also turned out to be a very interesting form of information exchange.

A new formula – window to the world

The online formula of the conference proved very well as a tool for transferring knowledge about blueberry cultivation. It gave the opportunity to obtain it, but also to establish valuable contacts between the participants of the event.

The online formula showed how much knowledge in the field of blueberry cultivation is sought by growers from around the world and how much blueberry has become a global fruit. However, the growers still have a lot to do. The cultivation area has more than doubled in the last 10 years. New players such as Peru, Mexico, Serbia and Ukraine appeared on the international blueberry arena.

When we look further beyond the blue horizon, we can see new participants in the blueberry relay race. Fruit production is still growing and experts forecast that in 6-7 years, the current world production from 1 million tons may increase to 2 million tons. What does this mean? For instance that everyone will be healthier because they will eat more blueberries. And that is what I all blueberry growers, especially those who participated in this year’s International Highbush Blueberry Conference.

[email protected]

More information on the event, visit here.

– Mariusz Podymniak, Wiceprezes