International Symposia

The Horticultural Society of India took lead in organizing International Symposia on topical issues as well as various other aspects of horticultural crops from time to time. The details of International symposia organized by the Society are given below;

i. International Symposium on Origin, Cytogenetics and Breeding of Tropical Fruits, 1-6th December, 1958, IARI, New Delhi

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The first ever International Symposium to be organized by the Horticultural Society of India was conceptualized in the meeting between Dr M.S. Randhawa, the then President and Dr Young of the South Asia Science Co-operation Office of UNESCO held in 1954. The symposium titled as International Symposium on “Origin, Cytogenetics and Breeding of Tropical Fruits” was organized by the Society at Library Conference Hall, IARI, New Delhi from December1-6, 1958 and was co-sponsored by the UNESCO South Asia Co-operation centre. The organizing committee was chaired by Dr B.P. Pal, Director, IARI, New Delhi and Dr W.J. Ellis, UNESCO, Dr Sham Singh, Dr K.C. Naik, Dr S. Krishnamurthi, Dr M.S. Swaminathan and Dr G.S. Randhawa as Members. The symposium was inaugurated by Sh. Ajit Prasad Jain, Hon’ble Minister for Food and Agriculture, Govt of India. Several leading scientists from foreign countries, namely, Dr R.H. Fritsch, Director (Actg.), UNESCO’s South Asia Science Co-operation Office, New Delhi, Dr Dodds, Prof. C.A. Schroeder, University of California, USA and Prof. T. Tanaka of University of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai, Japan participated. A total of 76 delegates participated, twenty four papers presented in the symposium were printed in the proceedings. The proceedings of this symposium were also published in the Indian Journal of Horticulture Vol. 15, No. 3-4, 1958.

ii. International Symposium on Sub-tropical and Tropical Horticulture, 13-18th December, 1967, Delhi

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The second International Symposium titled ‘International Symposium on Subtropical and Tropical Horticulture’ was organized on the occasion of the completion of 25 years of the Society (Silver Jubilee) from December 13-18, 1967 at Delhi. The event was organized in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and International Society of Horticultural Sciences (ISHS). The Symposium was inaugurated by Sh. Jagjivan Ram, Honorable Minister of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Co-operation. During Welcome address Dr Krishnamurthi suggested for creation of a position of Deputy Director General for Horticulture to assist the Director General in all matter related to horticultural research at the ICAR and also requested an increased fund allocation for horticulture development in the Five Year Plan. The idea of nursery registration and trade as well as specialized horticultural extension workers was also mooted in this symposium.

Eminent scientists present were Dr M.S. Randhawa, Former, Director General and Dr B.P. Pal, Director Generals, ICAR, Dr F.P. Pansiot, Chief of Horticulture, FAO, Dr G. de Bakker, Secretary General, ISHS, Dr S.H. Wittwer, famous plant physiologist and pioneer in use of radio isotopes in foliar nutrition, Dr J.M. Wallace, Plant Pathologist, Dr W.P. Bitters, authority in citrus rootstocks, Dr C.A. Shroeder, Tissue Culture Expert, Dr Robert Weaver, Authority in Plant Growth Regulators, Dr A.R. Garner, East Malling, authority on Vegetative Propagation, Dr Paul L. Harding, authority on Post-harvest Physiology and many others.

A total of 87 papers were presented in 5 technical sessions. The memorial lectures (7 in nos) and lead papers were presented by Dr S.H. Wittwer (USA), Dr R.J. Garner (U.K.), Dr C.A. Shroeder (USA), Dr P. Spiegel Roy (Israel), Dr H.D. Chapman (USA), J.A. Samson (Netherlands), Dr W.P. Bitters (California), Dr Joseph D. Campbell
(Canada), Dr Paul L. Harding and T.T. Hatton, Jr. (USA), Dr E.F.K. Mantel (Germany), Prof. Ir. G.J.A. Terra (Amsterdam) and some leading horticulturists from India during the Symposium. The symposium covered several topics, e.g. Nutrition and Horticulture Advances in Standardization, Marketing, Storage and Transport of Horticultural Produce, Gibberellins and other Plant Growth Regulators in Horticulture, Recent Advances in Plant Nutrition in Horticultural Crops, Rootstock problems in Citrus and other sub-tropical fruits, etc. Proceedings of the symposium were printed covering 907 pages.

The organizing committee was chaired by Dr S. Krishnamurthi, President, HSI, while Dr G.S. Randhawa was Convener of the Symposium. Prof M.S. Swaminathan, Dr A.B. Joshi, Dr S.K. Mukherjee and many others including H.H. Maharaja of Patiala, Ch. Raghvendra Singh were the members of Organizing Committee.

iii. Third International Symposium on Sub-tropical and Tropical Horticulture, 7-14th February, 1972, Bangalore (Bengaluru)

The Third International Symposium on Sub-tropical and Tropical Horticulture was organized at IIHR, Bangalore from February 7-14, 1972. The symposium was organized in collaboration with ICAR and the International Society of Horticultural Sciences. The symposium was attended by eminent International as well as Indian scientists. A total of 27 invited /oral papers, 2 memorial lectures and 8 special lectures were delivered during the symposium besides poster presentations. The proceedings of the symposium were published in 2 volumes, namely, Improvement of Horticultural, Plantation and Medicinal Plants (1976), Chadha, K.L. (Ed.), Vol. I. Third International Symposium on Tropical and Sub-tropical Horticulture. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers & Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 300 and Use of Plant Growth Regulators in Horticultural, Plantation and Medicinal Crops (1978) Chadha, K.L. (Ed.), Vol. II. Third International Symposium on Tropical and SubTropical Horticulture. Today & Tomorrow’s Printers & Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 266. The remaining two volumes could not be published due to bungling
by press.

iv. Working Group Meeting in Viticulture for South East Asia, 12th February, 1972, Bangalore
The Working Group on Viticulture in Southeast Asia was formed by the International Society of Horticultural Sciences during the 18th Congress at Tel-Aviv, Israel, in March 1970 with Dr G.S. Randhawa as its Chairman and Dr K.L. Chadha as Secretary. The first meeting of the working group was held at the time of the Third International Symposium on Subtropical and Tropical Horticulture at Bangalore on 12th February, 1972 and was attended by over 300 scientists and grape growers. Delegates from India, Japan, Venezuela, Sudan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaya and Cameroon presented reports on grape cultivation in their respective countries. A total of 54 papers were presented in sessions covering improvement of grape, use of plant growth regulators, nutrition, training and pruning, diseases, pest and weed control. The proceedings of the Working Group in Viticulture for South East Asia entitled “Viticulture in Tropics” were published by the Society in 1977. The proceedings contain papers on all aspects of viticulture in different countries of South East Asia and were edited by K.L. Chadha, G.S. Randhawa and
R.N. Pal.

v. International Symposium on Citriculture, December 17-24th, 1977, Bangalore
An international symposium on citriculture was organized on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations of Citrus Experiment Station, Gonikoppal/Chethali Complex of IIHR, Bangalore from December 17-24, 1977. This was sponsored by the ICAR and the International Society of Horticultural Sciences and was attended by eminent International as well as Indian scientists. The symposium was inaugurated by Shri Govind Narain, Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka. About 91 papers in 9 Sessions were delivered during the symposium. The papers were published in Proceedings of International Citrus Symposium (1983) having 566 pages and was edited by Dr K.L. Chadha and R.N. Pal. At the same time a book titled Eminent Horticulturists of India covering 137 pages edited by Dr K.L. Chadha and R.N. Pal was published and released in this function.

vi. Second International Symposium on Mango, May 20-24th, 1985, Bangalore
The Second international Symposium on Mango was organized by the Society at Hotel Ashok, Bangalore from 20-24th May, 1985 in collaboration with ICAR and ISHS, Belgium. Dr K.L. Chadha, Chairman of the International Working Group on Mango, ISHS was the Organizing Secretary/ Convener of the Symposium. A total of 250 research papers were received of which 147 papers were accepted for oral and 60 for poster presentation. The deliberations of the symposium were split up into nine sessions with a key note address preceding each of the session. The symposium was attended by 350 scientists from different mango growing countries of the world. The proceedings of this symposium covering 901 pages were published in 1989 by the International Society of Horticultural Sciences, Netherlands as Acta Horticulturae, No. 231, which was edited by Drs K.L. Chadha and R.N. Pal.