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From Seed to Pasta: an international success
The international Symposium “FROM SEED TO PASTA: THE DURUM WHEAT CHAIN. Multidisciplinary approaches for a more sustainable and high-quality durum
production”, was held in Bologna (Italy) from June 30 to July 3, 2008.The Symposium was organized by Società Produttori Sementi, CIMMYT and ICARDA with the support of the Emilia-Romagna regional government, the CARISBO Foundation and the pasta-maker Barilla.
The main aim of the Symposium was to gather together well known experts from different research areas, all related, in some way, to the production chain going from durum wheat to pasta. The 50 conference presentations illustrated state-of-the-art results in genomics, marker-assisted selection, genetic resources, breeding, agronomy, abiotic and biotic stresses, nutritional and technological quality, pasta production and the socio-economy of durum production and processing.
According to participants, the Symposium’s success can generally be attributed to these well-chosen subjects, covering all aspects of the durum-pasta production chain. The second aim of the Symposium was to bring together all the main stakeholders in the world-wide Durum–Pasta production chain. The achievement of this aim was witnessed by the 372 participants, who came from 40 countries located in all the continents.
The 133 posters accepted for display testify the world-wide interest of researchers in the subjects covered. Many of the posters were presented by young researchers and their quality was, in many instances, very high. A jury, consisting of five members of the Scientific Committee, chose six posters, which were presented with the “Produttori Sementi poster award”. The Gala dinner, marking the conclusion of the scientific part of the Symposium, was held in the magnificent venue of King Enzo’s Palace in Bologna.
Excursions to the Barilla pasta factory in Parma and the Società Produttori Sementi research station and seed processing plant in Argelato took place on July 4,attracting many interested participants. Annals of Applied Biology and Cereal Chemistry will be publishing some of the manuscripts presented during the Symposium and its web-site
http://www.fromseedtopasta2008.it will allow access to most of the lectures given in the “Video Proceedings” section, while some of the posters will be available in the “Poster list” section.
Given the great success of this event, it is highly probable that another Symposium of this kind will be organized in a few years’ time.
