Cutting-edge technologies and sustainable agriculture have become key around the world and will take center stage as the main topics during the Interpoma Congress.

This event will gather world experts in Bolzano between November 21 and 22, 2024 to debate the latest trends and changes in genetics and digital orchard management. 

The event’s coordinator Walter Guerra, Vice-Director of the Laimburg Experimental Centre, has assembled two high-level panels of speakers from all over the world (Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, USA). On Thursday, November 21, speakers will focus on “Genetic evolution: New breeding technologies”; while on Friday, November 22, the panel will debate “Digital revolution: Orchards of the future”.  

Thomas Letschka from the Laimburg Experimental Centre will chair the first panel featuring Ania Lukasiewicz, Wageningen University and Research (The Netherlands), Giovanni Broggini, ETC Zürich (Switzerland), Neal Carter, Okanagan Specialty Fruits (Canada), Angela Bearth, HF Partners (Switzerland), and Jan Plagge, Bioland eV (Germany). Ania Lukasiewicz will provide an overview on global legislation regulating genome editing in plants and broach the subject of intellectual property rights (patents) for plants resulting from these new breeding technologies.

Giovanni Broggini will take stock of the existing breeding technologies currently used in the apple industry. Neal Carter will focus on the case of Arctic apples in the United States, while Angela Bearth will delve into the understanding and acknowledgment of new breeding technologies by consumers. Finally, Jan Plagge will contribute to the debate by providing the perspective of the organic market. 

Day two is all about digital solutions in the orchards. Luigi Manfrini from the University of Bologna will chair the panel, comprising Alexandre Escolà Agustí, Universitat de Lleida (Spain), Ken Breen, Plant&Food Research (New Zealand), Steve Mantle, innov8.ag (USA), Ian Goodwin, Agriculture Victoria (Australia), Konni Biegert, Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee (Germany), and Walter Guerra, from the Laimburg Experimental Centre and Congress coordinator (Italy).

Alexandre Escolà Agustí will talk about monitoring apple trees using 3D data, while Ken Breen will showcase how digital simulations can support precision agriculture in an orchard. Steve Mantle from innov8.ag, a platform collating various data – orchard-specific as well as external – enabling farmers to make decisions based on Machine Learning/AI, will talk about using data to boost productivity.

Ian Goodwin will share his insights on smart mapping orchards using high-speed cameras providing detailed spatial images of the fruit’s quantity, size, and color to accurately forecast harvests. Konni Biegert will compare digital and analog orchard management, while Walter Guerra will talk about integrated sensors and data to make efficient use of resources. 

The final program and list of speakers is now online. Early-bird tickets to the Interpoma Congress can be purchased for €62 between July 8 and August 31. 

For further information and tickets visit https://www.fierabolzano.it/en/interpoma/interpoma-congress.