Dear Colleagues and Friends，

The Fifth International Symposium on Persimmon will be held in Wuhan City (Hubei Province, China) and Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County (Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China) during October 20-26, 2012. The event was hosted by the Chinese Society for Horticultural Science (CSHS) and Huazhong Agricultural University in collaboration with the People’s Government of Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County and Guilin University of Electronic Technology, etc., under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). We have great pleasure to invite you to attend this symposium and enjoy the tour in China, the top producer of persimmon in the world.

The theme of the symposium is ‘History, Genetic Diversity and Industry’.

The symposium will focus on the theme related to persimmon scientific research and industry issues specially addressing on following topics

● Origin, evolution and cultivation history
● Genetic diversity and utilization in genetics research and breeding
● Standard cultivation for safe and high quality production
● Fruit de-astringency, storage, transportation and logistics
● Various innovative products R&D with marketing system

There are pre- and optional post- symposium tours including onsite visiting typical orchards and productive enterprise in main persimmon area and Chinese famous ancient resort. Different activities will accompany the symposium comprising fresh and processed fruits exhibitions, art (pictures, calligraphy, crafts, etc.) showcase will also included in the symposium.

English is the official language of the symposium and will be used in all correspondences, presentations (oral, poster, exhibition, etc.) and publications.

The Organizing Committee will recruit warmhearted volunteers for providing fine meeting service including translations for the participants. Meanwhile, assessed sponsorship from the world are welcome and could display your prominent output. The sponsors’ logo design and/or text introduction will be used on all symposium-related materials, including announcements, banners, T-shirts for volunteers, web-pages etc..

The event will provide an excellent opportunity for scientists, growers and professionals from all over the globe to discuss and share your expertise and information. The symposium is open to whom interested in all related fields.

We are looking forward to hosting you in Wuhan-Gongcheng, China!

Dr. Zhengrong Luo
Professor of Pomology, Huazhong Agricultural University
Chairman of Persimmon Section, Chinese Society for Horticultural Science
Convener, The Fifth International Symposium on Persimmon