APSA is happy to announce that the Asian Cucurbits Round Table is back!!!
This year's ACRT 2023 will focus on "The Challenges and Future Trends in R&D for Cucurbit Crops" and will be held from the 7th to the 9th of August 2023 at the Vajiranusorn Building, Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand.
This year, we will touch on various topics, such as:
ACRT 2023 Sponsorship
| TIME (GMT+7) | AGENDA | SPEAKER |
| Inaugural Ceremony | Emcee: Ms. Kunaporn Phuntunil, APSA Technical Coordination Manager | |
| 08.00 - 09.30 | Registration | |
| 09.30 – 09.44 | Welcome remarks from Kasetsart University | Assoc. Prof. Dr Kampanat Pensupar, Vice President for International Affairs, Kasetsart University |
| 09.45 – 10.05 | Opening remarks by Chair of ACRT 2023 Steering Committee | Mr Marcel Sturre, Chair, ACRT 2023 Steering Committee |
| 10.05 – 10.45 | Keynote Address on Cucurbits crops (online) | Dr. Jesus Abad, Global Head of Germplasm Development Cucurbits |
| 10.45 – 11.05 | Group Photo Session and coffee break | |
| Session 1: Regional disease trends in cucurbits | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 11.05 – 11.35 | PLENARY PRESENTATION: Cucurbit virus epidemiology, disease resistance breeding, marker development in major cucurbit crops in South Asia | Dr M Krishna Reddy, Division of Plant Pathology, ICARIndian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) |
| 11.35 – 12.00 | Major pathogens infecting cucurbit crops and cucurbit disease management in Thailand | Dr Petcharat Thummabenjapone, Associate Professor, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University |
| 12.00 – 12.25 | Occurrence and distribution of major pathogens infecting cucurbits in Indonesia/SE Asia | Dr Sri Hendrastuti Hidayat, Professor of Phytopathology, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia |
| 12.25 – 12.40 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 12.40 – 13.40 | Lunch | |
| 13.40 – 14.05 | [Topic TBC] Cucurbits Market Trends in APAC | [Speaker TBC] Dr Nomman Ahmed, Executive Director, Global Practice Advanced Analytics & sigma, Kynetec |
| 14.05 – 14.30 | [Topic TBC] Major pathogens infecting cucurbit crops in East Asia | Dr. Hao-wen Cheng, Assistant Specialist-Virologist, World Vegetable Center |
| 14.30 – 14.50 | Q&A Discussion | |
| Session 2: Molecular tools for cultivar improvement | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 14.50 – 15.20 | PLEANERY PRESENTATION: Utilising S-genes (e.g. Mlo, AAP, Pelota) for resistance breeding in cucurbits (online presentation) | Dr Yuling Bai, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands |
| 15.20 – 15.45 | DNA Primase for resistance to geminiviruses | Dr Henk Schouten, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands |
| 15.45 – 16.10 | Biotechnology tools to support molecular breeding in cucurbits (MAS, MABC, GBS, WGS, etc) | Dr Sithichoke Tangphatsornruang, Director of National Omics Center, NSTDA, Phatum Thani, Thailand |
| 16.10 – 16.30 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 16.30 – 16.45 | Afternoon Coffee Break | |
| 16.45 – 17.10 | Recent development of C. hystrix Introgression Lines in Cucumber | Dr. Paradee Thammapichai, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University |
| 17.10 – 17.35 | Evaluation of cucumber UBL5 promoter as a tool for transgene expression and genome editing in plants | Assist. Prof. Dr. Anongpat Suttangkakul, Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University |
| 17.35 – 18.00 | Q&A | |
| 18.00 – 19.00 | Travel to Asawin hotel | |
| Dinner | Emcee: Ms. Kunaporn Phuntunil, APSA Technical Coordination Manager | |
| 19.00 – 20.00 | Networking Dinner at Asawin Hotel | Delegates, APSA, KU |
| 20.00 – 20.30 | Shuttle Bus Pick-Up Service from KU to Hotel (Rama Gardens Hotel) | |
| TIME (GMT+7) | AGENDA | SPEAKER |
| Session 2: Molecular tools for cultivar improvement | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 09.00 - 09.25 | Dual transcriptomics for identification of biotic stress resistance genes in cucurbit crops | Dr Raghavendra Gunnaiah, Assistant Professor, University of Horticultural sciences, Bagalkot, India |
| 09.25 - 09.50 | QTL mapping for downy mildew resistance in cucumber (online presentation) | Dr Yiqun Weng, Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS, Vegetable Crops Research Unit, Horticulture Department, University of Wisconsin, USA |
| 09.50 - 10.05 | Q&A Discussion | |
| Session 3: Cucurbit crop improvement | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 10.05 – 10.30 | PLEANERY PRESENTATION: Advances and challenges of watermelon breeding in Asia | Prof Xingping Zhang, Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences (IAAS), Peking University (PKU), China |
| 10.30 – 11.00 | Genetic diversity and population structure of Luffa spp. germplasm and the development of ridge gourd for tolerance to ToLCNDV | Asst. Prof. Dr. Paweena Chuenwarin, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Thailand |
| 11.00 – 11.15 | Morning Coffee Break | |
| 11.15 – 11.40 | Genetic analysis and QTL mapping of yield and fruit traits in bitter gourd (online presentation) | Dr. P. Gangadhara Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of Vegetable Science College of Horticulture Venkataramannagudem |
| 11.40 – 12.00 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 12.00 – 13.00 | Lunch | |
| 13.00 – 13.25 | Key discoveries in bitter gourd breeding at the World Vegetable Center | Dr Narinder Dhillon, Principal Plant Breeder – Cucurbits, World Vegetable Center |
| 13.25 – 13.50 | Breeding for climate resilient parthenocarpic cucumber | Dr Tusar K Behera, Director, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India |
| 13.50 – 14.15 | Development of a MAGIC population of melon: from DH parental lines to evaluation criteria (online presentation) | Dr Pau Bretó, Abiopep S.L. Murcia Science Park. 30100 Murcia, Spain |
| 14.15 – 14.40 | Breeding Bottle Gourds for yield and disease resistance | Dr Dhananjaya M.V, Principal Scientist, CEO, BESST-HORT and Officer In charge (Seeds), ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru |
| 14.40 – 15.00 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 15.00 - 15.15 | Afternoon Coffee Break | |
| Session 4: Public - Private Partnership | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 15.15 - 15.40 | Future cucurbit projects of the World Vegetable Center | Dr Narinder Dhillon, Principal Plant Breeder – Cucurbits, World Vegetable Center |
| 15.40 - 16.05 | Germplasm collection expeditions for cucurbits (sources of abiotic and biotic stress resistance) (online presentation) | Dr Maarten van Zonneveld, Genebank Manager, World Vegetable Center |
| 16.05 - 16.30 | Training needs – ATPBR (online presentation) | Dr. Sharan Angadi, Director, ATPBR |
| 16.30 - 16.45 | Q&A Discussion | |
| Session 5: Student poster presentation | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 16.45 – 17.10 | Best student poster presentation | |
| 17.10 – 17.30 | Best poster presentation awards | |
| TIME (GMT+7) | AGENDA | SPEAKER |
| Session 6: Technology demonstrations | Chair: TBC Co-Chair: TBC |
|
| 09.00 - 09.25 | Seed processing and operations technology and machinery | Mr Paul Koomen, Sales Account Manager, Seed Processing Holland |
| 09.25 - 09.50 | Seed technology on dry chain and seed industrial analytics for cucurbit crops | Mr Johan Van Asbrouck, Executive President, Rhino Research |
| 09.50 - 10.15 | Topic TBC | [TBC] |
| 10.15 – 10.30 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 10.30 – 10.45 | Morning Coffee Break | |
| 10.45 – 11.10 | Seed Health testing kits | Dr. Channarong Seepiban (Researcher, BIOTEC, Thailand) |
| 11.10 – 11.35 | MAS breeding and Sequencing | [TBC] Eurofins |
| 11.35 – 12.00 | Breeding database management– predictive breeding | (Online presentation) Mr. Amnon Grossberger, Senior Account Manager, Phenome Networks Ltd. |
| 12.00 – 12.25 | Topic TBC | [TBC] Amphasys AG |
| 12.25 – 12.45 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 12.45 – 13.00 | Wrap Up and Closing Remarks | |
| 13.00 – 14.00 | Lunch | |