Vajiranusorn Building, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
7 - 9 August 2023
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 | TBC |
| 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 in East Asia | Dr Yuan-Li Chan, Manager - Taiwan Projects and Administrator - Science Infrastructure, World Vegetable Center |
| 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] | [Speaker TBC] |
| 14.05 – 14.30 | [Topic TBC] | [Speaker TBC] |
| 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 | Bioinformatics approaches for QTL identification and marker development in cucurbit breeding | [TBC] Dr Pumipat Thongyoo, Bioinformatics scientist, Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, Kasetsart University |
| 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 | Breeding for compact plant habit in cucurbit plants (cucumber, melon, watermelon, squash) by genome editing | [TBC] Professor Sanwen Huang, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, P.R.China |
| 18.00 – 18.20 | Q&A Discussion & Closing Remarks | |
| 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 | [TBC] 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 | [Topic TBC] | [Speaker TBC] |
| 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 | Breeding for flavour in cucurbit fruit crops (online presentation) | [Speaker TBC] Gastrograph AI, USA |
| 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] Dr. Dario Sanchez, Regional Sales Manager, Amphasys AG |
| 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 | Breeding database management– predictive breeding | Mr. Amnon Grossberger, Senior Account Manager, Phenome Networks Ltd. |
| 11.35 – 12.00 | Seed processing and operations technology and machinery | Mr Paul Koomen, Sales Account Manager, Seed Processing Holland |
| 12.00 – 12.25 | MAS breeding and Sequencing | [Speaker TBC] Eurofins BioDiagnostics Inc. |
| 12.25 – 12.45 | Q&A Discussion | |
| 12.45 – 13.00 | Wrap Up and Closing Remarks | |
| 13.00 – 14.00 | Lunch | |