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Attention Media Outlets:
Please note that this release supercedes any
previous release you may have received about the Deep South Fruit
and Vegetable Growers Conference. A previous release included
incorrect dates for the conference.
The conference will be held Dec. 4-6 in Biloxi,
Miss.
Thank you for your assistance.
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Exciting
Conference Opportunity for State's Fruit and Vegetable Growers
 Auburn,
Sept. 23, 2002 --- If growers are looking for the latest
information in pesticide safety, new techniques for growing big
blueberries, or more information on the latest research in pecan
production, they should attend the Deep South Fruit and Vegetable
Growers Conference. That’s the advice of Dr. Joe Kemble, a
horticulturist with the Alabama
Cooperative
Extension System.
In fact, Kemble, who is the educational advisor to
the Alabama Fruit and
Vegetable Growers Association encourages anyone
growing a fruit or vegetable in the state to attend.
"I wholeheartedly recommend it," he says.
"This conference is for everyone. Here is so much information
out there that all growers can benefit from."
The former Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Conference has joined with Louisiana,
Mississippi and Arkansas to become the much larger, much improved
Deep South conference. It will be held
December 4-6 in Biloxi, Miss. Pre-registration fees are $40 per
person.
This year’s conference will feature the
"Taste of the States" exhibit, allowing participants to
taste foods produced in each of the four states represented.
"Louisiana is really excited about bringing in
some Cajun and Creole dishes," Kemble
says. "Each state will be bringing things in for people to try.
December is sort of an in-between time for Alabama, but we’ll
probably have apples, Asian pears, mandarin oranges, persimmons,
pecans and boiled peanuts."
Kemble says the four states merged their conferences
to make the most of their resources.
"The resources to put on conferences were
dwindling in each state," he says. "By combining
resources, we can put on a much better program for the growers in
each state."
Last year, Alabama’s conference only had about 150
participants. Kemble says he understands that growers are busy; many
even work second jobs to make ends meet. Still, he stresses, the
conference is worth attending.
"It’s hard for any one person to stay
up-to-date on all the changes that are occurring in
agriculture," Kemble says. "There is everything from farm
bills to work protection standards to migrant labor issues to
pesticide updates to current research that is going on; there is no
way one person could ever keep up with all that stuff. At the
conference, all that information is put together for you, and the
growers can get a synopsis of the information they need. And there
are people at the meetings who have the information, too. So if the
grower needs more information, he can find that person after a
meeting and gain more insight into a particular issue."
Though fruits and vegetables are not Alabama’s
most lucrative crops, they are well
represented in Alabama agriculture. Some of the more important crops
grown in Alabama include sweet potatoes, sweet corn, collards,
Southern peas, watermelons, tomatoes, peaches and apples, Kemble
says. Herbs and specialty crops are also grown.
"Watermelons, tomatoes and cantaloupes are
becoming very important crops in Alabama,"
Kemble says. "We have a lot more people actually shipping them
outside the state now. Pumpkins are also becoming an important
crop."
In 1999, fruit and vegetable producers turned a
profit of more than $64 million. Kemble says he expects their
revenue to be even more now.
"It’s an important industry, and growers
really need to stay on top of things to stay competitive," he
says. "As a grower, you can’t just do your own thing and
ignore whatever is around you. If someone wants to remain
competitive, especially outside the state of Alabama, they need all
the information they can get."
The Deep South conference allows growers to use the
combined resources of several different states for extra insight and
information, Kemble says.
"We all rely on each other," he says.
"In Alabama, we rely on people from states like Georgia and
Mississippi and Florida to get more information. It’s multiple
states doing multiple projects and helping each other out. So it
benefits everyone."
(Source: Dr.
Joe Kemble, Extension Horticulturist, 334-844-3050.)
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