In this publication readers will find the plenary lectures and communications

presented in the First International Symposium on Loquat, held in Valencia (Spain)

from 11 to 13 April 2002.

The loquat is one of the so-called "underutilized" fruit tree species, as it has a small

production and consumption volume in comparison with the main species (apple, pear,

peach, etc.). The "underutilized" feature also influences the research and development

efforts in these fruit tree species, that have been scarce until recent years. However, the

problems of overproduction facing most main fruit tree crops in Europe has led new

crop alternatives to be sought. One of these alternatives is offered by "underutilized"

fruit tree crops, such as loquat, persimmon, fig, pomegranate, etc., most of which are

well adapted to the Mediterranean. For this reason, in Spain and in the other countries

of the Mediterranean basin, growing interest has been shown in acquiring greater

knowledge of this type of fruit crop, especially considering that they have always been

present as individual trees in gardens and small family orchards. Proof of the growing

interest in these fruit tree crops is the creation in 1995 of the Cooperative Working

Group on Underutilized Fruit Crops in the Mediterranean Region, supported by the

CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies).

Spain is the second world producer of loquat fruits (more than 40,000 tonnes), after

China, and is the first exporting country, with 84 % of the total world exports. It is also

the country with the greatest and quickest growth in recent years. The contribution of

the Valencian Community (VC) to the Spanish loquat production is very important, no

less than 75 %. Besides, as stated in one of the papers, loquat in the VC is the species

with the lowest loss of real income in the last two decades. Corresponding with this

importance, the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA) has been working

on the loquat since 1993, with prospection, collection, conservation, characterization

and evaluation work on genetic resources, with the final objective of initiating a loquat

breeding programme.

The success of the First International Symposium on Loquat was not only quantitative

(51 participants from 8 countries, 7 guest plenary lectures, 21 oral communications

and 19 posters) but also qualitative. For the first time there has been an important

exchange of information and establishment of contacts between researchers and

technical experts from the two main loquat growing areas in the world, very distant

from each other (the countries of origin such as China and Japan, and the

Mediterranean countries, which are almost the loquat's "second home" considering

their perfect adaptation to the area). These contacts will be the source of very

necessary future collaborations. We are sure that this Symposium will mark a before

and after in the growing of the loquat worldwide.