Workshop on ‘Chestnut cultivation in the Prefecture of Chania’

The University of the Mountains is organizing an event-conference on chestnut cultivation in the Prefecture of Chania in Kantanos, Chania, on Saturday, April 12, 2014, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, in the event hall of the Municipality of Kantanos-Selinos.

The conference aims to scientifically inform the public and to develop a unified strategy for the cultivation of chestnuts and their promotion as one of the main primary products of the economy of Crete.

The scientific briefing will be given by Mr. Stefanos Diamantis and Mr. Dimitrios Avtzis, specialist scientists-researchers from the Forest Research Institute in Thessaloniki, who specialize in chestnut cultivation and biological methods of combating forest insects and chestnut blight, and by the associate professor of arboriculture at the Technical University of Crete, Mr. S. Lionakis.

Subsequently, the strategy will be drawn up through an open discussion with the presence and participation of all the bodies involved, the Chania Sub-Region, the Special Secretariat for Forests of the Ministry of Environment, the Chania Forestry Office, the Municipality of Kantanos-Selinos, the Development Company of the Nine Villages of Kissamos S.A. and the Chestnut Producers’ Cooperative of Chania Prefecture.

More specifically, the topics that will be developed will be:

• Organization of new chestnut plantations (associate professor S. Lionakis)
• Control of the import and planting of chestnut trees originating outside Crete (associate professor S. Lionakis)
• Treating chestnut blight disease with a biological method (Dr. S. Diamantis)
• Commercial chestnut cultivation – Modern trends (Dr. S. Diamantis)
• Chestnut processing. How far behind are we compared to other Mediterranean countries? (Dr. S. Diamantis)
• Fruit-eating insects of chestnut trees in the Chania Prefecture area (Dr. D. Avtzis)
• The chestnut wasp. New danger for the chestnut tree outside our door (Dr. D. Avtzis)

An open discussion will follow on the development of a unified strategy for chestnut production.