With 2020 designated
the International Year of Plant Health, biosecurity will be taking centre stage
at Contact Conference, sponsored by ICL, which takes place on Wednesday 15 and
Thursday 16 January 2020 at Horticulture House, Chilton.
Aimed at all those
working across the nursery sector, the event focusses on plant health, trends,
best practice, technology and maximising the grower/retailer relationship. It
provides a great opportunity to get together with industry peers at the start of
the year.
UK
Chief Plant Health Officer, Professor Nicola Spence, will be providing the
latest update on plant health along with news from DEFRA on International Year
of Plant Health activities. This will be followed by an insight into the BRIGIT
Project from Dr. Gerard Clover. The project takes a multi-disciplinary approach to building UK
capability to reduce the chance of Xylella being introduced and becoming
established in the UK.
The programme also
includes case studies from Bransford Webbs, Porters Fuchsias and Modiform,
highlighting best practice from within the Nursery Working Group. Rebecca
Grant, Joseph Rochford Gardens and Chair of British Ornamental Plant Producers
(BOPP), will give an insight into Horticultural Quality Standards, and the
certification scheme that BOPP facilitates.
On day
two of the conference topics will include Integrated Pest Management from
Koppert Biological, and engaging the younger generation from Martin Emmett,
Chair of the HTA Ornamentals Committee and member of the Ornamental
Horticulture Roundtable working group on education and employment.
Commenting
on the day, Martin said, “With Plant Health needing to be on the top of
everyone’s agenda for the foreseeable future, Contact Conference provides the
horticultural industry with the perfect sounding board to find out about the
major upcoming issues, and pose your questions to the people who are in the
know.”
He
adds, “I will be discussing issues such as how labour will be in short supply
for the foreseeable future; so it is imperative that we develop the best
systems to recruit, train and retain staff within our businesses. It is also
more important than ever that we work collectively as a sector to widen our
appeal to potential employees and demonstrate the potential for good careers in
our industry.”
HTA Contact
Conference combines a day and a half conference programme with a networking
dinner and overnight stay. The conference will be hosted at HTA’s Horticulture
House in Oxfordshire, with accommodation and dinner at the nearby Milton Hill
Hotel. HTA Horticulture Manager Pippa Greenwood will provide the
after-dinner talk providing a light-hearted look at her garden media career.
This event is open
to all businesses and costs £299 for HTA members to attend (£499 for
non-members). For more information visit www.hta.org.uk/contactconference
or email events@hta.org.uk.
