Dear conference participants!

International scientific conference "Diversity in Plant Breeding and Agriculture: Strategies for Healthy Lifestyle" and the workshop on utilization of Plant Genetic Resources and collaboration in Pre-breeding is successfully completed. We express our gratitude to all lecturers for informative presentations and discussions. We hope such Exchange of thoughts and ideas will help to strengthen cooperation among researchers from the Baltic States and Northern Countries also in future.

Already tomorrow we are waiting for your arrival at Stende Cereals Breeding Institute. Before your trip we would like to inform you on the weather conditions in Stende. Today it is much colder with a little rain.

For conference days from May 30 to June 1 meteorologists promise temperature around +10^oC - +15^oC. I hope such weather conditions will not be the obstacle and will not prevent all of us to implement program of the conference. See you tomorrow at Stende!

Best wishes,

Linda Sūniņa

Dear participants of the conference!

Last days in Stende have been warm and rainy. This week we are planting last potato field. Cereal fields have become bright green and gardens are full of flowering apple-trees.

Only seven days left until the conference opening. We are waiting for you arrival, but until then we would like to clarify some organizational issues.

Registration for conference participants will be at State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute on 30 May from 13:00 o'clock (in the main building of the Institute).

At registration please submit:

1) scientific articles, prepared according to Proceedings of Latvian Academy of Sciences and written in CD;

2) materials for oral presentations (for those conference participants, who will speak in 31 May sessions.

Conference participants will be able to expose the poster presentations at conference premises on 31 May from 8:00 o’clock.

We will start conference events at 15:30 with excursion around Institute’s territory. Participants will be able to settle in hotels around 17:30.

Warning: Conference premises and hotel „Mežmāja” is located in very beautiful place – next to a forest and lakes, which will encourage you to go for a walk. But ... warm spring evenings come together with a lot of midges. If you want to avoid them, please bring your mosquito repellents.

Currently Stende CBI enjoys spring and seed-time; we feel happy excitement, since there is still much work to be done both on the field and in preparation for the conference. There are only 35 days remaining until the opening of the conference!

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who already has applied for participation in the conference and has registered very interesting topics for the conference. Currently we have prepared a detailed conference program; please refer to the conference program and detailed poster list in section Program. All, who registered oral presentation, please refer to your speaking time. All participants, who will present posters, please note that the posters should be made ​​in accordance with recommended A1 size (594 × 841mm).

State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute and Latvian Society of Geneticists and Breeders invites you to participate in the International conference "Diversity in Plant Breeding and Agriculture: Strategies for Healthy Lifestyle", which will be held in Talsi region, Latvia on 31 May – 1 June, 2012.

We remind that 1 March 2012 is the last term, when conference participants are able to register scientific articles (oral or poster) and submit abstracts.

For those participants, who are interested to participate in the conference, but are not planned to prepare presentation, the last term for registration is 15 May, 2012.

Participants will be able to submit full-length article for publishing in Proceedings of Latvian Academy of Sciences until the beginning of the conference. Though, it is essential to take into consideration references, provided by the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

You can find more detailed information on conference topics, venue and other organizational issues in this home page or contact the Secretariat via e-mail: conference_2012@inbox.lv.

Welcome to participate in our conference!

In 2012 it will be already 90 years since first state breeding science centre was established in the Republic of Latvia – State Stende Breeding Station. In 23 April 1922 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia issued a decree on establishment of breeding station in Northern Kurland, in Sende manor house (half-way between Ventspils and Riga) in order to collect knowledge and give tangible benefit for development of Latvian agriculture.

During these years breeding station experienced different reforms – the title of breeding station, as well as the research themes and amounts have been changed for several times… Since 2006 we are known as State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute, but our current success is based on research work traditions inherited of Stende breeding station and competence, erudition of scientists and their fondness to work they do.

Nowadays our main task is researches in cereal breeding, such as wheat, barley and oat, and field-crop cultivation - from 1922 till nowadays scientists in Stende have worked with 20 different crops, creating 65 new varieties. In all times Stende has made on-field experiments, as well as tests in laboratory, the results of which are the base for many technologies and recommendations for Latvian agriculture and processing companies. 

Stende scientists in different scientific projects have established good mutual cooperation with other research institutes in Latvia, as well as with plant breeding institutes also in Lithuania, Estonia, Belorussia, and other countries. We have actively participated in work of other public organizations in order to give acquired knowledge to the society. State Stende CBS has a close connection with Latvian Society of Geneticists and Breeders (established in 1966) since Stende is one of its founders.

Nowadays when the world is trying to return to its roots and try to find more and more new approaches to healthy lifestyle, it is a great pleasure for us to invite you to the International Conference "Diversity in Plant Breeding and Agriculture: Strategies for Healthy Lifestyle".

State Stende Cereals Breeding institute together with Latvian Society of Geneticists and Breeders invites everyone to participate in this international conference – both experienced and new scientists, our friends and research partners and those, who we do not know yet, but who have a thorough knowledge in plants, agriculture, as well as agricultural product field.

We offer different challenging topics to develop new strategies for healthy lifestyle with the help of plant breeding and agriculture.

The Conference will be held from 30 May, 2012 to 1 June, 2012 in Talsi local municipality. We hope all participants of the conference will achieve new knowledge and information from the provided plenary sessions, and, participating in excursion after the conference, will gain a pleasure from Talsi nature, where green hills try to outshine the glitter of lakes.  

See you in State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute on May, 2012!

Dr. agr Sanita Zute, Director of State Stende Cereals Breeding Institute

Dr.biol. prof Izaks Rasals, President of Latvian Society of Geneticists and Breeders