The Fig: Botany, Production and Uses - Tapa dura

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Ali Sarkhosh is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist (fruit crops) in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, where he has developed research and extension programs in fruit crop production, physiology, and diversification. His research focus is on developing and extending sustainable fruit crops production in Florida. Dr. Sarkhosh has over 15 years of experience with research and production of different fruit crops in U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Iran. His research with fruit crops has focused on assessment of cultural practices to optimize yield and production efficiency, rootstocks and cultivars evaluations, and breeding. Toward improving fruit crops production, he published many sources of both technical and referred articles in production, physiology, breeding, and genetic diversity.

Ali M. Yavari is a private pomologist and consultant. Mr. Yavari received his M.S. in horticulture (Pomology) from the University of Urmia, Iran. Mr. Yavari has expertise in all aspects of fruit crops production as well as interacting worldwide with commercial growers and researchers in the field of fruit production, mainly tropical and subtropical fruits. His experiences in fig production are mos harvesting and exporting issues, and training courses for orchardists. He provides public and private sectors with designing project design and writing proposals related to fig production and other tropical and subtropical fruits.

Louise Ferguson is an Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of California in Davis (UC-Davis). Dr. Ferguson has developed research and extension programs in pistachios, olives, figs, citrus, persimmons and pomegranates. Her research focus is on developing and extending long-term applications for sustainable tree production. Specific applied research areas are alternate bearing of tree crops, rootstock effects on multiple scion characteristics, salinity tolerance of pistachios, fig breeding, and mechanical harvesting and pruning of olives and pistachios. She has served as Director of the Fruit and Nut Research and Information Centre at University of Califorina Davis, President of the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America and American Society of Horticultural Science and Core Faculty for the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation's Ag Leadership program.

Jose I. Hormaza is a Research Professor and Head of the Subtropical Fruit Crops Department at the Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea La Mayora (IHSM), a joint Research Institute between the Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Malaga. His research program focuses on genetic diversity, germplasm characterization, conservation and utilization, and reproductive biology in tropical, subtropical and temperate fruit tree crops. During his scientific career, he has been involved in numerous national and international research projects. He has authored more than 150 refereed publications and book chapters, supervised more than 15 Ph.D. students and several postdocs and exchange students with other countries from the Americas, Africa and Asia.

A. Aytekin POLAT is Professor of Horticulture, Mustafa Kemal University, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey. He obtained his MSc. and Ph. Degrees at Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey. Being located in the center of the Turkey's main loquat production region, Mediterranean, he started working on loquats with his Ph D. thesis. Then, he moved to Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Agriculture Faculty, Horticulture Department, Hatay, Turkey, as founder of the Department. He has published 140 research papers and articles of which almost 45 are on loquat propagation and production technology. He was Convener of the 3rd International Symposium on loquat held at Hatay, Turkey in 2010. He also edited the Acta Horticulturae volume (No.887) out of this symposium, together with Jules Janick. Currently, he leads training projects on high density orchard with dwarf rootstocks in loquats and works for the development of dwarf rootstocks farming systems.