|
 Proceedings
The World Cotton Research Conference-4 (WCRC-4) was held at the Civic
Center in Lubbock, Texas, USA, during the week of September 10-14, 2007.
Official attendance at the WCRC-4 was 590 people. They came from 37
countries and from every continent around the world. There were 64
additional people who came as invited guests and from media sources
covering the Conference.
The WCRC-4 was officially inaugurated with comments by Dr. Terry
Townsend, Executive Director of the ICAC and Dr. Dean Ethridge, Chairman
of the U.S. Organizing Committee. Mr. Todd Staples, Texas Commissioner
of Agriculture and Mr. Robert Duncan, Texas Senator provided the
official welcome.
Over a four-day period, four outstanding plenary sessions were presented
on: (1) Cotton Genomics and Biotechnology, (2) Strategic Challenges and
Opportunities, (3) Keeping Cotton Competitive with Alternative Fibers,
and (4) Strategic Management Issues. In addition, thirty-nine
outstanding breakout sessions were conducted in various research
disciplines. There were 21 plenary speakers and 201 breakout session
speakers during the 4-day period of September 10-13. There were 118
posters displayed throughout these 4 days, with one specially hosted
interaction session for the posters.
In order to take advantage of the rich infrastructure in and around
Lubbock, the U.S. Organizing Committee provided two tours. The first
was on Wednesday afternoon, September 12, with attendees visiting the
Texas Tech Research Farm, the Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, and
the Lubbock Cotton Classing Office. The second tour was an all-day
activity on Friday, September 14. During the morning, attendees visited
and toured the International Textile Center of Texas Tech University and
the Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center. Then everyone
visited a commercial cotton farm, a modern cotton gin, a major research
station displaying all available irrigation technologies, and a
state-of-the-art commercial dairy operation.
|
