More than a thousand visitors to the Horti Fair have already registered for one of the free seminars. Several seminars, in fact, have now almost reached the maximum number of participants, in a sign that the new course taken by the Horti Fair – from square metres to cubic metres - is proving popular with visitors.

The Horti Fair, the biggest international horticultural trade fair for technology, innovation and inspiration, is taking place in the Amsterdam RAI from 1 to 4 November inclusive this year. The trade show has embarked on a new course in 2011, which can be summarized as ‘from square metres to cubic metres’. It means that visitors get more content, more spectacle and more networking opportunities.

More content is offered during the seminars for example. A total of almost thirty seminars on a wide range of subjects of current relevance in horticulture will be taking place from 1 to 4 November inclusive. Visitors to the Horti Fair can use the online visitor registration to indicate which seminars they want to attend.

One such seminar is 'Food safety: overcoming the emotion’ (‘Voedselveiligheid, de emotie de baas'), which starts on the afternoon of Wednesday 2 November. Almost all links in the chain are involved in this seminar. Panel members discussing the subject, for example, are Daan Verbeek (Horticoop), Jacco Vooijs (FresQ), Peter Verbaas (Frugi Venta), Marc Jansen (CBL; the Dutch Food Retail Association), Nicolette Quaedvlieg (PT; the Netherlands Product Board for Horticulture), Marcel Zwietering (Wageningen UR), Stephan Peters (Het Voedingscentrum; the Netherlands Nutrition Centre) and Sijas Akkerman (Stichting Natuur en Milieu; the Netherlands Foundation for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection).

Other seminars include 'Sustainable High-Yield Production' (1 November, 13.30 hours), 'Energy Mobilization' (2 November, 10.00 hours), 'Foodlog - the Grower’s “State of the Union”' (2 November, 13.30 hours), Precision Growing (3 November, 13.30 hours) and 'Opportunities in Chinese Horticulture' (4 November, 10.00 hours). The full programme is available at www.hortifair.com/programme/seminars

Registration for the seminars is going well, says Horti Fair director Frans-Peter Dechering. “Visitors to trade fairs want more than just a collection of stands. They want greater depth, content and networking opportunities. That’s our reason for deciding to organize the seminars. And it’s proving popular.”

www.hortifair.nl