The International Fruit Tree Association will hold its annual conference February 23 to March 1 in Boston, Massachusetts. The overall conference theme is technology—in systems, in mechanization, in pest management, in information management, and in varieties.

Jon Clements, the University of Massachusetts fruit advisor, heads the planning committee that put together the program.

Following the usual format, three days of scientific, educational presentations are preceded by intensive workshops and followed by a tour of orchards and other facilities.

The conference will be held at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston.

Two preconference workshops are scheduled concurrently on Saturday, February 23. One focuses on production practices, including flowering, pollination, and fruit set; the other on managing pick-your-own tree fruit operations.

The educational sessions on Monday, February 24, address production and automation; sessions on Wednesday, February 26, cover innovation in technology and varieties, and strategies for facing climate change. The day between is devoted to field learning—a bus tour to visit local fruit operations.

The postconference bus tour starts Thursday, February 28, and brings visitors back to Boston midday Saturday, March 2, after more than a dozen stops. Besides visiting orchards, the tour will take in the University of Massachusetts’s Cold Spring Orchard Research Farm and Cornell University’s Hudson Valley Laboratory.

All the details, including registration information, fees, speakers, and the schedule of presentations and tours, are on the association's Web site.