Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold in a Changing World: Proceedings from Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold 2012

Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold (PMAC) is an interdisciplinary forum for research and extension scientists working in the fields of plant pathology, plant physiology, microbiology, and crop breeding, to advance our understanding of overwintering of crops and attempt to solve the problems associated with winter damage. The first PMAC conference was held in Sapporo, Japan in 1997 and the following meetings have been held every three years in different locations around the world. The PMAC conference came back to its place of origin after 15 years, and PMAC2012 was held June 24-28, 2012 at the Conference Hall of Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. The PMAC2012 conference focused on global climate change, food security and agriculture sustainability with the subtitle "Toward risk assessment and management of sustainable agriculture in the cool and cold regions", and the entire program was organized to reflect this theme. The sessions covered a wide range of topics from soil physical properties and crop protection from frost and pathogens to current breeding strategies. In order to widen the scope of the conference and enhance interdisciplinary discussion, experts in meteorology, soil science and ecology were also invited to participate in the program.

Dr. Ryozo Imai Crop Breeding Research Division Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center, NARO Dr. Naoyuki Matsumoto Silviculture & Forest Ecology Studies Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University