MANILA, Philippines — Foreign floriculture experts will dominate the speakers at the two-day Floriculture Congress on February 24-25 at the conference hall of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management in Quezon City. The two-day event is a highlight of the Florikultura Filipina which will be held from February 24 to March 5 at the Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City.

Dr. Setapong Lokawatana of Thailand will talk on the Ornamental Plant Industry Development in Thailand. He is the head of the Flower and Ornamental Plant Production Group of the Department of Agricultural Extension. He will be followed by P. Mukundan who will discuss the Ornamental Plant Industry in India. He is a horticulturist and a nurseryman. The third speaker will be Gregori Hambali, a plant breeder from Bogor, who will talk on the Ornamental Plant Industry Development in Indonesia.

Challenges and Opportunities in the Philippine Floriculture Industry will be taken up by Kazunari Kitamura of Uni-Green, a nursery in Batangas which exports its products to Japan. He will be followed by a talk by Dr. Jocelyn Eusebio on the Philippine Floriculture Industry and Available Packages of Technologies.

Anders Lindstrom, botanical curator of Nong Nooch Garden and Resort in Thailand, will talk on Philippine Plants with Export Potentials. The last speaker on the first day will be Tata Montilla, a Filipino based in Hawaii. He will talk on Marketing Through the Internet.

On the second day, February 25, Dr. Teresita D. Amore of the University of Hawaii will talk on the Current Trends in Orchids and the Future of Philippine Species. She will be followed by a talk on Orchid Breeding Trends in Singapore by J.B. Tay of Singapore.

Orchid Production and Marketing will be the subject of discussion by Wong Kiam Ho, president of Com-mercial Orchid Producers Association of Malaysia. This will be followed by Prof. Nestor C. Altoveros of the Crop Science Cluster of the Institute of Plant Breeding, UP Los Banos. He will talk on Mass Propagation and Re-establishment in Natural Habitat for Conservation and Sustainable Trade of Endangered Philippine Orchids.

Propagation and Utilization of Philippine Native Species for Landscaping and Urban Greening will be the subject of Dr. Armando Palijon of the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Rene Dofitas of Bacolod City will talk on the Developments in Bromeliad Breeding. He is responsible for many tillandsia and other bromeliad hybrids in the Philippines. This will be followed by a talk on Fern Propagation and Breeding for Commerce by Ms. Barbara Joe Hoshizaki of the Los Angeles International Fern Society. The last speaker will be Dr. Vivencio Mamaril who will talk on the Importance of Plant Variety Registration. He is an executive assistant of the National Seed Industry Council.

The Florikultura Filipina is a major event where commercial horticultural producers will be exhibiting their products and services. There will be landscape booths as well as commercial booths where the gardening public can source their gardening requirements.