The Scientific Committee of the World Pistachio Congress (WPC) continues to shape the programme for the Congress, to be held in Toledo on 27 and 28 January 2027. Having approved its structure of seven thematic sessions, the Committee has now finalised the papers and speakers for the first of these, “Site selection, varieties, rootstocks and orchard establishment”, which will open the day devoted to growers and field production.
This first session will address issues such as climate adaptation, plot assessment, plant breeding and variety selection, and will bring to the table the experience of the world’s three major producing countries: the United States, Iran and Turkey. The speakers for the remaining sessions will be announced over the coming weeks. An advance version of the programme is already available on the Congress website: www.worldpistachiocongress.org/program
A sector facing the climate challenge
The opening lecture will be given by Louise Ferguson, Chair of the WPC Scientific Committee and researcher at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), who will offer an introduction to the pistachio tree, its economics, its advantages and its current challenges, with particular attention to production in California, today the world leader.
According to the figures used by Ferguson, over the past 30 years pistachio production in the United States, mainly in California, has grown at an average annual rate of close to 8.6%, compared with 5.7% in Turkey and a practically flat trend in Iran, of between -0.5% and +1%. Iran, the undisputed leader in the 1990s, has thus handed over the baton to California, which produced an average of 639,000 tonnes of in-shell pistachios a year over the 2023-2025 period.
The three major producing countries are, however, currently facing problems linked to climate and water, compounded by the pistachio tree’s natural alternate bearing. The forecasts of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC), cited by Ferguson, put California’s 2026 crop at around half the 722,700 tonnes harvested in 2025, after record heat of between 30 and 38°C during an unusually early flowering period in March caused flower drop and poor fruit set. Some orchards are recording up to 80% blank nuts, compared with 15-20% in a normal year.
Iran is also facing a low production year, with a forecast of 130,000 tonnes, down 42%, owing to drought and power cuts that limit pumping for irrigation.
Turkey, by contrast, is heading into an “on” year, with 156,400 t forecast, up 36.5%, although frost, drought and water restrictions are weighing on its productivity.
Against this backdrop, Ferguson makes the case for international cooperation. “International conferences like this first World Pistachio Congress are a chance to learn how others are approaching our shared problems and to cooperate in developing solutions,” she says. She also points out that “the California pistachio industry is only 50 years old. Pistachios have been grown in Iran for 4,000 years and in Turkey for 2,000. These older industries have collective knowledge and genetic resources that California does not have”.
The researcher illustrates this with her own career: she acknowledges that she would never have begun studying the effect of saline water and soils on the pistachio tree had she not seen Iranian growers obtaining profitable crops at salinity levels of 16 dS/m. For this reason, she believes the priority is “to recognise, first, that we are colleagues with the same goal: to know more about how to produce pistachios successfully” and “to define our shared challenges together”.
Iran and Turkey, first-hand
Iran and Turkey will in fact take centre stage at the start of this first session. Hossein Hokmabadi will present the state of the pistachio sector in Iran, with an overview of the crop, its commercial production and its breeding programme, while Salih Kafkas, from Çukurova University, will do the same for the Turkish sector.
From the international context, the session will move on to the decisions that shape the future of an orchard. Mae Culumber, from the University of California (UC ANR), will address site selection, orchard design and preparation, as well as grafting, tree training and soil management.
The session will close with Mª Rosa Mérida, from the Regional Institute for Agri-Food and Forestry Research and Development of Castilla-La Mancha (IRIAF), who will bring the perspective of Spanish research with an analysis of nutrient behaviour throughout the pistachio tree’s growing cycle.
Registration now open
Professionals, companies, researchers, growers, traders and institutional representatives wishing to attend can now register through the Congress’s official website: www.worldpistachiocongress.org/inscripcion_2
Attendees can choose between various registration options, including full Congress attendance, half Congress, a student rate and the option of taking part in the gala dinner to be held as part of the event.
In addition, those wishing to present their research can take part in the WPC Scientific Poster Competition by submitting their abstract before 15 November 2026. The Scientific Committee will select the two most interesting proposals for oral presentation during the Congress. The submission rules and template are available at: www.worldpistachiocongress.org/concurso-posteres_2
Organised by AgriFood Comunicación and supported by the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha, the Congress aims to become the leading international meeting point for every link in the value chain: growers, processors, traders, researchers and institutions from the world’s main producing and consuming countries.
The Congress already has the backing of major companies in the sector, such as Solagro, Agroisa and COMPO EXPERT, Platinum sponsors; Sabadell, Cimbria, Alltech Crop Science, TOMRA Food and Grupo Detia Degesch, Gold sponsors; and Grupo IberoPistacho, Agróptimum, AgroBank, Veolia and Agroseguro, Silver sponsors, whose support contributes to driving innovation and growth in the pistachio industry worldwide.
The WPC invites everyone to be part of this collaborative international project and encourages them to explore the cooperation and sponsorship options available; all the information required can be obtained from the Congress Technical Secretariat (+34 91 721 79 29) or by emailing info@worldpistachiocongress.org.
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