In June, Witgang invited Dr. Alfred J. Turgeon, the world leader in state-of-the-art Turfgrass Operations Management, to Dongguan and Shanghai to share his experience and knowledge in fertility, soil, weed and disease management, water and irrigation, advanced chemistry, machinery and electricity, and labor and “people problems.” Witgang organized these events jointly with the South China Superintendents’ Association and Syngenta on June 23, and with the East China Superintendents’ Association on June 27.
Each event began with half-day presentations on fertility, growth, and weed and disease control, and then moved to workshop-based problem-solving exercises and discussions led by Dr. Turgeon; in Dongguan, Dr. Sowmya Mitra of Syngenta also presented on the latest in weed and disease control. Several superintendents commented that the seminar-workshop format was ideal for addressing specific issues they are seeing on the ground, now, at their own courses, particularly when combined with shared comments from their peers, and especially when led by someone of Dr. Turgeon’s stature, experience, and wisdom.
His research interests encompass turfgrass growth and development, soil science and fertility, and turfgrass management systems, including extensive work on thatch and its interactions with pesticides and fertilizers; adaptation, quality, and establishment of turfgrass cultivars, blends and mixtures; controlled-release pesticide formulations; application of infrared technology to turf analyses; feeding quality of turfgrass clippings to livestock; and turfgrass management systems. Dr. Turgeon has also authored over 300 publications to the readers around the world.
His primary responsibilities are coordinating technical support for commercial control products in lawn and garden and regional development projects for new active ingredients. Prior to joining Syngenta, Dr. Mitra was a Professor in the Plant Science & Technology Department at California State University Pomona, USA, with both teaching and research responsibilities. Dr. Mitra’s research has been focused on turfgrass environmental stress physiology, mainly environmental stress management including soil and water quality, soil fertility, and fertilizers, as well as the fate of pesticides, chemical and biological control of weeds, biochemical detection of herbicide injury on turfgrasses, and water conservation with wetting agents.
Witgang was proud to invite these two leading professionals to China to share their knowledge and experience. Rob Glucksman, Managing Director of Witgang Far East Ltd. and Shenzhen Witgang GreenTechTrading Co. Ltd., said “The active engagement of so many participants showed how valuable the activity was. The information being exchanged was terrific, not only advanced technical knowledge but details about the specific issues we have here in China, from technical applications to personnel headaches to commercial problems like corruption. Our customers are hugely valuable to us, and as China’s pioneer distributor to the professional turfgrass market we will continue to arrange these types of events. We see our growth and success as tied to the growth and success of our customers, and that means both bringing the best international practices to the Chinese golf industry, and demonstrating Chinese industry practices, many of which are world-class and very distinctive, to the rest of the world.”
