The European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) will bring together three of its key specialist sections – Agronomy, Physiology and Post Harvest – for a joint scientific meeting in Warsaw, Poland, from 16 to 19 June 2026.
The event will focus squarely on how potatoes are grown, managed, stored and processed in an era of climate pressure, labour constraints and tight quality specifications.
Broad scope: from precision agronomy to storage and processing
According to the conference announcement, the 2026 joint section meeting is designed as a forum for exchanging knowledge on the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) across a wide technical spectrum. Topics will span:
- field agronomy and precision agriculture
- biochemistry and plant physiology
- postharvest assessment and quality monitoring
- issues related to potato storage and potato processing
The programme will combine lectures by internationally recognised scientists with contributed research papers and posters, alongside a planned excursion. The organizers emphasise that the meeting is intended as a practical platform for researchers, advisors and industry professionals who want to discuss real-world potato issues and compare experiences with colleagues from around the world.
The meeting will be held at a hotel conveniently located in central Warsaw, with detailed venue information provided via the dedicated conference pages managed by Poland’s Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR-PIB).
Key dates: registration and abstract deadlines
Registration and abstract submission for the joint EAPR sections meeting will open in December 2025. Both processes share the same closing date, giving potential delegates a clear planning horizon.
Important dates currently published by the organizers:
- December 2025 – registration opens
- December 2025 – abstract submission opens
- 31 March 2026 – registration deadline
- 31 March 2026 – abstract submission deadline
For many in the research and advisory community, those dates will sit directly in the middle of the 2025-26 planning and contracting cycle. The relatively early deadline for abstracts signals that the scientific programme will be finalised well ahead of the June meeting, which should help participants secure funding and travel approvals in good time.
Support for early-career scientists
The EAPR has also indicated that financial support will be available to help PhD students attend the Warsaw meeting. Details of this student support scheme will be published when registration opens in December 2025, but the signal is clear: the organizers want early-career researchers inside the room, not following along from a distance.
For supervisors and institutes, the combination of targeted student support and a tightly focused potato programme makes this meeting a logical option for showcasing doctoral work on topics such as:
- climate-smart potato agronomy and water management
- physiological responses to heat, drought and other stresses
- non-destructive quality assessment and in-storage monitoring
- postharvest losses, defects and processing performance
Organizing team and scientific community
A local organizing committee of Polish scientists is coordinating the event on behalf of EAPR, with IHAR-PIB providing the institutional platform. The committee includes researchers with experience across breeding, agronomy and postharvest research, underlining the cross-disciplinary character of the meeting.
For the wider potato community, the Warsaw meeting offers a chance to:
- compare agronomic and storage practices across regions facing very different climates and market structures
- test new ideas around precision farming, data-driven storage management and quality analytics in discussion with peers
- connect science and practice by bringing researchers, technical managers and advisors into the same conversations
In a period where growers and processors are under pressure to deliver consistent quality with fewer inputs, events that connect physiology, agronomy and postharvest management are becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity.
How to find out more
Full details – including practical information, registration instructions, abstract submission and student support announcements – are being updated on the official conference pages hosted by IHAR-PIB under the title Meeting of the joint EAPR sections Agronomy & Physiology and Post Harvest 2026.
Readers of Potato News Today who are involved in potato research, advisory work, storage management or processing – or who supervise PhD students in these fields – may want to pencil 16-19 June 2026 into their calendars and monitor the conference site as December approaches.
Contact for further information:
Feel free to get in touch with Jadwiga Śliwka on eapr2026@ihar.edu.pl