During the San Joaquin Valley Raisin Production and Marketing Symposium on Jan. 23 in Easton, Dr. David Ramming will be honored for his many contributions to the raisin industry over the past 37 years.

Dr. Ramming began his career at the USDA-ARS research station (Parlier) in 1975, when he continued the work of Dr. John Weinberger – who introduced the “Fiesta” raisin.  Since then Dr. Ramming has worked at developing raisin cultivars to address the concerns of raisin farmers throughout California.

Dr. Ramming is credited with introducing the DOVine and Selma Pete raisin cultivars which are improvements to the traditional Thompson Seedless raisin. Both cultivars ripen earlier than Thompson Seedless, which decreases the risk of rain damage to the crop, and both are designed to be mechanically harvested, which decreases the cost of labor. One of Dr. Ramming’s goals was to increase profitability for raisin growers and most of the raisin industry would agree that his contributions successfully did so.

The San Joaquin Valley Raisin Production and Marketing Symposium takes place from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at C.P.D.E.S. Hall, 172 West Jefferson Ave., Easton, Calif. This half-day symposium will feature presentations such as raisin production around the world, domestic and international marketing activities and nutrition research, as well as the chance to win a John Deere Gator TS valued at over $7,000. Continuing education CCA hours have been requested. To be eligible for the prize drawing you must pre-register online at: http://ucanr.edu/sjv-raisin-symposium. The cost of attendance is $10 per person (in advance) and registration is due by Jan. 18, 2013. On-site and late registration cost is $20 per person. Registration includes morning refreshments, lunch and symposium proceedings.