15th EGF Symposium 2009

At the congress lasting from 7 to 9 September 2009 in Brno (Czech Republic) a wide range of issues concerning changes in the role of grassland especially with regard to the specific features of countries with a high proportion of arable land and a low proportion of grassland and with respect to the impact on some social and economic conditions of new member countries of the European Union (decrease in the number of ruminants and the level of animal production as a whole) were discussed. The discussion also included ideas about how to retain, maintain and utilise grassland in areas where its use for animal production will not be a top priority.

Czech Republic is one of the countries with a high share of arable land and low proportion of permanent grassland. But grassland is decreasingly used in animal production. This raises new questions and offers new alternatives in land use and utilisation of grassland biomass. The main goal of the Symposium therefore was to discuss several alternative functions of grassland: the importance of grassland as aesthetic landscape element and attractive space for recreation and sports activities, and the value of grasslands as source of bio energy. Also the methods  for preserving different permanent grassland types were given attention.

The Symposium was organised by OSEVA PRO Ltd., Grassland Research Station Rožnov-Zubří (www.oseva.cz), Research Institute for Fodder Crops, Ltd., Troubsko (www.vupt.cz) under the auspices of the Minister of agriculture and in co-operation with the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

A Summary of the outcome of the 15^th EGF Symposium 2009 can be downloaded below.