Task 3.3 Enriching innovative grassland practices with literature results (M1 - M36)
Task-lead: UGOE in collaboration with GLZ, Teagasc, WLR, RHEA, IDELE, LWK, INRA, SLU, CNR, PULS, & WIR
WP2 will lead to the identification of potential innovations related to grassland. These will be discussed and enriched in meetings of practitioners and researchers (Task 3.4). As a preparation of these meetings, (1) methodologies for participatory approach will be analysed to set up the best structure for the meetings and (2) innovative grassland practices will be enriched with research results. In many countries, participatory approaches are used in practice. An inventory is carried out within Europe to identify all the different methodologies used for interaction between practice and science (multi-actor approaches). This will provide insight in the available methodologies and their corresponding advantages and disadvantages, their dependency to national organisations, and will be the basis for successful meetings in Task 3.4. Some of the innovative grassland practices identified in WP2 will already have been put into practise on some dairy farms and/or will be available in the case studies of WP2, while others are merely an idea. In Task 3.3, these grassland practices will be consolidated with literature results from research, industry, retail and consumers. In particular, information will be added about one or more of the following functions of grasslands: associated with document Ref. Ares(2016)5554549 - 26/09/2016
- Improvement of profitability and competitiveness of grassland-based dairy, beef and sheep farming
- Provision of high-quality local forage for grazing animals which transform grassland vegetation into high-qualityproducts for human consumption
- Efficiency of multi-species swards and forage legumes with a particular focus on sustainable fodder protein production: optimisation of grazing and cutting systems, reduction of input use and production costs
- Enhancing sustainability of grassland systems: efficient manure management with reduced N-emissions in water bodies, ecosystem services as a contribution to biodiversity, landscape protection and carbon storage.
This will lead to an overview of practical know-how in combination with research and development results (knowledgebased
scenarios) that can be used as a preparation of meetings of practitioners and researchers in Task 3.4.
The Inno4Grass Project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 727368.