Improving sown grasslands through breeding and management

“Improving sown grasslands through breeding and management” - Grassland-based ruminant production systems often rely on sown grasslands, either regularly re-sown permanent pastures and meadows or leys in a crop rotation. Productivity of these ecosystems depends on the availability of high quality forage crop cultivars, the right association of these cultivars in mixtures and on optimized management practices. The main aim of the EGF-EUCARPIA-Symposium-2019 is to bring together scientists from both fields and thus enable fruitful discussions and interactions.

During the symposium, factors influencing selection of forage crop species particularly suited for multi-species mixtures will be identified and new developments in the area of mixture development and management will be discussed. Emphasis will be given to opportunities offered through new and novel technologies such as high resolution phenotyping, genomic analyses and statistical modelling. Another key aspect of the symposium will be the importance of plant-microbe interactions for successful and sustainable forage production. Finally focus will be laid on the interaction between research, education and application which is crucial for research results and novel technologies to be transferred into grassland management and forage production.The symposium will allow for intensive exchange of research ideas and knowledge, joining the two areas of research in forage crop breeding and grassland management.