MULTISWARD

Multi species swards and multi scale strategies for multifunctional grassland based ruminant production systems

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'MULTISWARD will support developments and innovations in grassland production and management throughout the diversity of European farming systems, pedo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. It will enhance regulating and supporting services from grasslands at the farm and landscape levels whilst improving the competitiveness of grassland-based ruminant production systems. This will be achieved by a concerted use of diversity: multi-species swards, diversity of plant communities at the farm and landscape levels and diversity of production systems at the landscape level. To reach this goal, MULTISWARD will: 1.Define the roles and utility of grassland from economic, agronomic and environmental perspectives and determine stakeholder’s requirements and expectations with respect to multi-functionality in EU countries 2.Assess the performance of multi species swards (MSS) in terms of plant productivity and animal nutrition over a range of environments and determine the most appropriate mixtures according to the soil and climatic conditions 3.Optimize the role of MSS in the provision of regulating and supporting services and maintaining a high level of biodiversity 4.Design and evaluate innovations in grazing and animal management (including animal genetics) to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of grassland-based ruminant production system 5.Provide adequate evaluation tools (indicators and models) to assess ways of combining high production efficiency with optimal provision of regulating and supporting services from grasslands at farm to regional levels 6.Identify and analyse the effects of socio-economic and policy scenarios supporting grassland development or inducing grassland replacement by annual crops in order to support the design of future policies 7.Disseminate knowledge to key stakeholders through a participatory framework that will allow exchanges between researchers and key stakeholders and increase awareness of grassland based systems'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Researchers have identified ways to promote the use of grasslands on farms in the EU, resulting in efficient ruminant production systems and improved provision of ecosystem services.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Over the last 30 years, Europe's grasslands have been progressively reduced in size. Meanwhile, Europeans are becoming more concerned about the state of their environment and the sustainability of intensive production systems.

These and other concerns favour an increasing role for grassland farming systems for the future. To help achieve this goal, the EU-funded http://www.multisward.eu/ (MULTISWARD) project was established.

The project aimed to develop grassland production and management systems suited to the diversity of European farming systems, soil and climate conditions, and socioeconomic circumstances. Initially, the project defined and reported on the different roles of grasslands and their usefulness.

Furthermore, experiments on plant species biodiversity and ecosystem services were completed at different European study sites. These studies revealed that multi-species grasslands could provide the same support for cattle and other animals as highly fertilised grasses while reducing the environmental impacts linked to high level of nitrogen fertilisation.

Project members also developed strategies to improve grazing management to bring more insect pollinators into permanent grassland. Another aspect of MULTISWARD focused on farm models and sets of indicators to evaluate the multiples performances of grassland-based farming systems both at farm and regional levels.

The completed MULTISWARD project will reinforce the environmental benefits of grassland-based animal production in Europe. Such achievements will result in greater acceptance of these production systems by European citizens, consumers and farmers.