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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Inno4Grass (Shared Innovation Space for Sustainable Productivity of Grasslands in Europe)

Teaser

Summary

The urgent need for innovations in agriculture was pointed out by the European Commission in the recent past. To safeguard the future food demands of an increasing world population which will have less impact on natural resources on finite areas for production, there are tremendous challenges ahead for the entire agricultural sector which require rethinking of established best practices.
Grasslands are important for agriculture. Permanent and temporary grasslands cover 61 million ha across the EU-28 representing 16% of the total land area and 40% of the European agricultural area. These EU grasslands serve multifunctional purposes ranging from provision of autochthonous fodder for animal husbandry (and hence food provision for citizens) to biodiversity, to the provision of traditional originated landscapes that European citizens appreciate for recreational purposes. Almost all acreage of grasslands in Europe is exclusively used as animal feed. Ruminant production is a major component of European agriculture at several levels. The production of dairy, beef and sheep is of major economic importance to many member states and the number of farms and farming families involved in ruminant production is large; about 4.5 million holdings hold grazing livestock in the EU-28
in 2013 (Eurostat).
The large acreage of grasslands and the many environmental benefits (e.g. biodiversity, mitigation of climate change) that grasslands can provide are important reasons for requiring innovations in grasslands. This multi-functionality of grasslands often is not seen as advantageous by EU farmers; in fact, this multi-functionality is completely understated and not fully understood. In a time where market-driven concepts for ecosystem services rewards are not or not sufficiently developed or understood, the multi-functionality of grasslands often causes competitive claims. EU-grasslands â€“ especially in intensive production systems â€“ are becoming more and more areas of conflicts between food demand and provision of other ecosystem services. Many EU farmers and farmersâ€™ associations are struggling to seek solutions on how to increase the contribution of grasslands in terms of economic added value and at the same time stimulate rural development, ecological benefits and societal requirements such as healthy food production. Furthermore, grassland-based farming was in the last decades not seen as just as economically viable as many other sectors (e.g. arable production) in many European grassland areas, leading to a decrease in the total grassland area. This was associated to a restrained adoption of innovations in grasslands.
Several reasons explain the low adoption of innovations in grasslands: i) grassland-based production systems are complex and therefore innovative systems must be implemented as a combination of innovative practices that show a dependency to local conditions, ii) benefits from innovation on grasslands are perceived with some time lag, iii) grassland innovation affects the various aspects of sustainability (profitability, environment, social acceptance) and often in a contradictory manner and above all iv) limited interaction between practice and research.
The overall objective of Inno4Grass is to close the gap between practice and science and to ensure implementation of innovative systems on productive grasslands to achieve profitability of European grassland farms and to preserve environmental values.

Work performed

The project has been started successfully and is running according to plan.
Main achievement is the collection of 170 farm portraits published in English and in most local languages, and of many quantitative data associated to these farms. These farmers are among the most innovative farmers in Europe. Portraits are available on the project web site and on Encyclopedia pratensis, the Information Management System of Inno4Grass. Each project partner interviewed a large range of other stakeholders for better understanding their view on grassland and grassland-based products.
The existing innovation brokering systems in Europe have been inventoried and evaluated. A questionnaire among more than 1000 European grassland farmers provided insight in drivers and barriers for innovation. Practice & science meetings were held in the different countries analysing important innovations. Grassland tools that are used in the member states involves have been itemised and ranked and are available for farmers in other member states to use. The development of a grassland education syllabus is underway across the consortium. A grassland award for farmers who excel in the area of grassland has been initiated and will be celebrated by the consortium in the coming year.
Project website was implemented www.inno4grass.eu and is being updated continuously. The creation of the facilitator agentsâ€™ resources are evolving in accordance with the work plan. Experience exchange takes place via consortium meetings, discussion groups and platform and several bilateral meetings. Inno4Grass has been presented in the AKIS meeting in Athens, which was highly appreciated by all attending member states and the European Commission.

Final results

Farmersâ€™ innovations are already much better known and described in the project. Data on innovative farms will be analysed in a deeper way within WP4. By the end of the project, a very important synthesis of innovations will be released under the form of leaflets, videos, and databases.
Until the end of the project, the project will deliver results of a large number of practice & science meetings (at least 144) for spreading throughout Europe and a demand-driven research agenda. The combination of current and new knowledge of farmers, advisors and researchers will lead to a flow of innovation on grasslands and grassland-based farming systems in Europe.
The use of grassland tools is now known, and the different tools can be used across the member states. The development of both a grassland syllabus and a visiting programme is novel and will be refined further in during the project.