GAIA actions 2014
30/10/2014 Educational Seminar in Plati for the utilisation of Greek soil and the production of protein-rich animal feed.
As part of the DELTA’S GAIA Action Plan, we organised an educational seminar for farmers, which took place in DELTA’S facilities in Plati Imathias. This marked the beginning of our actions for the winter farming season,
When it comes to agriculture and animal farming, improving competitiveness while striving for sustainability demands a novel approach. Through these seminars, we retrain producers on feeding practices that use alternative crops. In addition, we promote sound farming and animal farming practices, as well as helping to develop a positive attitude among producers regarding sustainability.
We were honoured that, in this seminar, participants included distinguished scientists from the Agricultural University of Thessaloniki, the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, along with professional agriculturalists and veterinarians specialising in animal nutrition.
Included in the presentations were:
-Research data on the cocultures of vetch-barley, pea-oat, Alexandrian clover-barley, bean-barley.
-The advantages and cultivation techniques of meadows.
-Best practices on leguminous plant silage
-Feeding rations–which include leguminous plants–for cows producing high milk volumes
(including current costs).
-The importance of coarse foods and non-nutritional factors in the nutrition of dairy cows.
Producers posed questions and shared their experiences, which helped to start a healthy dialogue on the need to transform empirical knowledge to broad-reaching protocols, as well as to steer academic research towards the everyday needs of farmers.
1-3/10/2014–29th Conference of the Hellenic Society of Animal Production
Presentation of the study on the coculture of leguminous plants-grasses.
The conference took place in Kiparissia under the auspices of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. The Agricultural University of Athens’s scientific study on the support and promotion of leguminous plant cultivation (part of the GAIA Action Plan) was presented for the second time in a row.
The presentation of “The study of vetch-barley coculture regarding the qualitative and quantitative features of the produced chloromass” was made by professor Mr. I. Chatzigeorgiou of the Agricultural University of Athens. This was the starting point of a long discussion on the present situation of leguminous plant cultivation. Shared among the participants was the acknowledgement that leguminous plant cultivation has increased in recent years, even though research and development on this subject is lagging.
According to the study:
-Cocultures of vetch and barley, or peas and oats are a great solution for dry fields (or irrigated fields during the winter season).
-The production of vetch-barley and pea-oat chloromass shows a good level of nitrogen compounds which approach that of alfalfa hay.
-The production of nitrogen compounds from vetch-barley and pea-oat chloromass is important and the cost is lower than when purchased with soy flour (1,1€/kg) or alfalfa hay (1,06€/kg).
It’s important to note that the combinations on trial are expected to be favourably received by the EU’s regime on subsidies due to their large percentage of leguminous plants.
9/4/2014 Seminar by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food titled “The role of leguminous plants in sustainable development and the upcoming climatic changes.”
DELTA’S GAIA Action Plan participated in the above seminar which took place at The Center of the Earth, in Ilion.
Other participants included prominent lecturers from the Ministry, the country’s universities and research institutes, as well as producers. The seminar commenced with a speech by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, on the far-reaching importance of leguminous plant cultivation, for both human and animal nutrition, as well as environmental sustainability. The Director of DELTA’s Milk Collecting Stations, A. Syrris, expanded on the GAIA Action Plan’s actions, showcasing how they support and promote the cultivation of leguminous plants.
The seminar helped to highlight the prominent role of leguminous plants regarding the nutrition of milk-producing livestock, as hay or silage, as well as the importance of calculating the right composition of feeding rations in order to ensure animal welfare and efficient milk production.