Authors: H KOREVAAR, H TEN BERGE, C BUFE, M WHITTINGHAM, P SMITH, T VANWALLEGHEM, E LELLEI-KOVÁCS, P STYPINSKI, S HEJDUK, B TONN, D SACCO AND P NEWELL PRICE
The SUPER-G consortium and the preceding EIP-AGRI Focus group on permanent grassland (EIP-AGRI, 2016) define permanent grassland (PG) as ‘any land dominated by grasses or herbaceous forage that can be grazed/mown and has not been included in the crop rotation of a holding for five years or more’. According to Eurostat data for 2013, PG covers almost 60 million hectares across the EU-28 and accounts for 34% of the total Utilised Ãgricultural Area (UAA) (Huyghe et al., 2014). However, in various parts of Europe, PG maintenance and functions are threatened by abandonment and afforestation, intensification, or conversion to arable land, and in some regions also by increased drought and/or heat stress due to climate change. The overall objectives of the SUPER-G project are to co-develop sustainable PG farming systems and policies with farmers and policymakers that will be effective in improving productivity and economic sustainability, supporting biodiversity and delivering a number of ES, including climate regulation through carbon storage and sequestration.
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