Teagasc’s Crops and Cultivation 2017 open day – which is being marketed as the ’tillage management event of the year’ – is set to take place tomorrow, June 28.
Taking place at Teagasc’s Crops Research Centre in Oak Park, Co. Carlow, the open day aims to demonstrate the latest technical innovations and research updates on a range of crops.
These will include winter and spring barley, winter wheat, oats, oilseed rape and beans, according to Teagasc.
An extensive field trial programme will be on view, with key topics presented at over 20 information points, it added.
- Cereal and break crop management;
- Pest, weed and disease control;
- Cultivation and sowing demonstrations;
- Development of new varieties;
- Farm machinery stands;
- Soil management;
- Tillage TAMS;
- Farm safety.
A cultivation demonstration will also be present, featuring a range of machinery on display from all of the main manufacturers and dealers.
The open day plans to be an “ideal opportunity” for growers to get the latest information on crop agronomy, while staying informed of the latest machinery developments for establishing crops successfully.
Projects undertaken by the Virtual Irish Centre for Crop Improvement (VICCI), which is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine – and is a joint venture of Teagasc, UCD, TCD, NUIM and NUIG – will be exhibited on the day.
The centre is identifying sources of characteristics from varieties that will be of “vital importance” to Irish tillage farmers – such as more efficient use of nutrients, septoria resistance and water-logging resistance.
The VICCI aims to address four challenges that have been identified in Ireland’s main tillage crops, namely:
- Nutrient use efficiency;
- Abiotic stress tolerance (breeding crops that are tolerant to cold and flooding);
- Disease resistance;
- Irish adaptation (breeding crops that are adapted to Ireland, and can address specific needs of Irish agriculture).
The event will be open to visitors from 11:00am and it is scheduled to run until 6:00pm. Teagasc has said that all tillage farmers and others involved in the sector are welcome to attend.