Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

Domestic experts, specialists from the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, and representatives of research institutions in agro-agricultural practice presented the view of the challenges faced by the agro-sector. Slovakia is a rural country and if it is to prosper, it must rely on its own viable agriculture, plant and animal production, experts agreed.

The event was opened by the Dean of FAFR Professor Marko Halo. Two fundamental topics were discussed, namely the necessity of connecting the academic sphere with practice and the return of animal breeding and crop production to our country. "The university must connect high-quality theoretical teaching with the needs of practice, provide students with the opportunity to gain valuable experience already during their studies. Our agriculture needs young people with a passion for the land, animals, simply for management. This is the only way we can produce high-quality food, animal and plant products for our everyday table," emphasized the dean.

According to Peter Juhász, director of the Department of Livestock Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, the main challenges facing the agricultural sector include climate change, fragmented ownership of agricultural land, a lack of quality labor, and overcoming a number of extremely ambitious, often unrealistic environmental requirements. Rising costs, unresolved problems in trade policy, as well as disproportionate administrative burdens are also a problem, which have ultimately led to subsistence problems for many farmers.

The chairman of the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Andrej Gajdoš, also emphasized the problem of reducing the competitiveness of farmers as a result of imports of agricultural production from third countries, as well as other impacts of imports from Ukraine.

Štefan Ryba, Director of the Slovak Breeding Services in Bratislava, gave an overview of the direction of livestock breeding in Slovakia. "For the period of 2016-2020, there was a 1.5 percent decrease in the state of farm animals in Slovakia, in the last three years until 2023 it was almost nine percent. There are several reasons, but the main one is that the farmer did not feel secure and could not do long-term planning," said Ryba. However, the productivity progressed significantly, which today is 9198 kg per dairy cow for the lactation (305-day) period. Over the past 12 years, the increase in efficiency has been 30 percent. "It is ideal when the company is dedicated to plant and animal production, in order to ensure food sovereignty in Slovakia," the director emphasized.

At the conference, they presented in seven sections, according to the focus of the activities of the FAFR institutes, traditional as well as the most modern methods and elements that bring about the development of the agricultural sector. In one of the sections, they presented, for example, innovative possibilities for supporting the production of field crops and monitoring stands. "We presented new methods of support based on the application of innovative nanofertilizers that we are developing, as well as the application possibilities of super absorbent polymers. We also presented the way we monitor the impact of new products on plants, especially drone-based. Our workplace reflects all these most modern trends," informed the assistant professor of the Institute of Plant Production FAFR Dávid Ernst.