Publication Date

1997

Location

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Description

All too soon we are to draw down the curtains on the XVIII International Grassland Congress and it is my pleasure and honour to contribute to the closing statements of this historic event, the first of its kind in Canada and one to bring us to the end of the present millennium as we as set the stage for the next. I do this on behalf of my colleagues in Africa, Asia and South America.

The thirty themes and the nearly 2000 technical presentations underscore the growing complexity of the role of our grasslands in shaping the general well-being of mankind.

The XIX Congress in Brazil in 2001 will no doubt shift the frontiers of knowledge even further in the quest for sustainable use of our grassland resources.

Mr. Chairman, I make my address from a developing country perspective because the bulk of tropical pastures occurs in this region characterized by how per capita income (less than US $500), a complex agro-ecology from humid to arid grasslands, very fragile grasslands and, especially for Africa, a general food deficit, an increasing pressure on the grasslands and a generally poor awareness of the need to invest in the grasslands as a sustainable commodity for livestock agriculture within the context of a traditional grassland based ruminant livestock production.

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The XVII International Grassland Congress and Challenges for the Future of Tropical Grasslands: A Developing Country Perspective

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

All too soon we are to draw down the curtains on the XVIII International Grassland Congress and it is my pleasure and honour to contribute to the closing statements of this historic event, the first of its kind in Canada and one to bring us to the end of the present millennium as we as set the stage for the next. I do this on behalf of my colleagues in Africa, Asia and South America.

The thirty themes and the nearly 2000 technical presentations underscore the growing complexity of the role of our grasslands in shaping the general well-being of mankind.

The XIX Congress in Brazil in 2001 will no doubt shift the frontiers of knowledge even further in the quest for sustainable use of our grassland resources.

Mr. Chairman, I make my address from a developing country perspective because the bulk of tropical pastures occurs in this region characterized by how per capita income (less than US $500), a complex agro-ecology from humid to arid grasslands, very fragile grasslands and, especially for Africa, a general food deficit, an increasing pressure on the grasslands and a generally poor awareness of the need to invest in the grasslands as a sustainable commodity for livestock agriculture within the context of a traditional grassland based ruminant livestock production.