11 Apr 2016
Animal Productivity Starts with Quality Grass Seed
From April 04-07 “Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development” (CARD) Foundation within “ADA Animal Health Management” project hosted Dr. Lex van der Weerd, the export manager of “Barenbrug”, which is a Dutch company specialized in breeding of grasses and forage legumes. It has its 18 operating companies and 29 branches in 6 continents and is considered the 2nd biggest grasseed company worldwide.
The collaboration between CARD Foundation and “Barenbrug” company has existed since 2011. In 2012 CARD director Mr. Gagik Sardaryan and Cattle Breeding Project Consultant Mr. Arman Ohanyan paid a visit to the Netherlands, to discuss further collaboration possibilities and get introduced to the company on location. Starting from 2012 CARD AgroService CJSC has imported forage legumes from “Barenbrug” and a number of forage trials have been carried out with positive results.
This was Dr. Lex van der Weerd’s first visit to Armenia, which included meetings with CARD Foundation and CARD AgroService Director Mr. Gagik Sardaryan, Animal Health and Husbandry Department, as well as with Gagik Tovmasyan, professor from Armenian Agrarian University, also a consultant for different projects in Armenia for pasture renovation and management. During the meetings the possibilities of importing new products for establishing demo sites in Armenia were discussed, and a consultation on the organization of trials was provided.
On April 06 Dr. Lex van der Weerd conducted a training for Farm and Veterinary Service Center managers on “Fodder production, best practices of cultivation” and made a presentation of Milkway, Lucerne and other permanent grassland products. After the meeting a visit was organized to Artashavan Farm and Veterinary Service Center for better understanding the grassland situation in Armenia.