Fairs and other events

The XIII International Agricultural Exhibition, AGRO SHOW 2011, was held in Bednary, Poland on 23-26 September 2011. 690 exhibitors were present at the show including 80 companies from diverse countries in Europe, spanning an exhibition area of over 130 000 square metres.40 agricultural machines were on show for public viewing at the event. This year's exhibition was visited by 125 000 farmers from across Poland. Polish Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki attended the show. For more details and for the official website of the show, please click here.

DG Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission was present at the fair, with the ENRD exhibiting five EU co-financed rural development projects. These werepresented by their beneficiaries who explained their project, how they obtained EU funding and the results achieved. All projects were related to tried and tested farming techniques and included the presentation of a project displaying new dairy farming techniques for the production of blue cheese, a young farmer growing vegetables in a greenhouse environment, and a project on an automated system for the harvesting of stone fruits. Please see selected project examples exhibited below.

Between the project presentations there were tasting sessions set up for participants to taste the cheese produced by the projects.

Selected Project Profiles:

1. The introduction of new technology and techniques in dairy farming

This project was funded under Measure 123 with the objective of purchasing machinery for the manufacture of dairy products, specialized means of transport and the development of production lines for veined cheese. The beneficiary is a dairy cooperative in Nowe Skalmierzyce, Southern Poland in the region of Wielkopolskie which was initially created by farmers and milk producers in 1959. Modeled on the French cheese Roquefort, the blue cheese was given the Polish name of Rokpol.

The project has developed a fully automated line for the cycle of cheese production which lasts a full six hours. While preserving the traditional 50-year old cheese-making tradition, this project allowed the farmer to reduce losses during manufacture and decrease the cost of production.

2. Project by young farmer to start growing vegetables in greenhouse conditions

This project, funded under Measure 112 enabled a farm to construct two polytunnels which meant vegetables are able to be grown under cover.

The farmer decided to grow vegetables under cover in order to increase revenue. The financial support from the project enabled him to build two tunnels of 210 square metres each in which he is able to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. The project funding also paid for the purchase of a drip irrigation system for the farm. This shielding is particularly beneficial for thermophilous plants such as tomatoes and cucumbers as this method of cultivation provides them with conditions for growth with less manual effort needed. The construction of the tunnels allowed the harvest to be accelerated to up to 2 months.

3. Fruit Harvesting Optimisation

This project funded by Measure 112 had the objective of cleaning mechanically, harvested fruits with stones and pips including the fruits cherry, plum and currant. The beneficiary was a farm based in the Polish region of Lodzkie.

The funding enabled a farmer to buy the machinery needed to clean and harvest the fruits. The purchase of the unit supported the employment of five people. Depending on the efficiency of the crew, the yield from one tree can be collected in 1 to 1.5 minutes.