XII Congress of ESA 20 – 24 August 2012 Helsinki, Finland 1

Finnish agriculture – between lakes and forests

farms (down from since joining EU in 1995) Average size 33.5 ha arable land + 48 ha forests Total 2.2 M ha arable land ‒ 10% set-aside ‒ 29% pasture, silage, hay, fodder ‒ 51% barley, oat, wheat, rye ‒ 10% ALL other crops Short growing season (May – August) Winter reduces some pests, pathogens 4 Basic statistics

At the edge of Europe: seasons are short, days are long, interesting for modellers At the edges with related sciences: genetics, pathology, economics At the cutting edge: Adaptation to climate change, introduction of new crops and cropping systems 5 Possible theme: Agronomy at the edge

Crops get many hours of sunlight

International acid-sulphate soil conference Legume Futures: legume-supported cropping systems for Europe (FP7 project) Others? Possible joint hosts NJF (Nordic agricultural science association) SMTS (Finnish agricultural science association) 7 Joint sessions

Crop adaptation to high latitudes; stresses; daylength Modelling Yield gap (Nordic-Baltic region has a large yield gap!) Management of novel crops (part of adaptation to climate change) Frontiers with related sciences: biotechnology, economy, breeding, technology, ecology Crop protection Legume-supported rotations Acid-sulphate soils Farming and cropping systems Soil microbiology & soil-plant interactions Extension and education Agroecology, environmental impacts 8 Possible session themes Ecological intensificationModelling

Plant- and crop-level agronomists Soil scientists Tillage scientists Agricultural technologists And possibly pathologists, geneticists, economists and others from allied disciplines Several ”willing” PhD students will be volunteered to help 9 Local scientific committee includes

Volunteers or nominees for the (international) Scientific Committee Suggestions or nominations for invited speakers 10 Input needed!!!!!!!!

Blue & White Conferences Oy Conference website will soon be openwebsitewww.esa12.fi Conference is 11 Conference organizers

University's Main Building Main Hall for opening and closing sessions 3 large auditoriums for concurrent sessions 3 large open spaces for posters, coffees & lunches 12 Conference location

4, 3 and 2 star hotels in the city centre Walking distance to conference venue Walking distance to main cultural centres 13 Conference hotels

Direct flights from: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga Most other European capitals Ferries from Estonia, Sweden, Germany Railway from Russia 14 Travel

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday 8-10 Registration Plenary session 2-3 parallel sessions Excursions: (1) MTT and Boreal Plant Breeding, Jokioinen 2-3 parallel sessions Closing plenary 12-13: lunch(2) Mixed farming systems, Mikkeli 14-17: parallel sessions (3) Horticulture & sugar beet, Piikkiö (4) Univ. facilities, Viikki General assembly Finishing by 15 University reception City receptionGala dinnerExcellent time to start a trip to Lapland 15 Possible timetable

World Design Capital, Helsinki and Lahti, events all year European Athletics Championships, Helsinki, 27 June – 1 July Helsinki Festival, 17 August – 6 Sept … and, according to an interpretation of an ancient Mayan calendar… the end of the world 16 Also in 2012 …

Post-conference or accompanying person tours

Welcome to Finland, August 2012!