FIFTH EUROPEAN TURFGRASS SOCIETY CONFERENCE SUMMARY

"Turfgrass—Towards Sustainability and Perfection for Aesthetic, Recreational and Sports"

The Fifth European Turfgrass Society (ETS) Conference held in Salgados, Albufeira, Portugal, June 5-8, 2016, drew 115 participants, coming from 21 countries across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Many of the attendees gathered for this group photo outside the host hotel, the Salgados Palace Hotel.

By Carlos Guerrero

Te Fifth European Turfgrass Society (ETS) Conference, a biannual meeting, was held at the Salgados Palace Hotel in Salgados, Albufeira, Portugal, June 5-8, 2016, under the responsibility and organization of the University of Algarve. Te conference theme was "Turfgrass—Towards Sustainability and Perfection for Aesthetic, Recreation and Sports."

Te meeting aimed the share of knowledge, experiences, research results, data, ideas, services, and products advertising, among researchers, turfgrass specialists, and stakeholders towards sustainability and perfection for aesthetic, recreational and sports lawns.

Scientifically, this meeting was divided in seven main topics:

• Turfgrass genetics and breeding • Turfgrass and Landscape

• Turfgrass pests (diseases, insects, weeds)

• Technology advances and turfgrass maintenance

• Water Management • Turfgrass nutrition and physiology • Turfgrass for sports

Regarding the participation, despite the economic problems that most of us are facing nowadays, 115 participants were involved in this scientific program. Tese participants came from 21 countries, from Europe, America (North to South), Asia, Oceania and Africa.

TPI Turf News September/October 2016

Te first two days were dedicated to plenary sessions where more than 80 oral communications and posters were presented and discussed in those seven thematic sessions.

Te third day was a technical tour where sustainability was the main focus, respectively:

1) At a golf course which is totally irrigated with treated wastewater (Te Herdade dos Salgados golf course);

2) At a golf course project approved after a long environmental study has been done (Quinta da Ombria, Loulé); and

3) At a Bermudagrass sod farm.

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