Exploring the Agricultural Landscape of Slovakia (Hrubý Šúr, Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou, Smolenice)

Exploring the Agricultural Landscape of Slovakia (Hrubý Šúr, Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou, Smolenice)

The excursion program will focus on the agricultural landscape of Slovakia, its evolution, changes, challenges, and current trends. The excursion route will lead through one of the most fertile areas of Slovakia – the Danube Lowland.

The first stop of the excursion is the small family farm Agrokruh (https://www.agrokruh.sk/). The owner of the farm developed innovative technology for vegetable growing. The AgroKruh system represents an ecological way of cultivating soil in circles using a support arm with individual spading and irrigation equipment.

The second farm we will visit is the Cooperative Farm Podielnicke družstvo v Hrnčiarovciach. It is a medium-sized farm that manages approximately 800 hectares of arable land. A significant part is located in the Úľanská Mokraď Special Protected Area of NATURA2000 network. During this stop, we will also visit the small local Museum of Socialist Agriculture, founded in 1973.

Next, we will visit the Congress Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences at Smolenice Castle (https://smolenickyzamok.sav.sk/en/). We will take a short tour of the castle, including a view of the surrounding landscape from the castle tower.

Pollinators, especially bees, are irreplaceable for the agricultural landscape. Therefore, the last stop of the excursion will be a visit to the Bee Garden and mead producer Včelovina (https://www.honeycraftmeadery.com/about-us/) in the village of Smolenice.