Horticulture and gardening technology enthusiasts converged on the Troja Demonstration and Research Station in Prague on August 30, 2023 for the Hortibotic Field Day.
The event, organized by the Department of Horticulture of the Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources of ČZU and the Department of Agricultural Machinery of the Technical Faculty of ČZU, offered a rich program full of interesting facts and innovations in the growing of vegetables, fruit, flowers, vines and mushrooms.
The event was opened by the organizers who were followed by the university Rector, Prof. Petr Sklenička, and the FAPPZ Dean, Prof. Josef Soukup, who, in their introductory speeches assured those present of continued support for horticultural disciplines and for our unique facility in Troja. Later, visitors had an opportunity to tour the facility, guided by horticulture experts from ČZU. The tour guides presented various research topics to the attendees as well as showing and discussing a range of fruit tree varieties and also traditional and rare fruit and vegetable species. The demonstration of edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation was popular with the attendees in accordance to the ongoing trends. However, the field day winner was the presentation of agricultural robots and drones by technology developers and companies. Event attendees saw innovation in action and had an opportunity to operate the robots hands-on!
The event concluded in the afternoon with a tasting of numerous culinary delicacies made from fruit and vegetables. In spite of the poor weather, the event was a success and brought inspiration and information about modern gardening trends to the public. Czech Television broadcast several live entries directly from the Troja facility and Czech Radio produced a short report about the event.
If you have missed out on the Hortibotic Field Day event, there’s some good news: The gates of the Troja Demonstration and Research Station in Prague will be open to the public once again next year. Come and see for yourself how interesting gardening can be!
Photo. I. Jablonský, V. Mikšík
