The economic value of grassland products

benefits of grasses. Social benefits can be of a very wide scale, as they are basically related to the question “How useful are they for humans?”. The approaches of economists and grassland farmers are not contradictory; in fact, they complement each other well. To answer the three questions raised by economists, grassland farmers need to determine the details of major grassland uses and the interdisciplinary correlations of their benefits. In exploring what the major factors of grass utilization are, we first studied their benefits by looking at how they are utilized. The benefits of grasses can be classified as follows: a) They provide forage for grazing animals and thus make vegetation suitable for human consumption. Animals transform vegetation and produce e.g. milk, meat and wool for human consumption and use. b) They have developed a natural environment of vegetations where medicinal plants and herbs can be collected and used for human consumption. c) Their surface cover protects life-giving soils and croplands from the harmful effects of natural disasters and human intervention, erosion and deflation. d) They provide a natural environment for smaller-larger animal species living on them, maintaining and ensuring the potentials of biodiversity. e) They keep not only surface soils, but croplands in suitable conditions, as well. Grasses are specially related to soils: dead plant residues generate humus, which promotes the formation of different soil structures. The fibrous root system of grasses directly advances the formation of soil structures. f) In our direct human environment, they contribute to “human aesthetics” and relaxation. A beautiful lawn enhances the friendliness of our environment, the value of the scenery that we directly see. g) They are natural areas for doing sports, recreation activities (e.g. football fields) by the construction of manmade sports grounds in urban areas or by transforming the natural environment (golf courses). h) In the form of a naturally generated “biomass” or established culture (energy grass), they are renewable energy sources for humans. i) They directly ensure numbers of entrepreneurs (enterprises) enough to live on, as entrepreneurs produce (grass) seeds or give advice on grasses. Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce – APSTRACT Agroinform Publishing House, Budapest SCIENTIFIC PAPERS