Financing of grassland habitats in the Slovak Republic in 2010–2016

Abstract The grasslands in the Slovak Republic are divided into 7 categories that have different way and conditions of management to protect and maintain them. From the area of 1,239,777 hectares of habitats in SR and payments per hectare, we calculated the amount of financial support that represents 130,265,701 € for the A-G habitats in 2010-2016. Based on the data about potential use of grassland habitats in livestock feeding (mountain meadows and alluvial meadows), the production potential of C 3.12 t.ha-1biotope E 4.25 t.ha-1of dry matter was calculated, as a result of 5-years long experiment of the Department of Grassland Ecosystems and Forage Crops of SUA in Nitra. We calculated the direct costs for the production of hay dry matter, which reached 116.78 €.ha-1in the meadows, and 71.11 €.ha-1in valleys. Direct costs per 1 hectare of hay dry production are with a support covered on 111.0% of mountain meadows and 74% of meadows. The annual value of ecosystem services of grassland habitats reached 579,789,008 €. Subsidies for permanent grassland habitats stimulate the economy of agricultural subjects and protect the biodiversity of permanent grasslands.