Soccer’s elite now playing at three Brazilian stadiums during the 2014 FIFA World Cup are running, kicking and sliding across turfgrass developed at the University of Georgia.
Three stadiums including the Arena da Baixaida in Curitiba, Brazil, were outfitted in early June with TIfGrand, a hybrid bermudagrass developed jointly by UGA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s Agricultural Research Service.
One of TifGrand’s main selling points is durability, which is key during matches where cleated players tromp up and down the pitch for 90 minutes or more, often in wet conditions as seen during the USA versus Germany match. The turfgrass variety is also shade-tolerant, helping it deal with shadows cast over the pitch by the stadiums.
Georgia-grown turfgrass, mostly developed at the Tifton agricultural research center but licensed for use all over the world, is often deployed on golf courses and playing fields internationally.
“I’ve traveled around the world to 40 or 50 countries, and when you ask people how they know about Georgia, it will often be because our grasses are on a local golf course, or in a stadium or on a bowling lawn that they know about,” the UGA news service quoted crop and soil science professor Wayne Hanna as saying June 4. “UGA-bred bermudagrasses are grown on every continent except on Antarctica.”
While the World Cup is likely the grandest stage this green export will see, it will also help the state make its name known in China in July.
Georgia-grown turfgrass will be used to cover the ground in a pavilion at the International Horticultural Exhibition to be held in Qingdao, the coastal city where the state has its investment recruitment office. For more information on Georgia turf grass, click here.
