This publication contains the proceedings of a seminar on 'Production
and Utilization of Protein in Oilsead Crops', held at Braunschweig from
8 to 10 July, 1980. The meeting was held under the auspices of the
Commission of the European Communities, as part of the EEC Common
Research Programme on Plant Protein Improvement. Methods for the
intensive production of meat and milk have been adopted to an increasing
extent in EEC coun±ries over the past two decades, their success is
based on animal diets of high quality, balanced for energy and protein
contents. The substantial improvements in cereal yields in EEC over this
period has kept pace with the increasing demand for dietary energy in
concentrated animal foodstuffs, but provision of the necessary protein
supplementation has required ever-increasing imports of soybean
products. Grain legumes and oilseed meals are the two main sources of
concentrated protein for the animal feeds industry, and there is an
urgent need for increased EEC production of both. Seminars on grain
legumes have been held at regular intervals since 1976; the meeting at
Braunschweig, now reported, was the first to consider in detail the
potential contribution from oilseed crops suitable for EEC conditions.
Local arrangements for the seminar were made by Professor Dr. M.
Dambroth, Dr. C. Sommer, and their colleagues at the Institut fUr
Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzuchtung, Braunschweig - Volkenr6de.