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86 posts
Chemische Kriegsführung zwischen Pilzen: ein Arsenal an bioaktiven Molekülen
Die Pilze der Gattung Fusarium sind gefährliche Krankheitserreger für Pflanzen und Menschen. Die Infektionen, die sie hervorrufen, sprechen schlecht auf herkömmliche Behandlungen an. In einem innovativen Ansatz prüfen Forschende Möglichkeiten, die chemischen Substanzen, die in der Kriegsführung zwischen Pilzen zum Einsatz kommen, zur Pilzbekämpfung in der Medizin wie auch in der Agronomie zu nutzen. Dieses…
Scarring of the outside flat in beef: determining one origin of this quality defect
Scarring of the Outside Flat’ is the expression used in Switzerland to designate a quality defect appearing on the main muscle used to produce dried meat, the Biceps femoris or gluteobiceps. This problem, already known for decades and now clearly increasing, was still yet not explained. This led the inter-branch organisation for meat to award…
Standard Output Coefficients for Swiss Agriculture
From 2010, standard output is used to classify farms within the framework of the Farm Accountancy Data Network of the European Union. As a monetary variable, standard output describes the average monetary value of agricultural production at producer prices. To make it still possible to compare the accountancy results of Swiss agriculture with those of…
Phytosanitary practices in a arable farms network from 1992 to 2004
This study, realized on a network of pilot farms animated by AGRIDEA in the French part of Switzerland and in Ticino aims to provide global information about the evolution of phytosanitary practices in arable crops. The assessment of practices focusses on the number of interventions in each crop, the number of applications and the quantity…
Determination of nitrogen fertilization standards for arable crops
This paper explains the principle of economically optimal N-fertilisation (Nopt). This principle allows the quantitative derivation of N-fertilisation standards based on N-fertilisation trials. The optimum level of N-fertilisation thus found represents a good compromise between the economic and ecological aims of arable farming. Within the framework of the ‘Principles of Fertilisation in Arable and Forage-Crop…
In vitro production of potato microtubers: effect of culture duration
The in vitro production of potato microtubers was carried out through several stages: at first microplant growth, then initiation of stolon followed by tuber formation (or tuberization). During the last stage, it is possible to develop high quality microtubers in terms of weight and size. However, after examination, the quality of plant material produced in…
News von Agroscope Forschungsprogrammen
Après deux ans et demi d’existence, les programmes de recherche d’Agroscope lancés en 2008 dégagent toujours plus de résultats au niveau des différents projets. Parallèlement, les projets incorporés dans les programmes engendrent de premiers produits de synthèse. Outre les activités de recherche en cours, le développement des programmes a débuté en tenant compte du Programme…
Effect of cattle excreta on leaching losses under a grass sward
Urine and dung of dairy cattle have been applied for two years at two periods of the year and in single or double quantity on a grass sward to assess nutrients losses by leaching. The total nitrogen losses varied from 18 to 226 kg/ha/year. Treatments without excreta or with dung applications led to N losses…
Improving Nitrogen Efficiency via Slurry Treatment
Over the last few decades, intensified agricultural production has greatly increased fluxes of nitrogen (N) between different compartments of the biosphere, and more specifically, emissions of N compounds from agroecosystems. Agriculture is one of the main emitters of N compounds (e.g. ammonia, nitrate, nitrous oxide) whith negative impact on the environment like greenhouse-gas emissions and…
Pesticides risk assessment for aquatic ecosystem
The analyse of environmental risks aims to protect water, soils and the air so that the organisms living in these ecosystems do not suffer an unacceptable level of damage. To analyse the effects of plant protection substances in rivers and streams, studies focus on typical small waters adjacent to farmland. Risk assessment is based on…
Fat and fatty acids in preserved forages
This article shows the difference in fat and fatty acid levels between preserved forages and grass. Grass was harvested from the same plot of land at two different stages (30 days apart) over three years and stored using six different processes. 42 samples were analysed by extraction using petroleum ether for fat and by gas…
Close neighbourhood of nesting sites and foraging habitats enhances a diverse fauna of native bees
Native bees are essential pollinators of wild and crop plants providing high ecological and economical benefits. However, half of the 600 native bee species of Switzerland are endangered. Ongoing soil sealing and intensification of agricultural land use result in fewer suitable nesting sites and foraging habitats, which is expected to force female bees to cover…
Varietal tests of hybrid ryeggrass and meadow foxtail (2007-2009)
From 2007 through 2009 the Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW research stations tested in total 29 varieties of hybrid ryegrass and 8 varieties of meadow foxtail in comparative variety trials at five locations. All varieties were grown in pure stands and in mixture with clover. The parameters assessed were forage yield, juvenile development,…
Quarantine nematodes in Swiss vegetable growing
Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are the most important group of plant-parasitic nematodes in Switzerland causing significant problems in vegetable production areas. The most common root-knot nematode species is Meloidogyne hapla, followed by the tropical and subtropical species M. incognita, M. arenaria and M. javanica, which are found in greenhouses only. In surveys conducted in the…
Attitudes to strategies of high-output and full-time grazing
Two focus group discussions were conducted with milk producers about their motives and attitudes to both “high output” and “full-time grazing” feeding strategies and analyzed through grounded theory qualitative method. The study was designed to determine the factors which guide farm managers in their choice of feeding strategy. Although the analysis gives an insight of…
Swiss Plateau agrometeorological conditions from 1864 to 2050
Climate change will affect the agrometeorological conditions for crop and forage farming also in Switzerland. This can improve conditions for agricultural production but also increase weather-related risks. In this context, agrometeorological indices can help to better understand the interactions between crops and climate and thus serve as a basis for the development of adaptation strategies.…
Stability of silages for horses during feeding
Since some years, hay in horse diets has been partly replaced by silage with high dry matter contents, also known as haylage. There remain still some questions concerning the stability of haylage as well as the conditions during storage. In this context, the influence of dry matter (DM)-content and the addition of (oder a) silage…
Silage additives and aerobic stability: test results 2009
Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP investigated the efficacy of the silage additives Fireguard and Sil-EM for the improvement of aerobic stability in maize silages. Beside a negative control without additives, a positive control with Luprosil was also tested. The trials were conducted with maize cv. Amadeo, harvested at 32 % and 40 % dry matter…
