Archive
106 posts
Percolation and yield of different crop rotations
During seven years (April 1993 – March 2000), the effect of different crop rotations, grass-clover mixture, Miscanthus, and lay, on the amount of percolate and nitrate leaching to groundwater was investigated in lysimeters (1 m2 surface, 1.4 m depth) filled with a weakly humic, loamy sand (ortic luvisol). The experimental layout, and data for yield,…
Biodiversity: dynamic, precious, and worthy of conservation
Biodiversity, the diversity of life at all scales, is a characteristic feature of our planet and a precondition for human life. However, only during the last two decades biodiversity has become an important research topic. Scientific projects deal with the measurement of biodiversity, the factors that affect biodiversity and with effects biodiversity itself has on…
Field inspections 2000
The field inspections for seed certification of cereals, hybrid maize, grain legumes, red clover and forage grasses were carried out on 8‘945 ha in 2000. In cereals 92,5 % of the registered area was admitted during field inspection, 2,1 % was refused and 5,4 % was withdrawn from field inspection. Hail damage, presence of other…
Growth, fertility and culling reasons in dairy heifers and primiparous cows
On a group of 95 heifers of the Fleckvieh / Red Holstein and Brown Swiss breeds, growth, fertility and first lactation culling decisions werde studied. Calf rearing, feeding and housing were according to current practice in Switzerland. The heifers were first bred relatively late, at 20,3 months average. When subdivided by calving age, the growth…
Patents, Plant Breeders' Rights and Farmers' Rights
At present, Farmers’ Rights are, in contrast to patents and plant breeders’ rights, not an operational mechanism to protect genetic resources. One of the aims of the ongoing revision of the “International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources” (International Undertaking) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations is the further realisation of…
Influence of potassium supply on the release radiocesium from the roots of vine plants
The foliar uptake of radioactive cesium (134Cs) by selected leaves of grape vine plants and the subsequent redistribution within the plants was examined under controlled conditions in a greenhouse. The radionuclide was applied as chloride. The plants were grown in glass containers with nutrient solution. Samples of plants and nutrient media were analyzed throughout the…
Wheat in feed for broilers
In order to gather data about the quality of wheat, especially for broiler feeding, a study covering the 1999 Swiss harvest was performed with the help of the major interested circles. Wheat quality data is essentially based on their baking ability, which criteria are used to classify the lots. Wheat of good baking quality in…
Swiss List 2001-2002 of recommended varieties of forage plants, Variation factors of the nutritive value of silage maize
In the years 1997 to 1999 we tested 45 varieties of Lolium multiflorum var. Italicum and 24 varieties of Lolium x hybridum at five different experimental sites. All varieties were grown in pure stands and in mixture with red clover. The parameters assessed were forage yield, juvenile growth, competing ability, resistance to diseases, digestibility and…
Influence of two levels of potassium on mineral metabolism and selected metabolism parameters of dairy cows
In a feeding trial set up as a 2 x 2 factorial design, the effect of 30 g and 40 g of potassium per kg of DM in a diet containing 100 % or 200 % of Swiss sodium recommendations on mineral metabolism and on selected parameters of 12 dairy cows was investigated. The desired…
Cow`s milk, whey and a high fibre diet for weaned piglets
The effects of supplementing the diet with either milk or whey during the first few days after weaning at four to six weeks of age on disease incidence and growth performance was studied in herd with a high incidence of coliform diarrhoea and enterotoxaemia. In the first trial the 90 piglets of the two experimental…
Corvus and Pica: two new red clover cultivars of the persistent Mattenklee type
Two new red clover cultivars, CORVUS and PICA, of the persistent “Mattenklee” type are being released in Switzerland. They have been selected for being less aggressive in mixtures. Their first year yield is slightly lower than that of the known “Mattenklee” cultivars. However, they have an excellent level of resistance against stem nematodes, powdery mildew…
Sustainable and competitive fruit production: a challenge for the production chain and for research
Fruit growers aim to produce fruit economically and in an environmentally friendly way. Research should find the relevant solutions. Moreover, the framework of agricultural politics and the increasingly open markets are strong challenges for the fruit industry. The following examples will give an insight into the activities of the Federal Research Station Wädenswil: apple breeding…
Varietal diversity in horticulture
New vegetable varieties must be grown at different regional sites to evaluate their specific potential with respect to time and duration of the harvesting period, their yield and quality. Additionally, cultivars with resistance or tolerance to pests and/or pathogen must be tested under defined conditions in the field. In future, more information is needed on…
Vegetable quality dependent upon plant protection measures
The evaluation and registration of pesticides, new solutions to urgent problems in minor crops, as well as prognosis and recommended measures services are important requisites for a sustainable vegetable production. The examples of the carrot fly, the cabbage root fly and the cutworm show that research in the field of host-plant selection and sexual behaviour…
