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Plant production

Hiltbrunner J., Buchmann U., Vogelgsang S., Gutzwiller A., Ramseier H.

Grain sorghum – an arable crop with attractive properties, as yet unknown in Switzerland

With 40.5 million hectares under cultivation, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is the world’s fifth-most important arable crop. Although primarily cultivated in warmer regions, the area devoted to this crop in Europe has increased over the past few years – among other things because sorghum produces attractive yields even when little water is available. In order…
Agricultural economics

Mann S., Ferjani A., Zimmermann A.

How secure is food security?

After the positive experience of expanding domestic production to the maximum in order to safeguard the food supply in the Second World War, greater importance has been attached to crop planning and storage for crisis situations in Switzerland than in neighbouring countries. The emergence of operational research meant that systems for the sole purpose of…
Environment

Knauer K., Félix O.

Pesticides and surface water: practical protective measures

Plant protection products are applied to farmed land to protect crops from harmful organisms. From there, they might be transported via drift and run-off to adjacent habitats. For the active substances, regulatory acceptable concentrations (RAC) for aquatic organisms are determined during the authorization process. As part of the process of assessing the environmental risk, these…
Plant production

Mosimann E., Meisser M., Deléglise C., Jeangros B.

Forage potential of the Jura pastures

The next land reform will force farmers to maximize the use of local feed resources. In the Jura, the heterogeneity of natural conditions drives to a variety of plant associations with specific production potential, often difficult to assess. Methods have been tested in plains and mountain regions to learn more about yield variability of the…

Determined and estimated nutritive value of chicory, birdsfoot trefoil and sainfoin

The assessment of the nutritional value of plants rich in condensed tannins (CT) stems from the models predicting the normal nutritional value. In order to verify the effects, this study compares the nutritional value of chicory (cychorium intybus), sainfoin (onobrychis viciifolia) and lotus (lotus corniculatus) obtained with data determined using animals (in vivo, in sacco)…
Environment

Schrade S., Keck M.

Ammonia from cattle housing systems: development of emissions in Switzerland

Annual livestock numbers, the distribution of livestock housing systems and NH3 emission factors were used to calculate ammonia emissions (NH3) from cattle farming for the years 1990 to 2020. Emission factors for loose housing with outdoor exercise areas were computed using a model-based calculation based on emission measurements from six dairy housing systems, milk urea…
Plant production

Kuster M., Herzog F., Rehnus M., Sorg J.-P.

Innovative agroforestry systems – on-farm monitoring of opportunities and limitations

Agriculture will undergo ecological intensification. Agroforestry systems which combine woody plants with arable crops and/or grassland provide ecological as well as economic benefits. One the one hand, agroforestry systems are characterised by higher overall productivity. On the other, they are expected to provide improved resource conservation and contribute to enhanced biodiversity. Whether this potential can…
Plant production

Schumpp O., Berger V., Remolif E., Messerli B., Frei P., Monod M., Wolfender J.L., Gindro K.

Antifungal properties of plants exposed to UV irradiation

When exposed to stress, plants produce protective compounds. These molecules contribute to their adaptation to environmental changes and to resistance to microbial attacks. Some fungal phytopathogenic species, especially those belonging to the Fusarium group, are also able to develop diseases in humans. In order to identify new sources of antifungal molecules of pharmacologic or agronomic…
Plant production

Sanvido O., Hippe C., Bergamin L.

Evaluating occupational health risks in the approval process of plant protection products

Plant protection products (PPP) have become an important production factor in many agricultural cultivation systems without which the high quality and output of agricultural products cannot be guaranteed. On the other hand however, PPP often have dangerous properties, and can therefore only be brought into circulation in Switzerland once they have been approved by the…
Plant production

Suter D., Hirschi H., Frick R., Aebi P.

Perennial ryegrass: 62 cultivars put to the test

From 2009 through 2011, Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW tested 62 cultivars of perennial ryegrass, including 45 new cultivars. Yield, vigour, juvenile development, competitive ability, persistence, winter hardiness, resistance to leaf diseases and bacterial wilt, digestible organic matter content and suitability for higher altitudes were investigated. Of the early-to-mid-early varieties, «Algira», «Arcturus» and…
Animal production

Arrigo Y., Stoll P.

Estimate of the nutritive value of maize silage

In order to check and improve the prediction of their nutritive value, 12 maize silages were studied as a supplement to the previous trials. Two varieties (Amadeo and LG32,52) were harvested at three different stages over the course of two years. The silages were studied to determine organic-matter digestibility (OMD) in the case of sheep,…