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Environment

Wiedemeier P., Duelli P.

Ecological compensation areas to enhance beneficial arthropods

Ecological compensation areas in agriculture not only have to enhance biodiversity of rare and threatend species, but also support biological control of agricultural pests by increasing the diversity and abundance of beneficial arthropods. This is of particularly importance for integrated production (IP) and biological farming. Our investigations show that almost all spiders and predatory beetles…
Environment

Spiess E.

Nitrogen and phosphorus balances of Swiss agriculture between 1975 and 1995 Are outdoor pigs a groundwater hazard?

The nutrient balances of the Swiss agriculture were calculated for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) for all the years between 1975 and 1995 on the basis of the farmgate balance, a comparison between nutrient input into agriculture and output from agriculture. Nitrogen surplus amounted to about 124‘000 t N and 116 kg N/ha agricultural used…
Environment

Weisskopf P., Zihlmann U., Wiermann C., Horn R., Anken T., Diserens E.

Influences of ploughing on soil structure

“In a field trial it was investigated whether soil can be tilled more considerate with onland ploughing (all four wheels of the tractor run on the untilled soil surface) than with conventional ploughing (two wheels of the tractor run in the furrow). As expected conventional ploughing caused the highest soil stress at 35 cm depth,…
Environment

Zihlmann U., Weisskopf P., Dubois D., Tschachtli R.

Soil structure of an integrated, a conventional and a low input farming system

The objective of the long-term project of Burgrain, on a mixed farm near Lucerne (Switzerand), is to compare integrated, conventional and low input farming systems taking agronomical, economical and ecological characteristics into consideration. Since 1992 soil tilth has been characterized every year by spade diagnostics and measurements of aggregate stability. The quality of the soil…
Environment

Ballmer T., Hebeisen T., Winiger F.A.

Control of seed-borne snow mould (Gerlachia nivalis) of winter wheat with warm wate Use of oil for reducing virus Y infection in seed potatoes

In 3-year plot and field experiments, the effect of Telmion, a canola oil, on the PVY-transmission by aphids was investigated. Telmion applications all 10 days reduced PVY infections between 30 and 60 %, independent of aphid density and weather conditions. The oil-treated plants of seed potatoes showed a slight yield reduction of 3 to 10…
Environment

Rüegg K., Lüscher A., Hartwig U.A., Nösberger J., Rüegger A.

Elevated atmospheric CO2 affects seed production of grassland species

Seed yield and quality of pure stands of five perennial grassland species were tested at elevated atmospheric CO2 (60 Pa) in a three year field experiment. Four species showed a trend to increased seed production, while Plantago lanceolata L. produced a reduced number of seeds. Tests on seed quality revealed that the germination rate was…
Environment

Candinas T., Chassot G.M., Besson J.-M.

Swiss sewage sludge quality has improved

The sewage sludge quality is intensively monitored since 20 years in Switzerland. The nutrient content did not change much. However, nutrient loads increased with increasing sewage sludge production. The content of heavy metals decreased considerably. For most metals the load decreased too. The knowledge about content and loads of organic pollutants is still inadequate.
Environment

Bienz U., Menzi H., Frossard E.

Production and composition of horse manure

The production and composition of horse manure was studied with on farm experiments as well as balance calculations. The results should provide the basis of the revision of the corresponding guide values. Balance calculations were done for riding horses, mares and colts of different age. Animal weight, amount of straw used for litter and hours…
Environment

Schubiger F.X., Bosshard H.-R., Briner H., Lehmann J.

Recovery of slurry mitrogen in grass-clover mixtures

The percentage recovery of fertilizer nitrogen (cattle slurry and ammonium nitrate) in the harvested herbage of grass-clover mixtures, cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), perennial rye-grass (Lolium perenne L.)and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) were investigated. The mean amount of N in the yield of grass-clover mixtures (five cuts per year), which were fertilized with 150 kg…
Environment

Dubois D., Gunst L., Fried P.M., Stauffer W., Spiess E., Mäder P., Alföldi T., Fliessbach A., Frei R., Niggli U.

DOC-trial: yields and energy use efficiency

Between 1978 and 1998 a bio-dynamic, a bio-organic and a conventional farming system were compared in the DOC-field-trial on a luvisol on Loess at Therwil, Switzerland. Nutrient input (N, P, K) in organic systems was about 50 % lower than in the conventional system. Yields of marketable potatoes showed the strongest reduction after conversion to…
Environment

Krebs H., Jäggi W.

Effect of plant extracts against the bacterial soft rot of potatoes: Erwinia carotovora Flora and Fauna n industrial crops

In a series of experiments some essential oils and a water extract of hemp flowers have been tested against the bacterial pathogen of potatoes Erwinia carotovora (Helmers et Dowson) Dye. The extracts have been examined in vitro in a pure culture an in vivo on potatoes latently infected by the pathogen. In some cases the…
Environment

Bellini E., Schaffner D., Jeanneret P., Lips A., Fried P.M.

Influence of management practices and landscape location on ground dwelling spiders in wild flower strips

With the growing interest for wildflower strips in Switzerland, the questions of their management and optimal location become relevant. At one site (in Wermatswil ZH), we studied the impact of two different management practices (mowing and mulching) on spider populations. At the other site (in Rafzerfeld ZH), the influence of several environmental factors (structure and…
Environment

Zihlmann U., Weisskopf P.

Soil nitrogen dynamics after stone and clod windrowing (soil separation technique) in potato fields

We compared the effect of this new technique and of traditional seed bed preparation on soil nitrogen dynamics. The soil in this trial tended to stay in clods after seed bed preparation with a rotary harrow (traditional method). With the stone and clod windrowing technique, both clods and stones were separated from the fine soil…
Environment

Wyss G.S., Müller-Schärer H.

Biological control of weeds: tracking the resistance mechanisms

Quantitative resistance of Senecic vulgaris L. to the rust fungus Puccinia lagenophorae Cooke was investigated in terms of underlying mechanisms and relevance for biological weed control following the system management approach. The infection process of P. lagenophorae on S. vulgaris was studied by light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. The infection process was quantified using…
Environment

Chervet A., Stricker L.

Surface runoff of phosphorus – an evaluation model

“The Soil Protection Service of the canton of Berne is running a soil surveillance program since 1993. Its aim is to record the present condition of the soils and the further development of their fertility. The soil surveillance program serves to determine “”hot-spots””, where immediate action is to be taken, but even more it allows…
Environment

Bigler F., Jeanneret Ph., Lips A., Schüpbach B., Waldburger M., Fried P.

Evaluation of the impact of ecological measures in Swiss agriculture on biodiversity Evaluation of effects of ecological measures

“According to the Swiss Federal law on Agriculture (article 316), ecological subsidies”” are paid to farmers only if they respect special ecological rules on their farms. One of the major objectives of ecological measures is the conservation and increase of biodiversity in agricultural landscape. Five to seven percent of the land of each farm in…
Environment

Schaffner D., Keller S.M., Fried P.M.

Natural revegetation of set aside fields on fertile arable soils

Two set-aside plots were established by natural revegetation and by sowing a wildflower seed mixture at each of 13 sites on fertile arable soils of the Swiss plateau.<br>The objectives were to investigate whether species rich plant communities would develop on naturally revegetated fertile arable soils and whether problem weeds such as Cirsium arvense and Rumex…
Environment

Jossi W., Dubois D.

Yield loss by potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say and threshold value Effect of the soil separation technique in potato fields on earthworm population

“The injury caused by potato beetles is the defoliation of potato plants especially under warm and dry weather conditions. A single larva can destroy up to 40 to 50 cm’ of the leaf surface which corresponds to 1 % to 2 % of the leaf area of plants at the developmental stage appearance of blossom””.…
Environment

Forrer H.-R., Jenny E., Hecker A.

Intervention thresholds for Septoria tritici

In the last ten years, Septoria tritici (ST) become one of the most important wheat diseases in Switzerland. To develop economic and intervention thresholds, 33 different situations from ten field trials with natural infections were analysed. Swiss wheat cultivars of different resistances were analysed from 1993 to 1997. For the economic threshold, a value of…
Environment

Schaffner D., Schwab A., Zwimpfer T., Kappeler P.

Complex seed mixtures increase species diversity on wildflower strips

Wildflower strips, sown with different seed mixtures, were established on contrasting soil types of arable land on the Swiss plateau. The objectives were to develop seed mixtures which support plant species diversity on wildflower strips over a considerable period of time, and to investigate factors which could potentially cause a decrease in species diversity. After…
Environment

Denoth F., Egli M., Allgöwer B.

Soil surveillance in the canton of Berne (Switzerland) – first results

The presented, GIS-based model classifies the loss of phosphorus due to surface runoff in agricultural ecosystems. The proposed modelling approach employs the following fundamental data: a detailed soil map, a map on land use, and the digital elevation model. The required maps and a voluminous data base was available for the Lippenrütibach basin, where the…
Environment

Winter W., Bänziger I., Rüegger A., Krebs H.

Warm water seed-treatment realised in the practice for the control of the seed-borne snow mould in summer-wheat

In Switzerland, one of the most important seed-borne fungal pathogens of wheat is Gerlachia nivalis (=Fusarium nivale, snow mould). A warm water seed treatment under practical conditions against G. nivalis-naturally infected summer-wheat seed, was compared with a laboratory warm water treatment and a chemical dressing in field and laboratory experiments. For the warm water treatment…
Environment

Rüegger A., Winter W., Bänziger I.

Seed health tests on organic farming cereal seed

For organic farming, the use of chemically treated seed is not permitted. Therefore the untreated seed should be free from heavy contamination by pathogens. Since 1995, seed health tests were performed from organic farming seed lots. Based on threshold values for Fusarium Nivale (snow mould), Septoria nodorum (damping-off) and Tilletia caries (common bunt), a recommendation…

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