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Plant production

Honegger A., Wittwer R., Hegglin D., Oberholzer H.-R., de Ferron A., Jeanneret P., Van der Heijden M.

Effects of many years of organic agriculture

More and more farmers consider to switch from conventional to organic production. What effect, then, does this have on yield and environmental performance? In particular, the question of how the duration of organic management affects plant yield, weed populations, biodiversity and soil fertility has rarely been investigated. To investigate this question, we compared 34 plots…
Environment

Aavik T., Bosshard D., Edwards P., Holderegger R., Billeter R.

Genetic and fitness consequences of using wildflower seed mixtures in ecological restoration

Wildflower seed mixtures are widely used for restoration in areas with impoverished species pools. However, the genetic and fitness consequences of using seed mixtures are often not considered in practical restoration. We studied the genetic characteristics of sown and naturally occurring populations of the grassland plant Lychnis flos-cuculi in an agricultural landscape in the Oberaargau…
Plant production

Kölliker R., Last L., Herzog F., Widmer F.

Genetic diversity in agriculture

Genetic diversity – the variety of genes and alleles within a species – constitutes the most basic level of biodiversity, and is an important prerequisite for productivity and sustainability in agricultural production systems. We have developed and applied various methods to determine genetic diversity on farms in Europe, Ukraine and Uganda. A questionnairebased survey conducted…
Plant production

Crole-Rees A., Nassar V., Schori A., Kessler W., Jeangros B.

Five ideas that have changed research in the cropping sector

Innovation is now a prerequisite for institutions aiming to maintain their competitiveness in a more and more liberalized economy. This is also true for agricultural research. One of the objective of ProfiCrops, the research program Agroscope, was to promote the innovation process leading to added value in the cropping sector. This article describes five ideas,…
Plant production

Meisser M., Deléglise C., Mosimann E., Signarbieux C., Mills R., Schlegel P., Buttler A., Jeangros B.

Effects of a severe drought on a permanent meadow in the Jura mountains

In order to determine the impacts of a severe summer drought on the agronomic value and diverse physiological and functional characteristics of a permanent meadow, a trial was carried out in 2012 on a mountain farm located in the Swiss Jura (1200 m). Two factors – management type (mowing vs grazing) and moisture (drought vs…
Environment

Schweizer S., Kauf P., Höhn H., Naef A.

Spraydrift – mitigation measures in field trials

Drug-containing droplets from the application of plant protection products (PPP) can be transported and deposited outside of the target area, which is called direct spray drift and affects adjacent waterbodies and other non-target areas. The environmental risk expected through spray drift of PPP is estimated as part of the authorization-process. If necessary, spray free buffer…
Plant production

Mosimann E., Deléglise C., Demenga M., Frund D., Sinaj S., Charles R.

Water availability and forage production in arable crops areas

A comparison trial between various feed strategies (crop rotation versus ley) was established in 2009 in the western part of Switzerland, at an altitude of 390 m. From 2010, two water regimes were tested, corresponding to the average annual amounts of 900 mm (local rainfall) and 1200 mm (additional water supply by drop irrigation). During…
Plant production

Rouffiange J., Gerardin D., Kellenberger I., Schaerer S., Dupuis B.

Potato susceptibility to aerial stem rot caused by Dickeya spp.

Dickeya dianthicola and ‘Dickeya solani’ are the most problematic bacteria in the Swiss seed-potato production. They are responsible for aerial stem rot symptoms in the field, usually named «blackleg». This study has two main objectives. On the one hand, to study the susceptibility of five cultivars, namely Agria, Victoria, Charlotte, Innovator, Arinda and Lady Claire,…
Plant production

Baur R., Fähndrich S., Baur B., Wieland Th.

Knowledge dissemination in the Swiss vegetable production

A survey on knowledge dissemination in the vegetable sector and on information sources used by vegetable farms was conducted in 2010. 226 questionnaires returned by growers and advisors were analyzed. Information domains were: technical aspects of production, market access and farm economics. Results show that growers attached a high value to their own basic knowledge…
Plant production

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

White clover and smooth-stalked meadow-grass retested

From 2010 to 2012, the Agroscope Reckenholz- Tänikon ART and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW research stations conducted experiments with 20 varieties of white clover and 12 of smooth-stalked meadow-grass. Ten of the white clover and eight of the meadow-grass varieties were new cultivars. Juvenile development, vigour (general impression, stand density, regenerative capacity), winter-hardiness, resistance to leaf…
Plant production

Gebhard C.-A., Büchi L., Liebisch F., Sinaj S., Ramseier H., Charles R.

Screening of legumes as cover crops: nitrogen and weeds

This study evaluated 27 legumes as cover crops, sowed in pure or mixed stands, with the aim to outline their agrosystemic services. The results show important behavior variations among the different legumes. The amount of aerial biomass built from August until the first frost achieve between 0.4 and 5.9 t DM/ha. From 377 to 850…
Plant production

Breitenmoser S., Baur R.

Influence of insecticides on beneficial arthropods in cereals and potatoes

The Swiss program on ecological production restricts the range of insecticides approved for pest control to those with relatively little impact on beneficial arthropods. With the arrival of new crop protection products over the last few years, a re-evaluation of the toxicity of insecticides has been requested by both the official authorities and farmers. The…
Plant production

Schaller U., Patrian B., Bächli A., Streit U., Balmer M.

Market control – quality of plant protection products in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the market control of plant protection products is organized in a close collaboration of the cantonal laboratories, the registration authority and Agroscope. From 2008 to 2012, five campaigns with a total of 106 plant protection products were performed. The quality of the active ingredient and the most important physico-chemical properties of the samples…
Plant production

Mouron P., Calabrese Ch., Breitenmoser S., Spycher S., Baur R.

Sustainability assessment of insecticides in Swiss grain and potato production

As part of the Proof of Ecological Performance (PEP), Switzerland requires special permits to be obtained for the use in cereals and potato production of authorised insecticides which have a potential to impact beneficial arthropods. In order to test the impact of this PEP requirement, a reference variant illustrating the current PEP requirements was compared…
Animal production

Wyss U., Arrigo Y.

Influence of the maize variety and the stage of development on the aerobic stability

In the years 2008 and 2010, the two maize varieties Amadeo and LG 32.52 were harvested in the milk ripeness, in the early and late dough stage and ensiled in 700 l containers. After opening the container, samples were taken to determine the fermentation quality and the aerobic stability with temperature measurements. With increasing development…
Plant production

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

Cocksfoot: test results of 31 varieties

From 2010 to 2012, the Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW research stations tested 31 varieties of cocksfoot in the field at seven sites for their suitability for cultivation. In addition to the 17 new varieties, the previously-recommended varieties were re-tested. The characteristics evaluated were yield, vigour, juvenile development, competitive ability, persistence, winter-hardiness, resistance…
Plant production

Brabant C., Schwaerzel R., Augsburger B., Jaquet H., Bitz Jean-Jacques, Claeyman N., Dossenbach A.

Baking quality of rye in Switzerland

This paper aims to better understand the milling and baking quality of rye varieties in Switzerland, in order to better meet the needs of users for rye. A quality scheme is proposed to determine the quality of rye grown in Switzerland. The analyzes measuring the flour yield (PHL, ash content) and the starch quality (falling…
Plant production

Frick R., Mosimann E., Suter D., Hirschi H.

Berseem clover and Crimson clover variety trials (2010-2012)

From 2010 through 2012, the Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW research stations tested in total eight varieties of Berseem clover and three varieties of Crimson clover in comparative variety trials at seven experimental sites. All varieties were grown in pure stands and in mixture with grasses. The parameters assessed were dry matter yield,…
Plant production

Gerardin D., Rouffiange J., Kellenberger I., Schaerer S., Dupuis B.

Potato susceptibility to soft rot caused by Dickeya spp.

Soft rot on potato tubers is caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Pectobacterium and Dickeya. The most often detected species in rotting tubers or plants sampled from Swiss potato lots are Dickeya dianthicola and Dickeya solani. Laboratory tests on tuber slices were set up to determine differences in cultivar susceptibility and isolate aggressiveness. Among…
Environment

Schüpbach B., Walter Th., Hofer G., Herzog F.

Modelled forest regrowth in 2021 and biodiversity in alpine summer pastures

The influence of forest regrowth on biodiversity in alpine summer pastures was investigated as part of the joint research project AlpFUTUR. An evaluation of the target and indicator species of the agriculture- related environmental objectives (AEO species) for the alpine summer pastures shows that all regions of the Jura and the Alps are of equal…
Animal production

Besier J., Strickler B., von Niederhäusern R., Wyss U.

Hay or haylage for horses: a comparison

In horse diets, hay is getting more and more replaced by haylage. In 2011, hay and haylage were produced in Avenches VD from an Italian ryegrass as well as from a mixture, which contained ten grasses and alfalfa. The conservation properties, the nutritional values and the microbiological quality of the feed were evaluated with regard…

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