Archive
2,595 posts
Estimating the nutritional value of silages composed of protein plant and immature cereal mixtures
Three immature whole plant pea-cereal mixtures composed of triticale (90 kg/ha), oats (40, 30 and 20 kg/ha) and field peas (20, 30 and 40 kg/ha) were sown at Agroscope Posieux in October 2011 and ensiled in late June 2012. In vivo digestibility was determined with wethers, and in sacco degradability with rumen fistulated cows. Botanical…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
New regulation on the Swiss agricultural policy for 2014–2017
Since the Swiss parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the revised Federal Act on Agriculture, the so-called Agriculture Policy for 2014–2017, and too few signatures in favour of a referendum against the policy were collected, the Federal Council has now drawn up provisions for implementation. The modified decrees will come into force on 1st January…
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…
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…
Yellow nutsedge: Actualities on Cyperus esculentus L. in Switzerland
Yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.), a Cyperaceae species, propagates exclusively with tubers in the ground. Its abundance in Switzerland has largely increased in the last 20 years, due to changes of land use and important difficulties to control. The species is not well known to farmers yet, and tubers are increasingly displaced by vehicles, machines,…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
