Archive

2,595 posts

Categories
Select one or more categories (Optional.)
Reset
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…
Animal production

Arrigo Y.

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,…
Food

Pittet G., Luginbühl W., Berger T.

Influence of the storage period between sampling and analysis on total bacterial count in milk

Every month, only one official milk-testing result is available from between 1000 and 1200 milk producers instead of the two required. Of the missing results, one part originates from milk-collection centers where milk delivery takes place every other day and sampling is performed manually, and is therefore attributable to the time delay between sampling notification…
Agricultural economics

Möhring A., Mack G., Willersinn C.

Vegetable growing – Modelling heterogeneity and intensity

The agent-based agricultural sector model, SWISSland, simulates the processes of structural change and income trends in Swiss agriculture. The objective is to provide a portrayal of the behavioural patterns of farms that is as close to reality as possible. This article describes a method of best possible deduction from cost and work requirement coefficients, which…
Plant production

Bravin E., Blunschi M., Egger S.

ArboPlus, a tool to support management skills of fruit grower

ACW developed an Excel based tool called ArboPlus to help growers to roughly evaluate their situation on orchard, farm and family level. Information has been collected within workshops and interviews with consultants for fruit production and business. At orchard level, growers can analyze their productivity and compare it with a benchmark. At farm level, they…
Plant production

Suter M., Arnold B., Küng J., Nagel R., Zollinger A., Lüscher A.

Senecio aquaticus shows rapid and high seed germination

Senecio aquaticus (marsh ragwort), poisonous to livestock, has become increasingly abundant in agricultural grassland. In this study, the germination and seed survival of S. aquaticus were investigated in a series of standardised tests with the aim to improve the species’ control in managed grassland. Germination percentages of fresh ripe seeds of S. aquaticus were on…

Project partners

  • Logo AGRIDEA
  • Logo Agroscope
  • Logo ETH Zürich
  • Logo ZHAW

© 2026 Agrarforschung Switzerland Terms and conditions