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Plant production

Groher T., Heitkämper K. and Umstätter C.

How Digitised are Swiss Plant Production Farms?

Digital technologies are fixed features of modern agriculture – but to what extent are they already being used in Switzerland? A survey conducted by Agroscope provides answers to this question. Digital technologies reduce the physical workload of farming and contribute to sustainable field management. They also enable optimised management decisions based on plant- or soil-related…
Other

El Benni N., Ryser U., Rösch M., Mattmann M., Abt F., Paupe L. and Gusset M.

Charter on Digitalisation: Together towards Sustainable Solutions

The Swiss agricultural sector currently makes little use of the opportunities offered by digitalisation. A charter launched in 2018 aims to further develop the digitalisation of the Swiss agricultural and food sector and to exploit the potential in the interests of all stakeholders.
Food

Oehen B., Meier C. and Felder T.

There is a Market for Agrobiodiversity

The term ‘agrobiodiversity’ refers to the variety of plant cultivars and species that feature in the human diet. A study in four European countries shows that consumers are interested in this diversity. The genetic diversity of food-crop varieties and species is archived in state gene banks, and continues to serve as a starting point for…
Plant production

Suter D., Hirschi H., Frick R.

A closer look at red clover: results of the 2016–2018 variety testing

From 2016 to 2018 inclusive, Agroscope tested 54 varieties of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) at six locations. Of these, 25 were new varieties and 29 were already-recommended varieties that were being retested. Yield, vigour, juvenile development, resistance to leaf diseases and anthracnose, winter-hardiness and persistence were all evaluated. For the persistent “mattenklee” type, the…
Animal production

Probst St., Wasem D., Kobel D., Zehetmeier M., Flury Ch.

Greenhouse gas emissions from coupled dairy-beef production in Switzerland

Coupled dairy-beef systems are of major significance in Switzerland’s cattle sector. Using Swiss reference data, the present study modelled greenhouse gas emissions per cow and year for a range of different milk and meat yield levels. The study also determined the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of using a combination of sexed semen and beef…
Environment

Sutter L., Aebi A., Buchwalder G., Caballé P., Dietemann V., Girardin O., Hernandez J., Jacopin-Bucher E., Mayor P., Ménétrier V., Praz Ch., Varennes Y.-D.

Farmers, beekeepers and researchers unite to safeguard pollinators

Recent studies show a decline in the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators, as well as an increase in honeybee mortality. These pollinators are an integral part of biodiversity and play an essential role in the growing of certain crops and in wild plant reproduction. In the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Jura, and in…
Environment

Kalberer A., Kawecki-Wenger D., Bucheli Th.

Plastic waste flows in Swiss agriculture and their risk potential for soils

Plastic products are omnipresent in our everyday lives and are so versatile and efficient that it is difficult to imagine modern agriculture without them. However, in combination with littering and as foreign materials in digestate and compost fertilisers, they are also the main source of plastic inputs on agricultural land. Using material flow analysis, this…
Plant production

Gugerli F., Moretti M., Graf R., Maier M., Corrado C., Collatz J., Trivellone V.

Genetic diversity of Trichopria drosophilae, a natural enemy of spotted wing drosophila

Drosophila suzukii is an invasive species recently introduced in Europe and causing damages to fruit production. Trichopria drosophilae is considered one of the most suitable indigenous parasitoid to be used in biocontrol programs against D. suzukii. To characterize genetic variability and the spatial genetic structure of populations of T. drosophilae, we developed 21 species-specific molecular…
Food

Silacci P., Dubois S., Nietlispach P., Barras B., Biolley C., Bossens A., Gobet T., Guerry D., Vonnez C., Dougoud B., Jud Khan C.

Swiss beef tenderness survey: third 2018 campaign

The third beef tenderness survey campaign was carried out during the final trimester of 2018. One hundred sixty-eight samples of beef were purchased in retail outlets, as well as 38 pork fillets for purposes of comparison. Some of the samples were also analysed as part of the beef origin verification program set up by the…
Animal production

Signer-Hasler H., Burren A., Ammann P., Drögemüller C., Flury C.

Extent of genomic inbreeding in Swiss sheep and goat breeds

The development of modern technologies now allows thousands of genetic markers in an animal’s genome to be revealed by means of DNA genotyping. This information can be used to deduce genomic inbreeding. This is valuable for populations that have no, or only incomplete, pedigree information. Furthermore, differences in the inbreeding of full siblings can be…