Archive
2,454 posts
Were vegetables more nutritious in former times?
The headline “fruits and vegetables diminished in their nutritional quality” appeared in recent years in the media. The claimed quality loss was supposedly related to changes in agricultural practice and depletion of the soil. The comparison of contents of nine minerals and eleven vitamins of the 7 most important vegetables as published in three different…
Nutritive value of grassland plants: Amino acid composition
n order to complete the published data on the nutritive value of 10 main grassland plants their amino acid content was analysed in 70 of 555 available samples. The species as well as the age of the plant has only a limited influence on the in the intestine digestible amino acid content (IDAA). Cocksfoot and…
Environmental Monitoring of Genetically Modified Plants in Switzerland: Development of a conceptual Framework
Besides two field trials in 1991 and 1992, no deliberate releases of genetically modified plants (GMP) have yet been conducted in Switzerland. The use of GM crops in Swiss agriculture is discussed controversially and in contrast to the European Union, commercial cultivation seems unlikely in the near future. Nevertheless, cultivation can not be excluded for…
The Radar Project – An in-depth look at the situation concerning agricultural research
The Radar Project describes the development of conditions surrounding agricultural research. On the political side, the importance of the state with regard to funding is decreasing. The technological aspect is progressing, as can be seen from the growth in the worldwide cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), for example. From an economic point of view,…
Reaction of Streptococcus thermophilus to Stress
The effect of low pH on the survival of S. thermophilus in liquid cultures was studied. Results showed that the bacteria do not live more than a week at 37°C when grown in milk. Survival can be prolonged by growing them in diluted milk or preferably in M17 containing low concentrations of lactose. It would…
The Swqiss wheat breeding program
Selection has played a major role in the impressive yield increase in wheat production. This paper presents the wheat breeding at the Swiss federal research stations, the results obtained during the last century and some prospects
Bioencapsulation: in vitro production and conservation of miniaturized seeds of potato
A procedure for the encapsulation of nodal segments of potato aiming to preserve their growth potential for a long period of storage is described. Nodal segments with axillary buds were encapsulated in calcium alginate matrix containing Murashige & Skoog (MS) nutritive medium. These segments (or microbeads) were then stored at +4 °C for a period…
New processing potato varieties
From 1999 to 2001 a selection of mid-early to late processing potato varieties have been assessed within the main trials (7 locations) throughout Switzerland. The experiments were conducted by the two Swiss Federal Agricultural Research Stations Zurich-Reckenholz and Changins within the framework of the swisspatat working group for potato cultivars. For the varieties Lady Olympia,…
Does the ecological evidences` programme produce a better erosion control? The development of the soil erosion risk in the canton of Basel-Landschaft
The soil survey programme of the canton of Basel-Landschaft also includes the survey of the development of the soil erosion risk. Every 10 years more than 70 agricultural farms are questioned about their methods of cultivation and the risk of soil erosion is evaluated. The results of the last questioning dating from 2002 show that…
Innovatives processes for cheese-making
Milk was concentrated by microfiltration. From this concentrate fresh, soft and semihard cheeses can be produced very easily. These processes are also economically very attractive: less investments in plants and infrastructure, labour saving, high-grade by-products (unacidified permeate with native whey proteins) and the option for a continuous production. On the occasion of several practical demonstrations,…
Effect of crop rotation on the structure of a clayey soil
At the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agricultural Economics and Engineering (FAT) in Tänikon (Switzerland), a field trial was started in 1973 to examine the effects of three crop rotations (G = 60 % cereals, M = 60 % silage maize, V = different crops included 40 % clover grass) and two management intensities (IS…
Efficacy of whey preservatives
The efficacy of 0.2 % formic acid, 0.3% and 0.6% propionic acid and 0.05 % H2O2 against yeast growth in whey was tested in the laboratory. After inoculation with cultures of naturally contaminated whey and the addition of the preservatives the whey samples were incubated during four days. Gas pressure was measured continuously. Yeast numbers…
Does an outdoor pen have beneficial effects in calves?
The efficacy of 0.2 % formic acid, 0.3% and 0.6% propionic acid and 0.05 % H2O2 against yeast growth in whey was tested in the laboratory. After inoculation with cultures of naturally contaminated whey and the addition of the preservatives the whey samples were incubated during four days. Gas pressure was measured continuously. Yeast numbers…
Investment behaviour in Swiss agriculture
The farms recorded in the Swiss Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) of the FAT were grouped into homogeneous cohorts. Investment behaviour of these cohorts in machinery, residential buildings, farm buildings, and land was attributed to variables related to the farm and to the whole economy. The study showed that of every Franc invested in the…
Genetic Diversity in Swiss Red Clover Germplasm
Decades of on farm red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) seed production led to numerous, well adapted, persistent red clover accessions, commonly referred to as Mattenklee landraces. Although not used any more in present day agriculture, seed lots of approximately 100 old landraces are still available. So far, there was no information on the genetic variability…
Rape-, lin-, and sunflowerseed in dairy cows rations
In the investigation, 3 groups of 11 dairy cows were included. All animals were fed hay ad libitum, 15 kg fodder beet and concentrate feed. In the first experimental period, the daily ration was supplemented with 1,0 kg ground rapeseed, sunflowerseed or linseed respectively. In the second period, the quantity of sunflowerseed and linseed was…
Microbiology and nutritive value of moist hay
Preservatives on the basis of propionic acid help to stabilise not perfectly dry hay. These past years, the interest in these types of preservatives has been growing mostly due to the increasing use of big balers. While harvesting has become more efficient, the conservation turns out to be more delicate, particularly in the case of…
Resistance of wheat varieties to common bunt
The common bunt (Tilleta caries) is widely spread and is one of the most important seed-born diseases in wheat. However, since the introduction of chemical seed dressing it can be efficiently controlled. Given that the directives of organic farming do not permit the use of synthetic chemicals for control, other means are needed in order…
Economic aspects of steer fattening with six different breeds. Part 2
The evolution during the fattening period of the margin of fattening steers of the breeds Angus (AN), Simmental (SI), Charolais (CH), Limousin (LI), Blonde d’Aquitaine (BL) and Piemontese (PI) was analysed for two marketing channels – standard or as label. This study is based on the results obtained with an optimum fatness score (part 1).…
Economic aspects of steer fattening with six different breeds. Part 1
The results of a fattening trial with steers covering the weight range 300 kg LW to optimum fatness score were used for an economic analysis comparing the breeds Angus (AN), Simmental (SI), Charolais (CH), Limousin (LI), Blonde d’Aquitaine (BL) and Piemontese (PI). More than 95 % of margin variations are attributed to differences in purchasing…
