Plant Breeding

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High-performing, site-adapted varieties are the basis for a successful, sustainable plant production. Agroscope breeds new varieties of wheat, soya, forage plants and fruit, with a view to their commercial success, environmentally sound cultivation, and their use in the production of high-quality, safe products.  Ecotypes, in-house breeding material, and domestic and foreign cultivars and varieties are the bases for these breeding programmes. These genetic resources are preserved for future generations.

Combining many different traits in a single variety is time-consuming. To further boost the success and efficiency of its work, Agroscope researches the latest molecular methods jointly with the ETH and the University of Zurich. The best methods are incorporated in the breeding process.

On behalf of the federal government, Agroscope also researches the benefits and risks of genetically modified plants and of the latest breeding technologies. In this way, know-how is developed in Switzerland and the current moratorium on the commercial cultivation of genetically modified plants is used in order to make the information obtained available to policy-makers, the agricultural sector and society.

Research Groups

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