The ’Plants and Plant Products’ Competence Division develops practical solutions for the Swiss plant production sector and is involved in various enforcement activities. It cultivates close ties with agricultural practitioners, agricultural advisory services and other stakeholders in the value chain for the purpose of knowledge exchange. In addition, it works together with Swiss federal and cantonal agencies and promotes the networking of research within Agroscope. In this way, it ensures that current research findings and new solutions come to fruition in practice, and that, conversely, the needs of practice and agricultural advisory services are taken up by researchers. For enforcement, federal agencies and agriculture policy-makers, the Division develops important agronomic decision-making criteria.
The ’Plants and Plant Products’ Competence Division develops effective and feasible cropping and plant-protection strategies in arable, vegetable and fruit production in consultation with practitioners, thereby helping the latter meet the concrete challenges of agricultural production and protect natural resources whilst generating added value. In arable and fruit production, the Division tests the suitability of varieties for cultivation.
The ’Plants and Plant Products’ Competence Division is responsible for various enforcement tasks, including seed certification and quality testing. In this way, it ensures that only healthy, high-quality seed for arable and forage crops comes on the market. Together with Agroscope’s Plant Protection Service, it makes a major contribution to preventing the introduction and spread of particularly dangerous insect pest organisms in Switzerland. Its plant-protection product (PPP) expertise is drawn on in the formulation of expert reports on both PPP authorisation and risk evaluation.
