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Sustainability

Bodenverdichtung

How does compacted soil recover?

It takes mere seconds to compact a soil, but years or even decades for it to recover. Biological activities by plant roots and soil organisms (earthworms) as well as physical effects like drying out and rewetting phases, and freezing-thawing cycles are vital for natural regeneration. Exactly how recovery happens is being investigated in a long-term field trial. For this, an observational infrastructure with hundreds of soil probes – the Soil Structure Observatory (SSO) – was set up in 2014 together with ETH Zurich. After the initial compaction event, a fallow, a permanent grassland and a crop rotation with and without tillage were set up. This allows to analyse e.g. the influence of plants and tillage on recovery.

Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Bodenschutz
SoilStructureObservatory
Regeneration verdichteter Böden

Publikation Arbeitshaltung Melken

Ergonomics in the milking parlour

Milkers frequently suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the area of the shoulders and arms.  Agroscope therefore investigated whether appropriate working heights can reduce workload in the milking parlour. For this, the angle of flexion of various joints during milking was recorded in one experiment, whilst a second experiment recorded muscle contractions at three different heights. The study showed that although a lower working height in the milking parlour has no effect on forearms or upper arms, it significantly reduces strain on the shoulders. 

Projektnummer: 22.02.15.01.02

Entwicklung von resilienten und effizienten Ackerbausystemen

Afin de promouvoir des systèmes agricoles résilients et efficients dans l’utilisation des ressources tout en fournissant des rendements et des services écosystémiques élevés, il est nécessaire d’étudier et de maîtriser la réponse des systèmes agricoles aux pratiques culturales. En particulier le rôle de la rotation, les cultures intermédiaires et associées, le travail du sol et l’agroforesterie afin de réduire l'utilisation de produits phytosanitaires, augmenter la résilience des systèmes et assurer la productivité.

Le projet vise à développer et étudier des systèmes de grandes cultures plus résilients et efficients. La recherche se concentrera en particulier sur le rôle de la rotation de grandes cultures, l’effet du différents types de travail du sol et l’utilisation des couverts végétaux par rapport à l’utilisation efficients de ressources par la plante et la séquestration du carbone par le système afin de garantir la quantité et la qualité de la production. Le projet vise aussi à étudier et développer des méthodes culturales pour réduire l’utilisation des produits phytosanitaires dans les grandes cultures. De plus, le potentiel de l'agroforesterie comme système agricole associé (grandes cultures-haies) sera étudiée afin d’optimiser l’utilisation des ressources et d’assurer des rendements plus stables face au changement climatique.

Name, Vorname Standort
Bragazza Luca Changins
Elfouki Saïd Changins
Fontana Mario Changins
Grosjean Yves Changins
Guillaume Thomas Changins
Nussbaum Matthieu Changins
Wittwer Raphaël Reckenholz

Johannes A., Fontana M., Bragazza L.
ROCSUB – Restoration of a compacted subsoil «Wiederherstellung eines schadverdichteten Unterbodens – Vorabklärungen und Erhebungen 2021-2027» 2024 Activity Report.

Bragazza L., Guillaume T., Elfouki S., Grosjean Y., Fontana M.
Integrating annual crops and short rotation coppice for on-farm production of ramial wood chips – A new agroforestry trial at Agroscope.
In: 7th European Agroforestry Conference. 27. May, Hrsg. EURAF | 2024, Brno (CZ). 2024, 1.

Frioud E.
Holzreste recyceln und Boden verbessern.
Die Grüne, 3, 2024, 11.

Fontana M., Borgatti D., Elfouki S., Grosjean Y., Brancaleoni L., Bragazza L.
Effets d’un biostimulant foliaire à base de zéolite sur le maïs et le blé d’automne.
Recherche Agronomique Suisse, 15, 2024, 176-184.
weitere Sprachen: englisch

Buttler A., Bragazza L., Laggoun-Défarge F., Gogo S., Toussaint M.L., Lamentowicz M., Chojnicki B.H., Słowiński M., Słowińska S., Zielińska M., Reczuga M., Barabach J., Marcisz K., Lamentowicz L., Harenda K. und weitere
Ericoid shrub encroachment shifts aboveground–belowground linkages in three peatlands across Europe and Western Siberia.
Global Change Biology, 29, 2023, 6772-6793.

Buttler A., Teuscher R., Deschamps N., Gavazov K., Bragazza L., Mariotte P., Schlaepfer R., Jassey V.E.J., Freund L., Cuartero J., Quezada J.C., Frey B.
Impacts of snow-farming on alpine soil and vegetation: A case study from the Swiss Alps.
Science of the Total Environment, 903, 2023, 1-69.

ten Damme L., Bragazza L., Feiziene D., Goberna M., Hallin S., Ros M., Pulido-Moncada M., Sánchez-Moreno S., Philippot L., Munkholm L.J.
Effects of different tillage regimes on soil structural characteristics along a pedoclimatic gradient.
In: EJP Soil - Annual Science Days 2023. 12 June, Riga. 2023, 1.

Fontana M., Sinaj S., Elfouki S., Guillaume T., Bragazza L.
Cover Crop Identity Differently Affects Biomass Productivity as well as Nitrogen and Phosphorus Uptake of Maize (Zea mays L.) in Relation to Soil Type.
Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 23, 2023, 2392-2403.

Guillaume T., Makowski D., Elfouki S., Bragazza L., Libohova Z., Sinaj S.
Increasing topsoil and subsoil organic carbon storage with improved rotation in cropland-grassland agroecosystems.
In: EGU General Assembly 2022. 23 May, Hrsg. European Geosciences Union (EGU), Vienna (AT). 2022.

Roohi M., Arif M.S., Guillaume T., Yasmeen T., Riaz M., Shakoor A., Farooq T.H., Shahzad S.M., Bragazza L.
Role of fertilization regime on soil carbon sequestration and crop yield in a maize-cowpea intercropping system on low fertility soils.
Geoderma, (428), 2022, 1-11.

Guillaume T., Makowski D., Elfouki S., Bragazza L., Libohova Z., Sinaj S.
Carbon Storage Potential in the Topsoil and Subsoil of Temperate Cropland-Grassland Agroecosystems.
In: 8th International Symposium on Soil Organic Matter. 29. juin, Seoul - Korea. 2022.

Guillaume T., Elfouki S., Bragazza L., Sinaj S., Carlen C.
Increasing soil organic carbon by including temporary grasslands in the rotation.
In: ESA 2022 - Congress of the European Society for Agronomy. 29. août, Postdam - Germany. 2022.

Guillaume T., Makowski D., Libohova Z., Elfouki S., Fontana M., Leifeld J., Bragazza L., Sinaj S.
Carbon storage in agricultural topsoils and subsoils is promoted by including temporary grasslands into the crop rotation.
Geoderma, 422, 2022, 1-9.

Johannes A., Fontana M., Köstel J. K., Keller T., Weisskopf P., Bragazza L.
Recovery of compacted subsoil : introducing the ROCSUB project.
In: EGU22. 26. April, Vienna. 2022.

Verbeke B. A., Lamit L. J., Lilleskov E. A., Hodgkins S. B., Basiliko N., Kane E. S., Andersen R., Artz R. R. E., Benavides J. C., Benscoter B. W., Borken W., Bragazza L., Brandt S. M., Bräuer S. L., Carson M. A. und weitere
Latitude, elevation, and mean annual temperature predict peat organic matter chemistry at a global scale.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 36, (2), 2022, 1-17.

Quezada J.C., Guillaume T., Poeplau C., Ghazoul J., Buttler A.
Deforestation-free land-use change and organic matter-centered management improve the C footprint of oil palm expansion.
Global Change Biology, 28, 2022, 2476-2490.

Rinder Fuetterung

Optimised feed reduces environmental impacts

On behalf of Micarna SA, Agroscope analysed the environmental impacts of beef, pork and poultry production. With beef production, feed intensity was crucial. In the case of pork and poultry production, the quantity of feed used per kg of meat had the greatest influence on environmental impacts. The use of European soya with its shorter transport distances had a positive effect. 

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