Soil, Bodies of Water, Nutrients
Agroscope and the Federal Office for the Environment have published the first Geochemical Soil Atlas of Switzerland. It provides an overview of the large-scale distribution of 20 naturally occurring chemical elements in Swiss soils. The soil atlas will help assess soil pollution levels and take action where necessary.
Soil samples can be measured directly in the field by means of spectroscopy. Agroscope researchers have tested mobile devices and shown how to make the best use of them.
With CULTAN fertilisation, nitrogen is injected into the soil as an ammonium solution. Multi-year trials conducted by Agroscope show that this method reduces nitrogen leaching by an average 38% without negatively affecting yields.
