23 - Conserving and supporting biodiversity and its benefits for agriculture

Programme manager:

Programme director:

Objective

To optimise and (further) develop measures to support biodiversity and its ecosystem services and associated benefits for agriculture.

• Specific objectives

  • Further develop wildflower areas and effective management measures: seed mixes, regional characteristics (e.g. alpine area), multifunctionality, growing period, quality.
  • Create habitats for (periodically) moisture-loving species in the context of agricultural production (new approaches to retaining water in catchment areas, synergistic effects on amphibians, etc.).
  • (Further) develop particularly biodiversity-friendly cropping systems.
  • Acquire practical knowledge about the role of functional biodiversity in closing yield gaps and/or increasing yields.
  • Acquire practical knowledge to develop and optimise cropping and management methods that support functional biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.
  • Optimise the efficacy and quality of ecological focus areas to exploit the functions of biodiversity in different production systems (e.g. field crops, fruit and berry production, forage).

Expected outcomes

Improvements in achieving Agriculture-Related Environmental Objectives in the field of biodiversity. Measures that promote biodiversity help to substantially stabilise or increase farmland biodiversity. Agronomically, they are easy to implement and effective and therefore supported by practitioners and stakeholders. The potential of functional biodiversity and the multiple ecosystem services it brings for sustainable and resilient agricultural production (high, stable yields, high value added) with minimal adverse effects on the environment are understood and implemented by farmers. The administration (e.g. federal government, cantons) has the necessary foundations for decision-making that enable it to develop agricultural policy strategies and accompanying measures.

Projects

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