news 2022

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science have shown how nitrogen fertiliser could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security. Intensive agriculture is possible only if the soil is fertilised with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Motivation is affected by oxidative stress in the brain, a study by EPFL and Nestlé shows. The findings also suggest motivation can be improved through nutritional interventions. In life, motivation can be the difference between success and failure, goal-setting and aimlessness, well-being and unhappiness.

How much of the proteins present in foods can the human body absorb and how high is the quality of these proteins? These are the key questions in discussions about a healthy and sustainable diet. Agroscope has developed a method that can reliably measure the protein digestibility of different foods in the laboratory.

Agriculture practices that preserve resources? Enough food to make sure that everyone can enjoy a healthy and balanced diet? We still are a long way from that, finds Robert Finger - and outlines the most important fields of action to make the food system more sustainable. Today, the global system that supplies us with food is facing major challenges.

A team of scientists makes the case for reevaluating maligned non-native species. Awareness of non-native species - often called ''invasive'' - has vastly increased over the past fifty years, to the point where anyone with green conscience has heard of them and their negative effects, whether it is the zebra mussel or ragweed.

Since Darwin, we have known that evolutionary adaptation is reflected in the appearance and function of species' bodies under environmental changes. One of the questions commonly asked by evolutionary biologists is how body shape relates to a specific ecological feature, such as diet. In a recent study published in the journal Evolution , Guilherme Hermanson and his team at the University of Freiburg looked at the environmental factors that affect the shape of turtle skulls.

Climate change, environmental and animal welfare policies, ageing farmers: Europe's agriculture is facing enormous challenges, which vary diametrically depending on the region. Where will farming soon become unprofitable? Where are laws forcing them to change their practices? A study co-led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has now investigated this for all of Europe.

As early as the Neolithic period, pests posed a threat to agricultural yields, as shown by the remains of mice and insects found in prehistoric wells by a Basel-led archaeological research team. However, there are also indications that people knew how to defend against these pests - for example, by switching to less vulnerable kinds of grain.

It is no secret that climate change has a serious impact on the quality and ecology of aquatic environments. Researchers at Eawag have revealed that human responses to climate change are just as impactful on our water systems - for example, in the areas of agriculture and hydropower. When thermometers in California recorded scorching temperatures in the summer of 2000, even the salmon in Klamath River felt the effects.

Around one third of all food worldwide ends up in the trash bin instead of on our plate. With the help of digital twins, researchers at Empa and Stellenbosch University are now aiming to reduce food waste, for example in the case of citrus fruits, along the production and supply chains. The hygrothermal measurement data needed to improve the shelf life of oranges and the like would actually be available.

Changins/Wädenswil, 24. The tomato brown rugose fruit virus poses a new threat to Swiss agriculture - especially to tomatoes and peppers. Agroscope is playing a key role in controlling this quarantine organism in Switzerland. A newly created research group diagnoses submitted plant samples in the quarantine laboratory via a PCR test.

Changins/Wädenswil, 24. Jordan virus is a new threat to Swiss agriculture - especially to tomatoes and peppers. Agroscope is playing a key role in combating this quarantine organism in Switzerland. A newly created research group diagnoses submitted plant samples in the quarantine laboratory using PCR testing.

The genetic origins of the first agriculturalists in the Neolithic period long seemed to lie in the Near East. A new study published in the journal Cell shows that the first farmers actually represented a mixture of Ice Age hunter-gatherer groups, spread from the Near East all the way to south-eastern Europe.

Biodiverse mountain pastures are being overgrown by green alder shrubs. A study conducted by Agroscope and ETHZ shows that hardy sheep and goats can stop shrub encroachment. In particular, the traditional Engadine sheep has a taste for green alder. By debarking the shrub it damages it, thus preventing its spread and protecting valuable alpine pastures.