Grassland systems in Switzerland with a main focus on sown grasslands
OPEN ACCESS
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2019
Publication Type
Conference Paper
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
OPEN ACCESS
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Grasslands dominate Swiss agriculture and cover nearly 80% of the country’s agriculturally utilised area. They form the basis for ruminant livestock production through the provision of high-quality roughage which accounts for three quarters of the total dry matter of dairy cow rations, as averaged over the whole country. While permanent grasslands dominate in mountainous and less favourable regions, sown grasslands form an important part of the crop rotation (1/3) in the lowlands. Sown grasslands for intensive forage production typically consist of mixtures of 3 to 7 grass and legume species, taking advantage of increased dry matter yield through overyielding or transgressive overyielding, complementary forage quality of the different species, weed suppression and symbiotic N2 fixation. The Swiss-Standard Mixtures System involves development and testing of species mixtures adapted to a broad range of purposes and environmental conditions. These mixtures rely on the availability of high yielding cultivars with appropriate competitive ability and optimal forage quality. Switzerland’s forage crop breeding programme targets the improvement of the twelve prevalent forage grass and legume species including ryegrasses, fescues and clovers. Breeding research focusing on elucidating the genetic control of important traits and the development of genomics-assisted breeding tools ensures efficient breeding of improved cultivars. Continuation of the intense collaboration in research for forage plant breeding and grassland management, with involvement of all the actors, will be key to adapt sown grasslands to future challenges and demands.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Book title
Improving Sown Grasslands Through Breeding and Management
Journal / series
Volume
24
Pages / Article No.
3 - 16
Publisher
Agroscope
Event
EGF-EUCARPIA Joint Symposium 2019
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
species-mixtures; multifunctionality; forage crop breeding; overyielding
Organisational unit
03648 - Buchmann, Nina / Buchmann, Nina
Notes
Funding
Related publications and datasets
Is part of: