ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INTEGRATED CROP PRODUCTION (IP) IN SWITZERLAND

Integrated crop production on vegetable farms is steadily being developed in Switzerland.
Government subsidies to integrated crop production are linked to the implementation of ecological guidelines (table 1) at the farm level.
The aim is to achieve good yield and quality with a minimum of off-farm input (auxiliary agents such as fertiliser, pesticides, herbicides, growth regulators, fuel, irrigation-water).

It is possible to assess the ecological effects of integrated crop production by comparing the overall off-farm input of IP farms with the overall input of farms following so-called “good agricultural practice”. In order to do this the amount of auxiliary agents used in “good agricultural practice” needs to be defined for the major vegetable crops (table 2).

Vegetable growing always involves some loss of nutrients to the environment but the impact on the environment may be kept within acceptable limits, good agricultural management provided.
An evaluation of off-farm input gives the individual farm a valuable indication of what kind of off-farm input should first be reduced (table 3).

Workshop on Ecological Aspects of Vegetable Fertilization in Integrated Crop Production in the Field

C. Gysi

Integrated Crop Production, “good agricultural practice”, off-farm input

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.339.1