In the fourth of our country profiles we examine Switzerland, a nation which first turned to Integrated Pest Management more than 40 years ago and has now developed Integrated Production and a system of direct payments to farmers for ecological services. As researchers Benno Graf, Jörg Samietz, Robert Baur and Thomas Steinger from Agroscope report, Swiss policy is focused on reducing the risks associated with pesticide use.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Swiss fruit and vine-growers were confronted with serious pesticide resistance problems and the failure of natural pest control. In response, the federal agricultural research stations in Changins and Wädenswil began to develop new crop protection strategies based on the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
Swiss territory by land use (total area 41,300km²)
Type of land use | Percentage |
Forest and woodland | 31% |
Agriculture | 24% |
Unproductive area | 18% |
Alpine farmland | 13% |
Settlement and infrastructure | 7% |
Rivers, lakes | 7% |
Taken from: The Swiss agricultural policy – how a policy contributes to the sustainable use of pesticides, Eva Reinhard, Brussels 19th June 2012. |
Initially focused on fruit and vine-growing, the system was gradually expanded to most agricultural crops. The growers participated and followed the guidelines on a voluntary basis, mostly driven by personal conviction. It was a joint movement of innovative researchers and agricultural pioneers. Regional non-governmental associations, such as GALTI, SAIO and VitiSuisse, were founded to assure a constant enhancement of the system and to facilitate knowledge transfer. Over time, IPM was gradually further developed to Integrated Production (IP) by expanding the system borders from crop protection to the entire production system.
Division of agricultural land (total area 1m hectares)
Type of agriculture | Total / percentage |
Meadows and pastures | 627,000ha / 59% |
Arable crops (excluding maize for silage) | 249,000ha / 23% |
Sown meadows, forage crops (including maize for silage) | 160,000ha / 15% |
Fruit and vegetables | 24,000ha / 2% |
Vineyards | 13,000ha / 1% |
Taken from: The Swiss agricultural policy – how a policy contributes to the sustainable use of pesticides, Eva Reinhard, Brussels 19th June 2012. |
In 1996, Swiss citizens voted for an amendment to the federal constitution to include the principle of multi-functionality and sustainability for the Swiss agricultural sector. Henceforth, growers were not only expected to supply the population with high quality and healthy foodstuffs, but also to conserve natural resources, foster biodiversity, minimise polluting emissions and favour an attractive landscape.
Farmers receive direct payments for these additional ecological services. Depending on the crops involved, the geographical situation of the farm (lowlands versus mountain areas) and the IP measures implemented, direct payments vary between less than 10% to more than 50% of the total farm income.
Importance of direct payments (share of direct payments in farm's gross profits according to regions, 2010)
Total | Plain | Hillside | Mountain | |
Number of farms | 3,202 | 1,358 | 998 | 846 |
Average farm size (in ha) | 21.06 | 22.17 | 19.71 | 20.55 |
General direct payments (in Fr.) | 45,346 | 39,541 | 45,237 | 55,342 |
Ecological direct payments (in Fr.) | 9,014 | 10,018 | 9,338 | 6,972 |
Total direct payments (in Fr.) | 54,360 | 49,559 | 54,575 | 62,314 |
Gross profit | 250,181 | 304,343 | 234,042 | 174,501 |
Proportion of gross profit in direct payments (in %) | 21.7 | 16.3 | 23.3 | 35.7 |
Taken from: The Swiss agricultural policy – how a policy contributes to the sustainable use of pesticides, Eva Reinhard, Brussels 19th June 2012. |
In order to qualify for direct payments, farmers must enrol in a national programme on ecological production and respect the guidelines of either integrated (IP) or organic production (Bio). In addition, they have to safeguard high standards of animal welfare, pursue closed nutrient cycles, apply phosphorous and nitrogen fertilisers according to the crops’ needs, set aside land for ecological compensation areas which receive no mineral fertiliser or pesticide treatments, ensure a crop rotation which minimises pest and soil problems, enhance natural pest control or regulation mechanisms, and, in general, have to favour non-chemical control measures for crop protection.
Besides direct payments, farmers profit from joining the national programme by being able to market their produce under Swiss-wide unified labels for either integrated production (label: Suisse Garantie) or organic production (label: Bio Suisse).
Minimising risks associated with pesticide use
Switzerland’s crop protection policy does not primarily aim at reducing the amount (tonnes) of pesticides applied but at minimising the risks associated with the use of pesticides, such as endangering biodiversity and the potential for natural control, the development of pesticide resistance in pests and diseases, pollution of surface and ground water and, last but not least, unacceptable residues on foodstuffs.
The specific requirements for direct payments with respect to crop protection have to be considered in the context of this objective. Compliance with the guidelines is inspected annually either by the extension services of the cantons or a certified private institution.
Surface areas for ecological compensation: Farmers have to set aside 7% of the area of their farm (3.5% for fruit, grapevines and vegetables) for ecological compensation. In these surfaces neither fertilisers nor pesticides can be applied. The main objective of this measure is to preserve or recreate natural environments in agricultural areas, to link separated biotopes within an intensively cultivated environment, to create refuges for natural enemies and to foster biodiversity in general. The effect is monitored and an environmental assessment is made through a special federal research programme (agro-environmental monitoring).
Buffer strips: Farmers have to install vegetated buffer strips along the borders of forests and hedges (3m in width), water bodies (6m in width) and paths and roads (50cm in width) where neither fertilisers nor pesticides can be applied. The main objective of this measure is the protection of biotopes and surface water.
Crop rotation: Farmers have to respect a crop rotation which reduces pest and disease pressure (for example, Western corn rootworm or soil-borne root and sheath diseases in cereal crops) and impedes weed development. Thus the maximum acceptable share of the main crops per farm is limited in the annual crop rotation. For example, the limit is set at 50% for wheat and 25% for sugar beet, potato, rape and soya.
Varietal choice: Farmers are encouraged to choose pest and disease resistant varieties. The federal research stations breed and test varieties for Swiss conditions and publish corresponding recommendations. The cultivation of resistant varieties is particularly successful in cereal crops where roughly 50% is produced without any fungicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators. Although quite a few resistant grapevine and fruit varieties exist, growers still hesitate to cultivate them because of limited demand and relatively low consumer acceptance.
Pest monitoring and economic thresholds: For most common agricultural pests, experts from the federal research stations established simple monitoring methods and economic thresholds based on their own experiments or on relevant published data. Thresholds are regularly revised and adapted if necessary. Farmers have to observe and record the development of pests in their crops; control measures are only allowed when the economic threshold is about to be passed.
Crop protection recommendations and decision support tools (DSS): During the vegetation period the federal research stations and cantonal extension services publish crop specific plant protection recommendations on a more-or-less weekly basis. Additionally, federal research stations have developed online pest and disease forecasting systems and decision support tools for important crops such as potatoes, grapevine and fruit crops ( www.phytopre.ch, www.agrometeo.ch, www.sopra.admin.ch). Farmers strongly rely on this information to assess the risks for their crops on the one hand and to optimise the timing of applications on the other.
Restricted list of pesticides: Not all approved pesticides can be applied without restrictions. Products with unfavourable properties (for example, side-effects on beneficial insects) or elevated risks can only be used after consultation and approval from the cantonal extension services.
Training in pesticide application and sprayer tests: Professional pesticide users have to follow a mandatory training course and spraying equipment has to be regularly tested.
Experiences and possible improvements
Since the introduction of the direct payment system, the proportion of Swiss agriculture contributing to ecological services has substantially increased and now amounts to more than 90% of all agricultural land. Roughly 80% of the total production area is cultivated according to IP guidelines and about 10% is cultivated organically. With the exception of the lowlands, the initial target of 10% of the surface area to be set aside for ecological compensation has now been reached and even exceeded in some regions. Although an impact study is under way and trends are visible, the effects of these positive changes on the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity cannot yet be conclusively shown.
Going forwards, some technical improvements will be taken into consideration:
Economic thresholds: The concept of economic thresholds is beyond dispute. However, in arable crops some currently recommended thresholds have to be revised due to limited applicability and because crop parameters have changed. A four-year collaborative research project is under way with the objective of filling the most urgent knowledge gaps.
Validation of compliance with pesticide use restrictions: Farm records on pesticide applications are based on self-declarations. In addition to inspection of these records, random samples for pesticide analyses were introduced in arable crops in 2010 to ensure that no unauthorised products are used. These controls are not considered necessary in fruit and vegetables, since retailers’ inspections for pesticide residues follow a scheme equivalent to GlobalGAP and cover most Swiss production.
Evaluating the sustainability of crop protection strategies: As part of ENDURE, a model was developed to assess the sustainability of crop protection strategies in apple production ( SustainOS). This model will be adapted for use in other crops, such as cereals and potatoes, to evaluate the impact of pesticides, mainly with respect to beneficial organisms.
Promotion of non-chemical crop protection measures: Farmers still mainly rely on pesticides to solve crop protection problems. However, in IPM preference should be given to natural regulation mechanisms as well as biological, bio-technical and physical control measures. Some of these alternative measures, such as the use of viruses and bacteria against insect pests, the mass release of antagonists (for example, Trichogramma against Ostrinia), mating disruption for lepidopteran pests (based on sex pheromones), mechanical weed control and others have been widely tested and proven effective and cost efficient under Swiss production conditions. Agroscope researchers believe these measures should be more actively promoted and, if possible, declared mandatory.
Fostering innovation and commitment: Direct payments allowed for the fast introduction of the concept of sustainability in the vast majority of Swiss agriculture. However, since a majority of farmers probably adopted the changes mainly for economic reasons, the innovative drive of the IPM and IP pioneers got a bit lost on the way. Measures and ideas to revitalise the ghost and the commitment of the pioneers are urgently needed.
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