Note: This video is only available in German
The Güttinger conference is an occasion where the latest innovations in fruit growing are presented. But it is also an occasion where fruit growers, consultants and scientists meet for an exchange. Markus Hausammann, National Councilor and President of the Thurgau Agriculture Association, spoke in his opening address on Saturday, August 18, about the importance of agricultural research in German-speaking Switzerland.
“In contrast to the rest of the federal government's research and innovation sector, agricultural research is under great pressure to save. However, as is generally assumed, it is not only responsible for us farmers, ”said Hausammann. "Of all the money that the federal government invests in agricultural research (198 million francs in 2017), 60 percent actually go to those involved in agriculture and the food industry."
Hausammann has submitted a proposal together with Councilor of States Brigitte Häberli-Koller. The two Thurgau politicians are calling for agricultural research to also share in the pots of other research. Agricultural research must increasingly meet the needs of producing agriculture again. This requires locations with real contacts and not just satellites.
Robots, drones and field measuring devices
The highlight of this year's Güttinger conference was the demonstration of a self-propelled mulching robot. Thanks to a scanner and various sensors, it recognizes trees and the end of a row of trees. If it comes too close to an obstacle, it switches off automatically.
The implement carrier with sickle mulcher comes from the Swiss machine manufacturer Aebi. The control with laser scanner was developed by the German company Robot Makers GmbH. The mulching robot is GPS-independent and drives autonomously. At the moment, such models are mainly used in viticulture and (fruit) tree nurseries.
Based on the data from field measuring devices, the fruit growers should in future have access to early forecast models for diseases and pests. They serve as a decision-making aid in the field of plant protection and resource optimization. Field measuring devices are relatively inexpensive. Devices with all the important sensors for crop protection and disease models are available from CHF 2500. The use of drones could also gain in importance in fruit growing in the future.
Successful attempts at fungicide reduction
Sarah Perren from Agroscope explained an experiment at the Wädenswil Research Station in which the use of synthetic chemical agents was reduced to a minimum. “The low residue strategy (LR) that has been developed aims to use synthetic chemical fungicides and insecticides only until the apple blossoms. After that, only fungicides and insecticides that are approved for organic farming will be used, ”explained Perren. The results are promising. The control success with regard to apple scab, powdery mildew and Marssonina is comparable to the success of integrated production. There are still problems with the storage diseases.
Perren emphasized that the LR plant protection strategy in apple cultivation is constantly being developed. By combining various measures, synergy effects are to be used, strengthened and promoted. These include total wetting, codling moth confusion, mechanical thinning, weed control without herbicides and, last but not least, the choice of variety.
Two new pests in fruit growing
There was important input on the new invasive pests marbled stink bugs and multifruit fly. The marbled stink bug has appeared in Switzerland since 2004, mainly in the cantons of Ticino and Zurich. The females lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves between May and September. The bug has a very broad range of host plants, including all types of fruit and berries, various types of vegetables and arable crops such as maize or sunflowers. The sucking activity on ripening fruits causes deformations, sunken areas and dents on the surface and the pulp can turn brown.
The Mediterranean fruit fly is one of the most economically important fruit pests in various regions of the world. It can be assumed that Mediterranean fruit flies enter Switzerland mainly through the import of infected citrus fruits. Your appearance in Switzerland is not new. Despite its great adaptability to different climatic regions, it never seemed to be able to multiply massively on the north side of the Alps. After the relatively mild winters of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, apples were first detected in various commercial fruit orchards in the canton of Zurich. Monitoring is carried out for both types of malware.