ETH News

Achim Walter believes increased cultivation of legumes would bring major benefits. But how to persuade farmers in Switzerland to make the switch?

For Achim Walter, it’s time we take responsibility for what we eat. As consumers, we have a right to demand a food system that serves the environment, promotes health and protects those in less affluent circumstances.

To Achim Walter it’s clear: the budding artificial intelligence will decisively advance agroecology. But before we can harvest the fruits of AI, computers still have a lot to learn.

Agricultural technology doesn’t have a good reputation. And yet, developed intelligently, it’s the key to enhancing sustainability and biodiversity in agriculture, says Achim Walter.

Where and how we cultivate our crops has always been a matter of dispute – and is today more relevant than ever. But there will be no easy answers in the foreseeable future, says Achim Walter.

Technology opens the doors to new worlds. Yet it’s both a blessing and a curse, and as scientists, we should take care not to drive the wheel of development on faster than we need to. Summer might be the ideal time for a light-hearted look at this idea.

What will it take to make our agroecosystems more diverse and secure? Take buckwheat, for example – an ancient grain-like plant with considerable potential. It's not related to cereals, yet produces storable seeds and can taste anything from deliciously tart to bitter.

In the midst of today’s organic food boom and romantic glorification of nature, plant breeding is in a difficult position: one often forgets that we as humans owe our very survival to the supply of food. Almost nothing that we eat today was originally found in the natural world.

Soja ist die weltweit am intensivsten angebaute Hülsenfrucht – dies im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes. Die Anbaufläche beträgt rund 100 Millionen Hektar; 25-mal die Fläche der Schweiz. Drei Viertel dieser Soja ist gentechnisch verändert. Dennoch ist die Hülsenfrucht nicht nur für Big Business, sondern auch für die Bio-Landwirtschaft interessant.

Die UNO hat 2016 zum internationalen Jahr der Hülsenfrüchte erkoren. Doch warum gebührt diesen Früchten derartige Ehre? Erbse, Bohne, Linse und Co bergen das Potenzial, die globale Landwirtschaft schonend zu intensivieren. Sie verdienen es darum klar, dass wir uns stärker für sie interessieren.

Agricultural sciences? Can you still study that? And what is it good for? These are questions that teachers and students in this subject are always asked. Yet these degree programmes are now more relevant than ever – not only due to the new BSc and MSc regulations that will come into effect in autumn semester 2016.