ETH Zurich at Olma 2021
ETH Zurich will be at Olma in St. Gallen from 7 to 17 October 2021. In the exhibition entitled “Where the Future Begins – Research for Sustainable Agriculture”, the university will provide a playful insight into modern agricultural sciences.
Where the Future Begins – Research for Sustainable
Agriculture
With a selection of exciting games, the exhibition will enable visitors to experience how ETH research in agricultural sciences is helping to secure an environmentally friendly, resource-conserving and socially acceptable food system.
Your visit at a glance
Olma takes place from 7 to 17 October 2021 in St. Gallen: external pageOpening hours, directions and overview
The ETH booth will be part of the special exhibition external pageErlebnis Nahrung Hall 6, Booth 6.0.09
Admission to the special exhibition is free. A Covid certificate is required for admission to Olma. You can find all the important external pageinformation about your visit here
Exhibition highlights
The family-friendly ETH booth will offer a range of interactive games to introduce you to the central research questions in the areas of crop plants, animal nutrition and agricultural policy. The games are accompanied by fascinating exhibits that illustrate the potential of AI and robotics in modern agricultural sciences.
The student project SmartBreed from the ETH Student Project House will present its fully automated insect breeding box for sustainable poultry feeding. And in the children’s corner, the youngest can colour in a worm in an apple and present their work in a three-dimensional form.
How can we breed climate-tolerant and disease-resistant crop varieties?
Drones, sensors and cameras accurately document aspects the development of different crop varieties in the field, enabling new varieties to be bred more quickly.
The challenge: will you manage to accurately steer the drone over the test field?
How can the field be protected from pests without harming the environment?
When smart helpers cooperate, they can help to drastically reduce the use of pesticides and fertilisers. Drones can be used to detect disease or nutrient deficiencies in the field. Ground robots inspect the site, weed mechanically and apply additives where necessary.
We present the smart farming trio of weeding robot, hexacopter and flying drone.
How can we produce as much sustainable food as possible on as little land as possible?
Agricultural policy is about balancing the food system in such a way that it provides us with affordable and healthy food, enables farmers to make a living and maintains resources for the long term.
The challenge: try your hand at the tricky Jenga of agricultural policy. But beware – it’s a very special kind of balancing act.
The Agricultural Economics and Policy Group
How can digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) help to make Swiss agriculture more diverse and resource-efficient?
ETH is researching how AI systems can be used to teach machines where nutrients are needed and where to fight weeds or disease.
The challenge: join forces with Morph to protect a field from weeds – and learn through play what AI can do.
Soy as animal feed is a major cause of rainforest clearance.
Insects bred using agricultural by-products are a high-quality and sustainable soy substitute for poultry. When fed live, insects increase animal welfare in the barn and improve the quality of the eggs.
SmartBreed from the ETH Student Project House demonstrates with its fully automated breeding boxes how insects can be bred directly on the farm.
Augmented reality can enhances creativity.
Children can colour in the characters in the book and bring them to three-dimensional life with the help of a tablet and the Augmented Creativity app: an animated avatar of the colouring book character appears on the screen.
Further information: ETH News
150 Years Agricultural Sciences
ETH Zurich’s Division of Agriculture was founded in 1871. The Institute of Agricultural Sciences celebrates the anniversary with various events throughout the jubilee year, one of which is its presence at the Olma.
On the anniversary website you can further find a timeline with historical facts and selected stories from the past 150 years.
Programme and Attendances
About Olma
Olma is Switzerland’s largest trade fair for agriculture and food. It attracts more than 350,000 visitors and is held annually in autumn for eleven days at the Olma exhibition centre in St. Gallen. This year's event takes place from 7 to 17 October 2021.