Switzerland’s farming sector at a crossroads? While our alpine landscapes are iconic, the soil beneath them is has significant nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses that threaten our drinking water and aquatic ecosystems. This report explores strategies to improve nutrient management within the Swiss farming sector by comparing Switzerland’s regulatory framework to systems in the Netherlands, China, and Denmark. The authors identify a critical need to modernize the “Suisse-Bilanz” (the current farm-level nutrient balance tool) to make it more transparent and digitally integrated. A key message is that Switzerland should transition toward a national digital database that tracks real-time nutrient flows—such as fertilizer imports and manure exchanges—while replacing simplified “unavoidable loss” deductions with accurate, site-specific data to reduce environmental pollution without increasing the administrative burden on farmers.
IMPROVING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN THE SWISS FARMING SECTOR. TURRY OUMA, CHENGCHENG MA, NICOLIN CAFLISCH, FRANK LIEBISCH. Download the report (PDF)
The report was written during seminar: „Sustainable Plant Systems“ (551-0209-00L) at ETH Zurich in 2026.
Is Switzerland’s farming sector at a crossroads? While our alpine landscapes are iconic, the soil beneath them is has significant nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses that threaten our drinking water and aquatic ecosystems. This report explores strategies to improve nutrient management within the Swiss farming sector by comparing Switzerland’s regulatory framework to systems in the Netherlands, China, and Denmark. The authors identify a critical need to modernize the “Suisse-Bilanz” (the current farm-level nutrient balance tool) to make it more transparent and digitally integrated. A key message is that Switzerland should transition toward a national digital database that tracks real-time nutrient flows—such as fertilizer imports and manure exchanges—while replacing simplified “unavoidable loss” deductions with accurate, site-specific data to reduce environmental pollution without increasing the administrative burden on farmers.
IMPROVING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN THE SWISS FARMING SECTOR. TURRY OUMA, CHENGCHENG MA, NICOLIN CAFLISCH, FRANK LIEBISCH. Download the report (PDF)
The report was written during seminar: „Sustainable Plant Systems“ (551-0209-00L) at ETH Zurich in 2026.
Agriculture is facing a major challenge of feeding the growing world population. Since the green revolution, the abundant use of fertilizers has been widely regarded as a fundamental tool to address this challenge. Switzerland’s agriculture, on average, has used excessive amounts of fertilizers at relatively low efficiency, indicating the need to improve the nutrient use efficiency of Swiss agricultural production.
Continue reading Towards Circular Nutrient Economy in Agriculture →
Agriculture is facing a major challenge of feeding the growing world population. Since the green revolution, the abundant use of fertilizers has been widely regarded as a fundamental tool to address this challenge. Switzerland’s agriculture, on average, has used excessive amounts of fertilizers at relatively low efficiency, indicating the need to improve the nutrient use efficiency of Swiss agricultural production.
In this article we present a thought experiment on how to close nitrogen- and nutrient-cycles in Swiss agriculture and thus foster a more sustainable fertilization.
Radek Zenkl, Andreas Berlepsch-Valendas, Frank Liebisch (2024). Food for Thought: Towards Circular Nutrient Economy in Agriculture. Download the report (PDF)
The report was written during seminar: „Sustainable Plant Systems“ (551-0209-00L) at ETH Zurich in 2023.
Anna Hunkeler1, Anja Schmutz2, Carole A. Epper3
1 Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2 Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 3Agroscope, Switzerland
Nitrogen balances uncover the potential negative environmental impact of a certain agricultural management at a defined scale, here at the farm level, and can also illustrate where the farm is positioned in the sustainability transition pathway.
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In the report, the authors explored the strengths and weaknesses of the nitrogen balance approach and data availability for Switzerland, conceptualized the nutrient balance of two contrasting farm systems and discussed them in the frame of the sustainability assessment.
Continue reading Can nitrogen balances support the sustainability assessment? →
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