The production of aromatic and medicinal plants (PAM) in Switzerland is almost exclusively organic and has strong roots in mountain regions. Despite branches in different sectors, the Swiss PAM sector is struggling to develop more strongly as it is exposed to high produc-tion costs and increasing competition from abroad. Weed control is the main technical and economic challenge and accounts for almost 35-40% of the total cost of production.
Weed management is a major problem in PAM crops, as they are usually perennial, require intensive weeding in large beds and are subject to very high quality requirements. Manual weeding is often the only technique available.
This project aims to optimize weed manage-ment in perennial organic PAM crops by focus-ing on four areas:
The gain in competitiveness achieved through this project will help ensure the long-term sus-tainability of the ecological production of PAM in Switzerland.
Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
Projektleitung
