Agriculture Restrictions are causing problems for Swiss rapeseed farmers
More and more Swiss farmers are abandoning rapeseed cultivation because they lack the means to protect the sensitive plants from pests. A worrying development that is jeopardizing self-sufficiency in rapeseed oil, according to the Grain Producers Association.
06.04.2025, 18:43
SDA
The bright yellow Swiss rapeseed fields are under threat, writes the Swiss Grain Producers Association (SGPV). The area under cultivation has fallen by eleven percent compared to 2023. According to the association, this decline is not due to a lack of interest on the part of producers, but to excessive restrictions.
Plant protection products indispensable
From sowing in August to harvesting in July, rapeseed is attacked by pests. The plants often cannot survive without pesticides. Organic rapeseed oil therefore only accounts for one percent of the total harvest.
Various research projects have been carried out on pest control without the use of chemicals, but these have not produced a satisfactory solution. For the SGPV, it is therefore understandable that half of the producers who have reduced their production explain this with a lack of available pesticides.
Following the ban on the active ingredients used until a few years ago, the insecticide cyantraniliprole would be an interesting alternative for farmers and the environment. However, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) recently rejected a corresponding application from cereal producers, even though this active ingredient is approved in the EU.
Motivating producers
According to the SGPV, it is absurd that rapeseed oil has to be imported in view of the major restrictions. And this from countries in which this pesticide - and even stronger products - are approved and also used.
Contacted by the Keystone-SDA news agency, SGPV Director Pierre-Yves Perrin very much hopes that the FSVO will soon relax its guidelines. The rapeseed market is promising, but it is no longer clear how to motivate producers. The number of rapeseed producers has fallen from 6400 three years ago to 5600 this year.
