Liste d'inventaires

The collection of vegetable varieties dates back to the early 1980s. Starting around that time, many old and traditional varieties of several species were largely replaced by hybrid varieties. To preserve Swiss varieties and those that had long been cultivated in Switzerland, dedicated collection efforts were organized.

Shortly after its founding in 1890, the Swiss Research Institute and School for Fruit, Wine, and Horticulture  began working on improving existing vegetable varieties through selection. During the First World War, seed production was also promoted. Efforts were made to provide Swiss vegetable growers with suitable varieties for cultivation and marketing. The starting material mainly consisted of local Swiss landraces. At the same time, the breeding work in Wädenswil contributed to maintaining domestic vegetable seed production. All vegetable varieties developed in Wädenswil bear the name “ZEFA,” an abbreviation for Züchtung der Eidgenössischen Forschungsanstalt (Breeding of the Federal Research Station).

Vegetable selection was also pursued at other Agroscope research stations. For example, shallot selection began in 1979 at the Centre des Fougères with the goal of developing stable, healthy, and high-quality material. Thanks to coordinated efforts across several Agroscope divisions, this work led to the development of the variety “MILRAC” (RAC: Recherche Agronomique de Changins).

At Changins, a selection program for Swiss chard was carried out. To ensure the conservation and promotion of genetic resources, a collection of farm populations and several more or less selected varieties of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris ssp. provulgaris var. flavescens) and leaf beet (B. vulgaris ssp. provulgaris var. cicla) was established at the Changins Station starting in 1980. Each population was cultivated, described, multiplied when necessary, and then preserved in the gene bank. One result of these effort was the variety "BERAC".

Die agrarpolitischen Veränderungen der 199oer-Jahre hatten auch in der Pflanzenzüchtung unübersehbare Folgen. So schaffte der Bund 1992 die Qualitätsprämien für Saatgetreide und die Verbilligungsbeiträge für Saatkartoffeln ab. Drei Jahre später gab er die Maiszüchtung auf, die seither im Zuchtbetrieb Delley betrieben wird.