Practice, politics and research:
A professional internship at Agroscope
Philippe Mathys has long been interested in research. The 28-year-old student of Agricultural Sciences opted for Agroscope in Tänikon in the Canton of Thurgau for his professional internship and took away important lessons about practice, politics and research.
How can pesticides on crops be reduced by 75 % without reducing profitability by more than 10 %? IP-SUISSE, several cantonal agricultural offices and advisory organisations are addressing this question in the "PestiRed" project. Philippe Mathys' life also revolved around "PestiRed" during the 20 weeks of his professional internship. From December 2022 to April 2023, the Master's student of Agricultural Sciences was mainly occupied with data preparation, data analysis and data presentation.
A specific result
"The biggest task was to collect and understand all of the data," summarises Mathys. The data came from the farmers, from field calendars or surveys and sometimes had to be corrected, supplemented or standardised. Nevertheless, a concrete goal was always in sight: the collected data was used to create two reports, one practice-oriented and one scientific ─ a kind of interim result of the "PestiRed" project. The report was produced by the Managerial Economics in Agriculture research group and mainly uses economic data. Further publications will follow, "which will hopefully also include environmental factors in the calculation of profitability," says Mathys.
“In my view, agricultural research talks much about farmers, but very little with them.”Philippe Mathys, Master's student Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich
Co-innovative approach
An important component of "PestiRed" is the involvement of farmers. The farm managers regularly take part in specialist workshops, contribute their experience and discuss the measures for each crop. This ensures the exchange of research, advice and practice in the project. Mathys was particularly interested in this approach. In his opinion, the agricultural sciences are "precisely the field in which quantitative and qualitative methods, expert knowledge and rural knowledge should come together".
Practical perspective is often cut too short
"At university, problems in agriculture are mainly perceived as technical or economic problems," says Mathys. Agroscope is also increasingly developing in this direction. The young scientist therefore fears that practice-orientated research that does not lead to peer-reviewed publications will have a difficult time. Yet PestiRed is actually based on a holistic view of agriculture: The environment, social aspects, diversity, time and acceptance are included in equal measure. "But what is expected by political decision-makers are clear statistical effects that can be traced back to a handful of variables," so the student’s down-to-earth analysis.
Career aspiration: Researcher
Mathys' career aspirations have long focussed on research. This has not changed after his work placement. In his future projects, he would like to put the farmer back at the centre. "In my view, agricultural research talks much about farmers, but very little with them." The prevailing thinking at the university often goes in the wrong direction, the French-speaking researcher notes. "You define solutions and only then look for a way for farmers to accept these solutions."
Further information
- Ist eine starke Pestizidreduktion beim Weizen- und Rapsanbau wirtschaftlich? external page Article in Agrarforschung Schweiz of 02.11.23
- In 2018, a consortium consisting of IP-SUISSE (IPS), the agricultural offices of the cantons of SO, VD and GE and the advisory organisations Proconseil Sàrl and AgriVulg Sàrl submitted the external page PestiRed project to the FOAG. The aim of the project is to test new practices to reduce the use of pesticides on arable land.
- external page Agroscope Tänikon: Agroscope is the federal centre of excellence for research and development in the agricultural, food and environmental sectors. Tänikon in the canton of Thurgau is home to the Managerial Economics in Agriculture research group, among others.
- The Professional Internship is a compulsory part of the Master's degree programme in Agricultural Sciences and lasts at least 16 weeks. During this time, students work on a (partial) project or a defined task in the field of agricultural sciences.