Swiss want green and efficient farming

Keystone

The public considers protection of animals and the environment as well as self-sufficiency priorities for Swiss agriculture according to a survey.

But the results of the poll conducted by the Federal Agriculture Office and released on Friday also reveal that the country’s farmers should not hold their breath for more money.

The aim of the office’s study was to ascertain whether the constitutional mandate from 1996, which apportions SFr3.5 billion ($2.9 billion) a year to agriculture, was still valid.

Manfred Bötsch, head of the office, said on Friday that the responses of the 1,000 people polled showed the mandate was “totally up to date”.

The study revealed that virtually every requirement written in the constitution was seen by respondents as important: adequate self-sufficiency, a suitable income for productive businesses, high environmental standards and the maintenance of regeneration areas.

The compliance with strict animal protection regulations and the preservation of traditional species were especially high up the public’s wish list.

Nevertheless Bötsch admitted that there was not one single public attitude concerning the agricultural sector: one group wanted to keep the current structure, another was set on ecology and a third demanded efficient farming policy.

On the other hand

Less important for the Swiss however was the preservation of the Swiss farming tradition or the implementation of the latest technology in order to increase output.

The production of cheaper food was also a low priority for most people.

Although 42 per cent of respondents believed farmers were adequately supported, 35 per cent said farmers received too much money. Nineteen per cent of those surveyed said the level of support was too low.

“We must be able to prove that the government money is being efficiently allocated,” said Bötsch, adding that otherwise the majority of popular support would disappear.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

In 1900, 31% of the Swiss workforce was employed in the agricultural sector. Today the figure is less than 4%. They cultivate, use and shape almost 40% of the total area of the country.

The farming community has become a small minority in a service economy, with a clear multifunctional role, which has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution since 1996.

Under the federal law on agriculture the state supports farmers, primarily by direct payments and payments for environmentally friendly rather than product-related methods.