Fruit trees and morels a love story ?

Since 2019, alongside my university studies in biochemistry, I have been practicing manual agroforestry on a 1,300 m² plot above Albeuve in the Fribourg Pre-Alps.

In 2022, as part of my bachelor's thesis, I conducted an experiment in co-cultivation between fruit trees and morel hyphae in the field. This experiment yielded positive results that require further refinement. Morels then fruited for three consecutive years. This work earned me the City of Fribourg's Sustainable Innovation Award that same year.

In 2024, I joined the microbiology laboratory at the University of Neuchâtel to repeat the co-culture experiment as part of my master's thesis on biodiversity conservation. A brief survey of the farm's biodiversity was also carried out, revealing a genuine interest in biodiversity conservation.

In 2025, my nursery has been recognized by the FOAG and is growing nearly a thousand high-stem fruit trees within a structure of dozens of meters of dry stone walls. The farm is now registered in the commercial register as an independent agroforestry nursery under the name: Jacquat – Là-Haut sur la Pépi.

As part of my thesis, I am seeking to deepen our understanding of the link between morel fruiting and fruit trees. This relationship, well known to mycologists, is currently beyond our comprehension. I see this as an opportunity to find an alternative method of sustainable cultivation of Swiss morels. It is now important to find alternative cultivation methods in order to avoid flooding Switzerland with Chinese morels, Morchella sextelata, the only cultivar currently used for morel cultivation.

As part of my thesis, I would also like to assess the impact of my living lab on biodiversity and CO2 capture. For this part, I aim to be supervised and supported by the Department of Biodiversity Conservation at the University of Neuchâtel. Currently, there is a lack of scientific literature on these two topics in the context of pre-Alpine agroforestry. In addition, the living lab is located within the Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut Regional Nature Park, which is a unique location in terms of biodiversity and ecological networks.