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  • Career Monitoring, Institutional Assessment and Ranking
    73-77
    Views:
    91

    The labour market started to make a difference between the diplomas issued by higher educational institutions. The decision of prospective students considerably depends on the labour market value of a certain diploma. Career monitoring of graduates is a very important task of higher educational institutions. Feedback and experiences from the graduates and the employers are valuable sources of information for the institutions to shape their teaching activities in order to meet the actual demand of the labour market. Career monitoring of graduates is not a common activity at present in Hungary. Some institutions regularly monitor the labour market position of their graduates, but unfortunately most institutions do not invest time or manpower in such activities. A country level study has already been introduced that included almost all the higher educational institutions in Hungary. This study, coordinated by the Hungarian Ministry of Education, appears ready to be continued. The aim of this study is to introduce some institutional and country level initiations of career monitoring.

  • Mitigation of environment impact of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species
    159-164
    Views:
    139

    The Fusarium fungi hazards the grain quality of cereals, therefore significantly affects their utilization as animal feed or consumable product. The Fusarium can decrease the quality of wheat in different ways: decreases the germination capability, causes visible discoloration, mould may appear, reduces the dry material and nutrient content of the grain, causes mycotoxin infection – as a result given by its by-product. Micotoxins produced by Fusarium genus, as the trichotecenes (T-2, HT-2, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, Fusarenone-X) and the zearalenone (F-2) are the most common in Hungary. Occurrence of fumonisins first discovered in 1988 are must be identified carefully. About 20–30% of the overall worldwide production of cereals is infected with Fusarium and its toxins, which situation is similar in Hungary. This infection causes serious yield-losses in cereal production. In the case of cereal products, which non-utilizable as forage seems, an optimal solution is utilizing as biogas raw material, but it is also important to examine the effect of the infected cereal on the anaerobe digestion process.

  • Comparison of Pálfai’s drought index and the Normalised Precipitation Index in the North Great Plain region
    59-64
    Views:
    152

    Agriculture has always been an important role in economy, food supplies, sustainability of society and creation of job opportunities in Hungary. Our country has resource-related strength of agriculture, because we have more than 4.5 million ha for agricultural production. Agricultural production can be influenced by several factors, including climate, hydrology, soil conditions and antropogenic impacts. Climate determines the quality and quantity of the crop yields. The climate conditions in Hungary are variable and it shows spatial and temporal extremes. As a result of this, drought have become more frequent in our country (2003, 2007, 2009, 2012), which is reflected in the decline in yields as well. In the present study, Pálfai's Drought Index (PAI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) were compared 2003–2012 in Debrecen. The temperature and precipitation data were calculated from data provided by a local meteorological station to work out PAI, while the SPI-3 index values were downloaded from the database of the European Drought Observatory. This allowed to drought assessment in a local and regional scale. Our study was supplemented with SPI-3, soil moisture anomalies, PAI and yields of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) to evaluating the impact of drought on agriculture.

  • Impact of the integration of lupine (Lupinus albus) into crop rotation on the extent of soil compaction in the Westsik longterm field trial
    529-537
    Views:
    90

    In order to reduce or eliminate soil compaction, rational crop rotation and appropriate sequence of crops have an increasingly important role in addition to mechanical and tillage solutions. In this respect, introduction of greening in recent years has been a major step, which focuses on aspects of environmentally conscious, soil conserving farming and the improvement of biodiversity. The cornerstone of this strategy is the cultivation of crops that have a beneficial effect on soil properties, such as the use of nitrogen-fixing plants and green manure plants in the cultivation system that have a beneficial effect on soil structure. In our examinations, penetrometer measurements were carried out in the second longest crop rotation-based field experiment in Europe in order to quantify the effects of green crops and crop rotation strategies on soil resistance. Our aim was to evaluate and compare the impact of lupine (Lupinus albus) on the penetration resistance of soil on sour sandy soils. At the time of the penetration resistance measurement, different crop rotations had a significant effect on the development of the parameter in the examined soil layer. The most favourable penetration resistance values were found in the crop rotation, which included lupine as a green manure. The favourable effect is dominant below the cultivated layer (0–40 cm), which is statistically verified. The values of penetration resistance of the cultivated soil layer of lupine sown as primary green manure did not differ significantly from the values measured in the case of the fallowing-based crop rotation. Therefore, the use of lupine green manure instead of fallowing could be worth considering by practical application due to its favourable effects on soil penetration resistance. The use of lupine green manure after the production of rye cultivation resulted in penetration parameters similar to fallowing, irrespective of the green crop and the applied amount of nitrogen fertilizer, which justifies the cultivation of the crop as green manure. In the case of potato cultivating, recorded compaction within the cultivated layer is an obvious consequence of mechanical compaction during harvest; therefore, machinery operations are decisive for the development of penetration resistance values of the cultivated layer. In addition to the beneficial effect of lupine as a green manure crop on soil condition, its nitrogen-fixing ability is also important; it stresses the utilisation of the crop of sour sandy soils for the sake of proper soil management. 

  • Urgent agricultural issues of soil protection
    169-172
    Views:
    142

    The primary aim of this study is to draw attention to the importance of legal problems of soil protection. The basis for my study is the ombudsman’s 2016 principle of soil protection. This resolution summarizes the most pressing soil protection measures in 15 points that need to be taken as soon as possible to preserve soil resources. To narrow the wide range of topics, I will examine three points: (1) preservation of soil resources, (2) soil sealing, (3) brownfield instead of greenfield. Hungary is in a special position concerning this most ancient natural resource, as only 11% of all the land covered area of Earth consists of soil, the EU average is less than 30%, while in Hungary it is more than 60%. Despite the existing protective legal requirements, soil degradation is a constant issue. The persistence of population growth spells the need for more arable land, but as a result of the stressful impacts caused by people we are running out of useable topsoil.

    Assessing both the short and long term process of land reclamation, it can be stated that more and more farmland becomes permanently and imperviously covered for other purposes each year, and as the arable land area decreases, the impervious surface area grows despite all respective decisions, regulations and prohibitions.

  • New occurence of woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa [Thunb.] Kunth) in Hajdúság area, East-Hungary
    51-54
    Views:
    212

    Because of the globalization and global warming the emergence of invasive weeds in Hungary are more common. The woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa [Thunb.] Kunth) is published as an important invasive weed in Hungary. Woolly cupgrass is native in East Asia and it spreads into several parts of the World and causes difficulties in plant protection. It has been spreading extensively during the last few years,as the weed shows a very serious invasion potential.

  • Interaction of yield stability and year in major agricultural crops
    41-46
    Views:
    85

    The effect of hydro-meteorological extremities on plant cultivation is the result of the correlation of many factors. These may increase or decrease the effects of hydro-meteorological extremes. The degree of this variance depends on the professionality of treatments, on the quality of the applied technique and technology and also on the soil’s water management characteristics.
    The water management characteristics of Hungary’s arable land are mainly unfavorable or medium. In the past two decades the conditions of originally good soils, from a water management aspect, have significantly deteriorated in the critical 0-60 cm soil layer. This is mainly due to unprofessional land use, a lack of deepening cultivation and neglected organic cultivation. At the same time, hydro-meteorological extremities occur more frequently and the sensibility of plant cultivation has increased.
    The sensibility of plant cultivation is type and location specific, yet, it also effects both the quality and quantity of the result.
    The stability analysis, which covered the period of four decades and incorporated 6-7 agro-ecological areas proves and highlights the following:
    • Winter wheat only reacted to extensive cultivation and unfavorable environmental conditions to a small degree. On the other hand, the effect of hydro-meteorological extremities increases.
    • The stability analysis of maize, which is sensitive to cultivation technology and the location of cultivation, proved just the opposite. Good soil and adequate technology significantly reduces the effect of any particular year.
    • From the years examined, the most favorable proved to be the one with average precipitation. Maize reacted to both extremities in a similar way. Winter wheat reacted to more precipitation with less yield.
    • The yield quality of winter wheat was negatively effected by drought. The negative effect of precipitation is limited to the period of ripening and harvest, so the likelihood of such an effect is not significant.
    • The yield of sunflower – due to pests – significantly reduces in years with high precipitation, while a difference between dry and average years cannot be pinpointed out. The oil content in both dry years and in years with high precipitation is evident, compared to years with average precipitation.
    • The root yield of sugar beet is reduced by drought while the sugar content depends on soil characteristics and climatic extremities. A difference could also be noted by location, whether in Western Hungary and on the Great Plain. Great sugar content can be achieved in years with high precipitation in Western Hungary, while the same result occurred with average precipitation on the Great Plain. Drought did not have a positive effect on sugar content in either location.

  • Comparative study of a winter wheat variety and hybrid sown after different pre-crops on chernozem soil
    63-69
    Views:
    205

    Wheat production is a determining branch within Hungarian crop production (produced on nearly one million hectares). Weather anomalies caused by climatic change confirmed the importance of the biological background (variety, hybrid) in wheat production. The adapting ability and reaction of different wheat genotypes towards nutrient supply were studied in a long-term field experiment on chernozem soil type in the case of different pre-crops (sunflower and maize). According to the experimental results of the vegetation of 2017/2018, the yield of the variety Ingenio sown after the sunflower as previous crop ranged between 4168 and 8734 kg ha-1, while in the case of maize as previous crop, this value ranged between 2084 and 7782kg ha-1, depending on the applied nutrient supply level. The studied genotypes produced rather significant yield surplus as a response to the application of mineral fertilization (4.6–5.1 t ha-1 after sunflower and 5.7–6.3 t ha-1 after maize). Optimal mineral fertilizer dosage was determined by both the genotype and the pre-crop. N-optimum values of wheat genotypes was determined using regression analysis. In the case of the variety Ingenio sown after sunflower, the optimum range was N144-150+PK, while after maize, it was
    N123-150+PK, respectively. For the hybrid Hyland, these optimum ranges were N114-120+PK, just as N150-153+PK, resp. The application of optimal mineral fertilizer dosages improved water utilization of the studied wheat genotypes to a significant extent. WUE values of the control, unfertilized treatments ranged between 4.1–8.3 kg mm-1, while in optimal fertilizer treatment, it ranged between 15.5 and 17.4 kg mm-1.

  • Competence modules of the agro-environmental engineering bachelor course in Hungary
    229-236
    Views:
    69

    One of the most important goals of the Bologna Process is to introduce the three circle system: bachelor, master, doctorate courses. In Hungary from 2006/2007 academic year 132 bachelor courses are launched. One of the launched bachelor course is environmental engineering of which the scientific background and economical sector are rapidly changing. Hence, to help graduates from this area to find a job, it is very important to examine working activities, expectations of employers, to study requirements of the training programs, the system of competencies. Having examined these points, frameworks of professional requirements have been worked out by 27 validation tests. In this publication, the results of the research work related to the environmental engineering bachelor program were presented.

  • Assessment of Environmental Susceptibility/Vulnerability of Soils
    62-74
    Views:
    86

    Soils represent a considerable part of the natural resources of Hungary. Consequently, rational land use and proper soil management – to guarantee normal soil functions – are important elements of sustainable (agricultural) development, having special importance both in the national economy and in environment protection.
    The main soil functions in the biosphere are as follows: conditionally renewable natural resource; reactor, transformer and integrator of the combined influences of other natural resources (solar radiation, atmosphere, surface and subsurface waters, biological resources), place of „sphere-interactions”; medium for biomass production, primary food-source of the biosphere; storage of heat, water and plant nutrients; natural filter and detoxication system, which may prevent the deeper geological formations and the subsurface waters from various pollutants; high capacity buffer medium, which may prevent or moderate the unfavourable consequences of various environmental stresses; significant gene-reservoir, an important element of biodiversity.
    Society utilizes these functions in different ways (rate, method, efficiency) throughout history, depending on the given natural conditions and socio-economic circumstances. In many cases the character of the particular functions was not properly taken into consideration during the utilization of soil resources, and the misguided management resulted in their over-exploitation, decreasing efficiency of one or more soil functions, and – over a certain limit – serious environmental deterioration.
    Soil resources are threatened by the following environmental stresses:
    – soil degradation processes;
    – extreme moisture regime;
    – nutrient stresses (deficiency or toxicity);
    – environmental pollution.
    Environmental stresses caused by natural factors or human activities represent an increasing ecological threat to the biosphere, as well as a socio-economic risk for sustainable development, including rational land use and soil management.
    The stresses are caused by the integrated impacts of various soil properties, which are the results of soil processes (mass and energy regimes, abiotic and biotic transport and transformation and their interactions) under the combined influences of soil forming factors. Consequently, the control of soil processes is a great challenge and the main task of soil science and soil management in sustainable development.
    The efficient control of these processes necessitates the following consecutive steps:
    • registration of facts and consequences (information on land and soil characteristics, land use, cropping pattern, applied agrotechnics, yields, with their spatial and temporal variability);
    • evaluation of potential reasons (definition and quantification of soil processes, analysis of influencing factors and their mechanisms);
    • assessment of the theoretical, real, rational and economic possibilities for the control of soil processes (including their risk-assessment and impact analysis);
    • elaboration of efficient technologies for the „best” control alternatives (best management practice).
    Scientifically based planning and implementation of sustainable land use and rational soil management to ensure desirable soil functions, without any undesirable environmental side-effects, require adequate soil information. In the last years such data were organized into a computer-based GIS soil database in Hungary, giving opportunities for the quantification, analysis, modelling and forecasting of the studied environmental stresses and for the efficient and scientifically based prevention, elimination or reduction of environmental stresses and their unfavourable ecological and economical consequences.
    Special attention was paid to the assessment of various soil degradation processes, as: (1) soil erosion by water or wind; (2) soil acidification; (3) salinization and/or alkalization; (4) physical degradation (structure destruction, compaction); (5) extreme moisture regime: drought sensitivity and waterlogging hazard; (6) biological degradation; (7) unfavourable changes in the plant nutrient regime; (8) decrease of natural buffering capacity, (9) soil (and water) pollution.
    The actions against undesirable environmental stresses and their unfavourable consequences are important elements of sustainable, efficient, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound crop production and agricultural development. These are joint tasks of the state, decision makers on various levels, the land owners, the land users and – to a certain extent – of each member of the society.

  • The Target Areas of Regional Development, Tool and Institutional Background, its Present and Future Prospects
    138-142
    Views:
    66

    Regional politics determines the aims of regional structures, and the tools with the institutional background on the whole necessary achieve these. Realizing the aims of regional politics is a precondition of executing the basic principles of regional development and politics. The regional institutional system for handling the decentralized financial resources has not evolved in Hungary yet. The professional institutes for preparing the programs have not been set up, and the management of execution is slowly taking shape. There are still deficiencies in the domestic application of concentration and addition principles. A number of funds are provided on a national level, that are directly or indirectly aimed at regional development. The obvious coordination among the funds is not carried out neither on a national, nor on a regional level, partly to avoid parallel consumption aims. The future of Hungarian spatial structure depends on the type of decentralization strategy the country will follow for the new resources after the accession. Total decentralization offers the most efficient solution for Hungary.

  • The Effect of Year and Irrigation on the Yield Quantity and Quality of the Potato
    12-16
    Views:
    90

    In Hungary, the growing area of potato area reduced dramatically in the last few decades, additionally we are lagging behind the Western European countries as regards yields and the competitiveness of production is further decreased by the great alternation in yields from year to year, the unpredictable market conditions, bad consumption habits and many times unfortunately the lack of quality products.
    The ecological and climatic conditions of Hungary are not everywhere suitable for potato, in the area of Debrecen the amount of rainfall was lower, and the monthly average temperature was higher than the requirement of potato in its growing season in 2002 and 2003.
    The experiment was carried out at the experimental site of the University of Debrecen, Farm and Regional Research Institute, at Látókép. In our experiment we examined the yield and some quality parameters of 8 and 9 medium-early varieties in large parcels in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Out of the examined varieties 3 are of Dutch, and 6 are of Hungarian breeding.
    The experiment was set up on 49.5 m2 parcels on calcareous chernozem soil after winter wheat as a forecrop in both years. The 9 varieties were examined in 4 repetitions in randomized blocks, out of which two repetitions were irrigated, and two were non-irrigated.
    We examined the yields of the varieties, the distribution of tubers according to size and their percentages, and the changes in specific parameters of quality and inner content due to irrigation. We studied the dry matter content, the starch content, the under-water mass, the amount of reducing sugars, the colour index of frying and the element contents of tubers.
    Summing up, it can be stated that among the agrotechnical year effect, variety and irrigation factors have considerable impact on potato yield quality and quantity. On the basis of our results, it can be stated that in potato production variety should be chosen in accordance with the aim of production and technology should be adapted to that specific variety.

  • SSR based characterization of peach (Prunus persica L.) and apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) varieties cultivated in Hungary
    17-24
    Views:
    265
    The SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers allow the discrimination of the cultivars and determination its specific DNA fingerprints. The aim of this research was to evaluate fifteen apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) and fifty-one peach (Prunus persica L.) genotypes cultivated in Hungary to obtain their DNA fingerprints in 6 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) loci by allele numbers and sizes.
    DNAs were extracted from leaves. PCR was carried out with CY-5 fluorescent labeled Prunus microsatellite markers and the products were separated on polyacrylamide gel with ALF (Automated Laser Flourometer)-Express II.
    According to our results, in the case of peach genotypes, all 6 SSRs were able to amplify alleles. UDP 96 005 was the most informative marker and UCDCH 17 was the least due to its monomorphic pattern. Regarding the apricot samples BPPCT 041 did not amplify any allele. In the case of P. armeniaca UDP 96 005 had the highest heterozygosity index as well and the highest number of alleles. The least informative marker was the UCDCH 17. Since the 6 SSR were not enough to discriminate the apricot and peach genotypes, it is suggested to use more SSR primers.
  • The analysis of ostrich chick vitality
    35-40
    Views:
    55

    Examinations on ostrich chick vitality can help to improve the effectiveness of Hungarian ostrich husbandry and hatching technology. The investigations were carried out on an ostrich breeder farm in Eastern Hungary. For the analyses, the Tona et al. (2003) scoring system was applied presenting eight main criteria (activity, feather, condition, eyesight, the condition of navel and leg, the amount of the remaining shell membrane and egg content, and the size and tenderness of the abdomen). Most chicks (98.08%) were vigilant and had clean and dry feathers. There was no difference between the average hatching weights between May and August but a decreasing tendency was shown during the laying season. The vitality total score was above 90 in each evaluated month and was not affected by the hatching month. Our results revealed that the vitality of chicks was not affected by either the hatching month (P=0.51) or the weight category (P=0.11). Neither the hatching weight of chicks and leg condition were correlated (P=0.79). Results showed that the Tona scoring system with small modifications can be well applied to ostrich chicks. Practical on-farm usage of the system can be suggested as an aid in day-old chick evaluation. After individual marking of chicks, the investigation of growth and culling rate could be carried out for more precise conclusions, involving more farms and laying seasons.

  • The recent state of cryopreservation techniques for ex-situ gene conservation and breeding purposes in small ruminants: A review
    81-87
    Views:
    269

    The viewpoint of the recent cryopreservation techniques (CT) suggests the use of a reduced volume of cryopreservation solution, high concentration of cryoprotectants and ultra-rapid cooling and warming rates help to reduce cryo-injury and maximize the viability of the preserved animal genetic resources (AnGR). The CT had now become widely accepted as one of the best methods of choice for the ex-situ conservation of AnGR due to its high success rate recorded and no-invasive nature as compared to the conventional slow rate freezing (CSRF). Rapid advances and wide acceptability of the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART’s) particularly artificial insemination (AI) in animal breeding had resulted in a greater loss of a large number of good quality genes in virtually almost all the native breeds of animals across the globe. Small ruminant (SR) animals are not an exception in such present predicaments situation of erosion and dilution of the valuable AnGR among the native breeds. As a result of this, 148 and 16 breeds of sheep and goats respectively have already become extinct in Europe and the Caucasus. In view of the aforementioned situation, the present review aimed at exploring some of the current states of development, roles played and potentials of CT in the conservation of SR genes and genome for the immediate and future breeding purposes for sustainable development. It basically covers; animal genetic resource, the need to conserve AnGR, tools for ex situ in vitro conservation of AnGR and recent developments in breeding and cryopreservation of SR AnGR.

    Cryopreservation is playing a pivotal role in ex-situ gene conservation of AnGR. Decline in genetic diversity among SR breed population was high in Europe and the Caucasus. There is therefore, need for improvent on current stringent measures on conservation of AnGR in this region of the world.

  • The Aalborg process and its Hungarian connections
    5-14
    Views:
    75

    The four European Conferences on Sustainable Cities and Towns gave birth to documents that are important from the point of view of local sustainability. These are, in chronological order, the Aalborg Charter – 1994 Aalborg, the Lisbon Action Plan – 1996 Lisbon, the Hannover Call – 2000 Hannover, and the Aalborg Commitments – 2004 Aalborg. Throughout the process, the emphasis gradually moved from planning to the implementation of plans.
    Today, there are more than 2000 signatories of the Aalborg
    1A tanulmány az OTKA T-046704 sz. pályázatának támogatásával készült.
    Charter. The cutting edge of the process are Italy and Spain, the municipalities of these two countries add up to 80 per cent of all signatories. In both countries, the national commitment is given, but there is not a body that could coordinate the activities related to sustainability, so local governments play the major role in it. The constitutions of these two countries also pass on some duties that are relevant from the point of view of sustainability within the competence of local governments, and allow resources to implement them. In the case of the United Kingdom, the commitment of the national government, and especially the Prime Minister, is the major factor in the movement towards local sustainability.
    The former socialist countries in Europe, as well as Hungary are relatively underdeveloped economically, so the social and environmental pillars of sustainable development are pushed into the background behind the economical pillar. As a result of the lack of national commitment, there is no guidance and there are no case studies available, so only a small part of local governments are informed of this important international movement, and so are committed to it. The lack of resources is also a problem. The consequence of all this is that there are 35 municipalities from the Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004, and only four from Hungary – to mention by name Aba, Kecskemét, Monor and Nagykanizsa – that signed the Aalborg Charter.

  • Sour cherry anthracnose and possibilities of the control with special regard to resident Glomerella population in sour cherry plantations of East Hungary
    12-17
    Views:
    133

    Anthracnose is considered one of the most destructive diseases for sour cherry production due to the rapid development of the disease on fruits. Glomerella cingulata (Stoneman) Spauld. & H. Schrenk (anam.: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. in Penz.) has been the fungal pathogen responsible for anthracnose in last decades. Yield losses greater than 90% may occur under epidemic conditions. C. acutatum (J.H. Simmonds, 1968) strains were isolated of sourcherry plantations in East Hungary and this pathogen, new for Hungarian microbiont became recently dominant. Contrarily to the former species it is certainly transmitted with ants during fruit ripening. About third of strains proved to be cutinase producers that enable them to actively penetrate via cuticule, and these strains infect directly berries of blackberry, grape and tomato as well as plum and apple. Most of cutinase negative strains could also infect these fruits after mechanic injury. All strains of both species produce amylase, cellulase, lecithinase, lipase, polyfenoloxydase and protease in vitro, although the activity of these enzymes highly varied in the medium. The only C. acutatum strains produced noticeable amount of chitinase. Strains, tolerant to recently applied fungicides to control the anthracnose, could be isolated of sour cherry plantations that might be the cause of ineffectiveness of control measures in 2010. The mycofungicide containing mixture of three Trichoderma species in oil carrier could efficiently depress the development of anthracnose in ripening sour cherry.

  • Comparison of major population parameters of Brown hare (Lepus europaeus, Pallas 1758) in two hunting fields of the Great Hungarian Plain
    69-74
    Views:
    135

    Hungarian stock of game is not only part of our national treasure but also one of our domestic products and economic income. Not indifferent therefore the number and the state of health of our wildlife. Population decline of the Brown hare (Lepus europaeus, Pallas 1758) (one of our most important small game in Hungary) takes a long time. Demographic parameters of Brown hare was examined, particularly the factors affecting the decline of the species in Hungary. We took samples from typical habitats where the Brown hare could be found in relatively high density in our country. The article reports data of reproductive characteristics, diseases, parasites of Brown hare and other factors such as climatic and anthropogenic which could influence of the population dynamics. We mention sample collection and processing methods eg: population size estimates, examination of reproductive organs, the sex ratio and the age structure as well as the individual condition based on data of domestic and foreign authors and our partial results.

  • Impact of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on the growth and micronutrient content of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
    211-219
    Views:
    166

    Micronutrients are as important as macronutrients for crops. Each micronutrient has its own function in plant growth. Zinc is important for membrane integrity and phytochrome activities. Copper is an essential micronutrient required for the growth of wheat. Manganese is required for enzyme activation, in electron transport, and in disease resistance. The pot experiment was set up in greenhouse on calcareous chernozem soil Debrecen-Látókép with a spring wheat. In certain development stages (according to BBCH growth scale of wheat), at the beginning of stem elongation (29–30), at the heading (51–59), at the flowering (61–69) stage three average plants were removed from all pots for analysis. Fresh and dry weight of the plant samples were measured. Plant leaves after drying were digested by HNO3-H2O2 methods and manganese, zinc and copper contents of plant were quantified by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. At the flowering stage, when the nutrient uptake of plants is the most intensive, the weight of wheat ranged between 0.94–1.57 g plant-1. In this development stage, the NS2 treatment produced the highest weight of wheat, and compared to this the NS3 treatment decreased that value already. The results show unfavourable effect of NS3 treatment. On the basis of microelement content of wheat and the weight of a plant, nutrient uptake by plant were calculated. At the beginning of growth the starter treatment had positive effect on Cu-uptake compared to the NS1 treatment, where the same dose of fertilizer was stirred into the soil. Wheat is very sensitive to copper deficiency, so copper dissolved by starter treatment could be favourable to the early development of wheat. At flowering stage the Zn-uptake of wheat became the highest and it was between 133.7–234.6 mg plant-1. The Mn-uptake of wheat plant was higher than the Cu- and Zn-uptake of wheat.

    This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the untreated soil had higher Mn-content, than Cu- and Zn-content. To summarize the results, it can be stated, that the copper uptake of wheat was more affected by the different treatments in the stage of stem elongation, while Mn- and Zn-uptake of wheat were influenced primarily in the stage of heading and flowering.

  • Effect of allithiamine on the level of hyperglycaemia-induced advanced glycation end products
    41-44
    Views:
    231

    Diabetes mellitus is a rapidly growing public health burden in both developed and developing countries. Diabetes mellitus is accompanied by hyperglycaemia, which can cause tissue injury by several mechanisms. One of these is the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). In this study, the effect of allithaimine, a fat-soluble thiamine derivative, was investigated on hyperglycaemia-induced AGEs levels using human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as a hyperglycaemic model. HUVECs were isolated by enzymatic digestion, characterized by flow cytometer and treated 30 mM glucose plus allithaimine or thiamine or cell maintenance medium as control.  Allithiamine was synthesized and purified. The structure of the synthesized and isolated compound was verified by reverse phase HPLC and MALDI-TOF. AGEs were evaluated by ELISA. Collectively, our results indicate that allithiamine can reduce level of the hyperglycaemia-induced AGEs similar to thiamine.

  • Concentration and Horizontal Integration in Milk Production
    60-66
    Views:
    87

    Agriculture in Hungary was characterised by the duality of large-scale farms (co-ops and state farms) and small-scale private enterprises until the beginning of the 1990s. Due to the privatisation and transformation of co-ops farm structure has significantly changed. The transformation of the structure is not considered to be a completed process. Level of concentration and integration on private farms are rising, new co-operation forms are appearing and new types of enterprises and producers’ groups are being formed.
    Concentration and integration have great importance in the dairy sector among agricultural enterprises. In recent years, milk production in the European Union has been characterised by concentration, leading to greater competitiveness. Today, most dairy producers belong to different kinds of producers’ organisations as concentrated demand may only be competitive by meeting concentrated supply. In Hungary, the problems of production have been the fragmentation and decrease of the average farm size while, at the same time, concentration has occurred in the processing sector. Establishing producers’ groups may be one of the solutions for improving competitiveness production.

  • Harnessing diversity in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) to enhance climate resilience and micronutrient concentration through genetic and agronomic biofortification
    9-20
    Views:
    168

    Huge consumption of wheat-driven food products with low bioavailability and small concentrations of zinc is responsible for zinc-induced malnutrition and associated health complications. The contemporary durum wheat varieties have inherently tiny zinc concentrations in developing grain, which cannot meet the daily human zinc demand. Despite the fact that over two billion people are suffering from iron and zinc-induced malnutrition, various intervention measures have been deployed to reverse the effect of zinc-induced malnutrition on humans. There are evidences that agronomic and genetic biofortification approaches can increase grain yield and nutritional quality (i.e. zinc, iron, protein, and vitamins) of durum wheat to a greater extent. However, there is a lack of direct empirical evidence for which the influence of both biofortification approaches on improving human health. Application of micronutrient-containing fertilizers either in the soil or foliarly is effective in combination with NPK, organic fertilizers coupled with efficient durum wheat varieties, emphasizing the need for integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). Although genetic biofortification is a cost-effective and sustainable approach, agronomic biofortification provides an immediate and effective route to enhancing micronutrient concentrations in durum wheat grain. The application of zinc-containing fertilizers is more effective under drought conditions than in normal growing situations. Hence, this article provides a key information for agronomists and breeders about the potential of biofortification interventions to improve durum wheat yield and enrich the grain qualitative traits to ensure food and nutritional security of the ever-increasing world population.

  • Environmental industry and regional policy in Hungary
    157-159
    Views:
    84

    The paper attemps to define environmental industry. The author has searched the history and background of the rapid development of this process. The study analyses the present and future regional development potential of environmental industry in Hungary.

  • Development of seed analyses by means of various matrix solutions and the MALDI-TOF MS technique
    53-57
    Views:
    273

    The earth's population is growing steadily, currently accounting for about 7.3 billion people. Population growth causes food demand to rise, approximately 36 million people die each year due to starvation or related diseases. One solution to this problem is the continuous examination and development of the agricultural economy. In this study, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI -TOF MS) were used to analyse of sunflower, soybean and hemp. In order to analyse the protein of maize, this method has already been applied. However, for sunflower, soy and hemp, it is necessary to develop a sample preparation method. Choosing the optimal matrix solution for ionization the traget molecule is an essential part of developing the method. Our aim is to compare two different matrix solutions (α-HCCA, SA matrix), based on the properties (intensity, noise ratio, value of spectra) of the spectra.