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The economicalness of apple production in view of post harvest technology
125-131Views:315This study analyses how the level of postharvest technology’s development influences the economic efficiency of apple production with the help of a deterministic simulation model based on primary data gathering in producer undertakings. To accomplish our objectives and to support our hypotheses three processing plant types are included in the model: firstly apple production with no postharvest and prompt sale after the harvest, secondly parallel production and storage combined with an extended selling period and thirdly production and entire postharvest infrastructure (storage, sorting-ranking, packing) with the highest level of goods production and continuous sales. Based on our results it can be stated that the parallel production (plantation) and cold storage, so the second case is proved to be totally inefficient, considering that the establishment of a cold storage carries enormously high costs with resulting a relative low plus profit compared to the first type of processing plant. The reason for this is that this type is selling bulk goods without sorting-grading or packaging; storage itself – as a means of continuously servicing the market - is not covered properly by the consumers. Absolute efficiency ranking cannot be established regarding the other two processing plants: plantation without post-harvest infrastructure resulting lower NPV, but a higher IRR, DPP and PI as developing a plantation and a whole post-harvest infrastructure. Former processing plant type is favourable considering efficiency ratios describing capital adequacy, while the latter is in terms of income generating capacity.
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The Role of transformal leadership in local governments’ efficiency
33-41Views:227Local governments had to respond to the challenges of the dynamically changing environment. A key element of the rapid adaptation lies in the right leadership. The local governments also recognized that the traditional management principles are found not to be effective in today's economic, political and social challenges.
The employees of the organizations are successful in the attainment of leadership, which are planning the next year, performance-based, as well as the leading is diplomatic, charismatic-development, group integrators. The investigated local governments’ middle level leaders believe that in the current economic and political situation only those organizations able to keep up, which emphasize the trans-formal leadership.
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Economic Aspects of Rural Tourism
55-71Views:210necessary to ensure the livelihoods of those leaving the agricultural sector and to supplement the incomes of those working in agriculture. I research rural development in four settlements in Hajdú-Bihar County, in Balmazújváros, Hortobágy, Tiszacsege and Egyek, all bordering Hortobágy National Park.
There are many alternative income sources in settlements in the Hortobágy area, such as organic farming, production herbs, hungaricums, small animals and arts and crafts, as well as rural tourism. Rural tourism is not for subsistence, but a supplementary income source, mainly available during the summer time. I made a survey of rural hosts in the four examined settlements, and according to my results, I constructed a model reflecting the cost-benefit relation, as well as the payment period conditions of rural tourism. I am going to show whether it is worth dealing with rural tourism, and if yes, under what conditions. Rural tourism contributes to the maintenance of rural modes of living, in this way it has significant cultural, economic, ecological and social aspects, as well. It is crucial for settlements to create the appropriate conditions needed for joining rural tourism, if it is worth joining at all, and to realise investments for all these. Rural tourism has strict requirements for the levels of environment, infrastructure and services. Studying the Western-European practices, Hungary is lagged behind in the conditions of rural tourism and rural hosts have done their activities mainly out of necessity and not to maintain traditions. Rural tourism may result in success only by co-operation and over the long-run. -
The European Union and competitiveness
15-19Views:267I define first of all the competitiveness in my study „Analysing the competitiveness of the European Union”. After that I turn to the analysis of the competitiveness of the EU. The European competitiveness index and its concept were of great assistance during the analyses. The concept of the European competitiveness index has three main components: creative economy, economic performance, access to infrastructure. It is unambiguous that the European Union can only sustain and increase its position reached in the world economy, when its member states commit themselves for the completion of the knowledge based economic policy striving for competitiveness. The Europe 2020 strategy and the budget period 2007–2013 emphasize the outstanding role of competitiveness and urge to take the necessary measures.
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Extras of the rural system of areas
271-273Views:209The essay describes the rural system of areas as a system unit of mutually necessitating natural, social, economic and human environments. A new rural developmental model has been developed to achieve the effects that strengthen this system. The taxonomically interpreted effects are achieved through guiding projects. The author presents the connections of biomass – bioenergy generation to covey the message in practice.
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Environmental Indicators – Agri-Environmental Indicators
248-255Views:178close relation. This means that policies related to the economy and the environment cannot be handled without each other. The United Nations Conference (Stockholm, 1972) was the first global conference to signal that environment concerns have increasingly become subject of mainstream socio-economic policies. The process started in the Seventies, laying emphasis on environment protection, plays an important role in the policy of international agencies. The use of environmental indicators is essential for monitoring the effects of environmental measures. The best way of evaluating sustainability if the results can be compared on a global level. International efforts are being made by the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat) and other international agencies to develop a framework for environment statistics. This study deals with these frameworks, paying attention to agri-environment indicators. Hungary became a member of the UN in 1955, of the OECD in 1996, and will become a member of the European Union in 2004. The first summary in connection with environmental indicators of Hungary, taking the OECD Pressure – State – Response framework as a basis, was published in 1994. As a result, comparability of environmental indicators for Hungary with those used international are given.
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The current status, challenges and prospects of native pig production and large-scale farming in Laos
155-161Views:797This review aimed to investigate the potential native pig development and the trend that large-scale farming may influence native pig production in Laos. The review found that native pigs were estimated to be around 88% of the total pig population in Laos in 2023. Commercial pig farming was found only in the main cities, particularly the central and southern provinces, which increased from 578 in 2019 to 703 farms in 2022 and 737 farms in 2023. Due to the serious economic crisis starting in 2021, many Lao pig producers stopped their businesses, leading to the decline of the commercial pig population by almost 30% in 2023 compared to 2022. The average pork per capita consumption in Laos in 2021 was estimated at about 14.2 kg. Though not as high as the backyard, commercial farms still contribute essentially to the pork supply in Laos (12%), increasing the volume from 87,628 tonnes in 2015 to 137,775 tonnes in 2024. The main native pig producers are small-scale rural farmers who have not yet improved productivity or reproductive performance, and the main purpose of their production is household consumption rather than market orientation. However, farmers, mainly in the main cities, improved them by cross-breeding native pig sows with Duroc boar for better lean meat. The main challenges for native production in Laos include poor farm setup and management, high cost of commercial feed, and poor breeding and genetic management. Therefore, creating awareness of the benefits of setting up a pig farm and management, providing better option strategies for utilising locally available feeds, and providing better strategies on pig breeding could improve native pig production in Laos.
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Comparison of the sample preparation methods worked out for the examination of the element content of wine
77-82Views:428The examination of the potentially toxic elements content of the wines is not easy task, because the most elements are in little concentration (mg kg-1 or μg kg-1) in the wine and the wines contain great amount of organic matrix. The efficient sample preparation is essential for the accurate determination of element content. The eim of our research was to determine which sample preparation method will be the most efficient in examination of wines with ICP technology. The examined wine sample was a 2008 Chardonnay from the Eger wine region. We did the sample preparation and analysis examination in University of Debrecen, Centre for Agricultural and Applied Economic Sciences, Institute of Food Science, Quality Assurance and Microbiology.
We did the analysis examinations with ICP- MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy). We always did the sample preparations and the examinations in three times rehearsal. The applied sample preparation methods: dilution with distilled water, open digestion and microwave digestion.
We were able to measure B, Al, Mn, Fe and Zn with only dilution and open sample preparation. In the smaller quantity present Sr and Ba were measurable in the wine in the case of all three methods well. We were able to measure the Co with dilution and open digestion method, while Cr, Ni, and Te with only dilution method. In the case of arsenic we were not able to measure reliable result with dilution and open digestion method because of organic matrix and other components
(alcohols, monosaccharides, polysaccharides, polyalcohols and inorganic salts). On the whole we are able to say that in the case of certain elements (B, Mn, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ba) the open digestion and dilution sample preparation is applicable well, however, in the case of certain elements (As, Al, V, Cr, Se, Mo, Cd, Hg, Pb) we have to develop the methods. It may be development of one of the way, if we develop sample preparation methods to examined element specifically and not
to wine generally. -
Global and national economic importance of pig meat production
13-20Views:621The pork production has changed significant in recent decades. Pig production fell significantly due to the need to adapt to new animal welfare rules in the sector. Furthermore, change in the meat consumption habit had also a negative effect on pig meat production. Hungarian pig sector and meat industry are in a difficult situation. Due to the high feed prices, the average production cost of pig farming has often exceeded the producer prices in recent years, therefore an increase of pig population could not be realised yet. Pig market is characterised by cyclical fluctuations of supply and prices, furthermore the decreasing producer price occurred parallel with increasing feed prices.
Technology is also a critical fact in the Hungarian pig sector because there is a huge gap in the level of technology compared to that of competitive member states. With the development of production methods the efficiency of pork meat production can be improved in an environmentally friendly way. -
Potential use of bamboo in the phytoremediation in of heavy metals: A review
91-97Views:911There are many literature sources focusing on the phytoremediation of woody plants, but there are only few dealing with the phytoremediation of bamboo plants. Phytoremediation technology has the advantages of little disturbance to the environment and low remediation cost. Bamboo mainly exists in tropical and subtropical regions. As an energy plant, bamboo has a fast growth cycle, large biomass, simple cultivation, high economic efficiency, and convenient harvesting, which highlights the advantages of bamboo in phytoremediation. In addition, bamboo plants have good tolerance and uptake ability to heavy metals and have high application potential and development value in uptaking heavy metal contaminated soil. However, due to climate, temperature and other reasons, bamboo cannot be widely planted in most countries. Research status of remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by bamboo plants is summarized. The feasibility of its application in heavy metal contaminated soil is discussed in this paper. Aiming at the shortcomings of existing research, bamboo plants have a prospect in the field of plant phytoremediation for the future.
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Integration of Transformation Technology and Conventional Plant Breeding of Cereal Plants
75-80Views:183The integration of plant breeding and plant transformation is needed because we have to create a homozygous genotype of great agronomic value by conventional breeding before the application of genetic technology with which we modify it by using a gene or genome sequence. The aim of integrated plant breeding is to trigger such advantegous changes by genetic technology which can not be achieved via conventional breeding or just with considerably weaker efficacy. By transformation, the plant’s agronomic performance, the efficiency and security of its production will improve and it will enable more versatile uses of the plant. Genetic technology is one sequence of a new plant variety’ breeding. To create a transgenic variety, the isolation of a gene or a sequence of a gene from the donor genome for tranformation, a homozygous plant or target genome that is suitable for transformation and is created via conventional breeding methods, an effective transformation technique and the establishment of the new variety from the transformed, fertile plant are needed. The transgenic plant should be made suitable for establishing a variety by conventional breeding so that it could be produced securely, its growing could contribute to the development of modern, sustainable agriculture, its seed could be produced profitably, it could meet the reqiurements of DUS and that the changes indicated by the transgene could provide such economic advantages compared to the original variety, which have real commercial value.
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Complex problem analysis of the Hungarian milk product chain
43-47Views:234Hungarian dairy sector went through significant changes in past two decades. The most significant changes were caused by our accession to the European Union. In Hungary milk production remarkably declined after EU accession. The size of our dairy herd has been practically reducing since the political transformation, but increasing yields per cow could compensate it in some way and for some time. However, in recent years, increasing yield per cow came to a stop and in parallel, the number of cows declined further and faster. Low prices, high production costs and tightening quality requirements ousted several producers from the market in past years. Feeding cost represents the highest rate in cost structure of production, but animal health expenditures and various losses are also significant. There are undeniably competitive disadvantages in the level of organisation and labour productivity; however competitiveness already depends on cost effectiveness in the medium run. In Hungary concentration of the dairies is relatively strong in spite of the relative high number of corporations. The dairies compete with each other and with the export market for the raw material and the better exploitation of their capacities. Applied technology of the Hungarian dairies lags behind the Western-European competitors’; in addition they have handicaps in efficiency and product innovation. Presence of chain of stores being dominant in sale of milk products does also not favour in all respects to the position of the dairies. The aforementioned retail chains are namely consumer-centric, engage in price follower conduct and weaken the position of the dairies with their private label products. As a result of increasing import of milk and milk products Hungary became a net importer in recent years. Today, disposable income still essentially determines the consumption habits of price-sensitive consumers. Loyalty for Hungarian products is not typical, consumers are open for import products being preferred by retail chains. In addition Hungarian milk and milk product consumption is about half of the Union average and it is far behind the level being necessary for healthy eating. In Hungary lack of competitiveness and vertical integration relationships and backwardness are revealing among the dairy farmers and the dairies, while chain of stores are in unprecedented “monopolistic situation”; the whole sector can be characterised by defencelessness.
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Farms in the system of European supportpolicy
79-83Views:181Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been having a great past, it is over numerous direction and structure changes in the last half century. After the Treaty of Rome, the harmonization of he agricultural structure and the production of Member States has been launched, during which the economic changes in the world and in Europe were continuously being kept track of. By using common experience, they strived to develop an agricultural sector that supplies the Member States of the Community with food, while the competitiveness and living circumstances of family farms are being improved. The general directions outlined in Stresa in 1958 were significantly redrawn owing to the transformed market conditions and EU accessions. The subsidization of family farms and the improvement of their profitability are having a stressed importance nowadays, too. Our country, as the fully qualified member of the European Union tries to meet its obligations undertaken in the accession treaty and therefore to develop an agricultural sector carrying out diversified agricultural production with a healthy age structure. The aim of the study is to specifically overview the issue of common agricultural policy by stressing the main development points and to introduce the Hungarian conditions of family farms. Besides, there will be an evaluation of the research works examining the income conditions of family farms in the North Great Plain region.
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Food problem and its solution
19-23Views:200The Globalization processes substantially changed relations between countries. One of main factors of these processes is forming in ХХ century of Worldwide auction organization, which activity provided with swift growth of volumes in trade of food commodities. Thus, the solution for global food problem was found. At the end of the second half of ХХ century the production volumes of agrarian goods in countries with a different level of economic development grew considerably. However, a food crisis 2007–2008 led to the necessity to define factors, which would allow to grow production, converting an agrarian sector into sustainable growing industry, passing ahead the increase of quantity of population. -
A review on the trend of livestock breeds in Laos
227-237Views:703When the livestock sector is considered an essential role in farmers' livelihood, and local breeds are still the critical component of animal breeding in Laos. Thus, there is a need to review the previous, current situation and prospects for Laos' livestock production. It aimed to study the different traits among the existing dominant local and improved livestock breeds (cattle, pig, and goat) and a more in-depth study on the livestock sector's previous evolving and prospects. Our findings revealed that the general trend of livestock population in Laos increased year-by-year for over 45 years, except for 1995 to 2000. It was decreased by almost 22% due to the new national strategy on economic revolution. The first foreign breeds were introduced into Laos, i.e., Large White, Landrace, and Duroc in 1980, Red Sindhi bulls in 1998, the frozen semen of Red Brahman 2003, and Bach Thao goats between 2001 to 2003. Unfortunately, many data are still not precise for introducing other foreign breeds like Boer goats, Thai Grey and Red Brahman. There were many missing data on the improvement of livestock breeds in Laos, including the local and improved breeds' reproductive and productive performance, which needs more study and research. We conclude that the semi-complex farm operation should be applied to improve livestock breeding and their productions in Laos.
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The effects of joining The European Union in the area of tourism within health tourism in Hungary
169-177Views:214The occasion of Hungary joining to the European Union caused difficult tasks and questions for tourism in Hungary. Tourism sector must have been prepared for joining to European Union, which means developing a well-functioning and future planning strategy. It has to improve taking parts our tourism into international market without significant deficit. The main aim is achieving the sustainable tourism by approach marketing and environmentally sound of way that is able to become competitive.
My aim is to analyze by numerous indexes what are the effects of joining Hungary to the European Union in tourism sector. However the results need to extend survey into many years. It is very important to reach long-term economic results and development, next to it has to be suitable impacts for social and natural environment, quality of life and developing health tourism as well.
To sum up we can establish extension of European Union area has improved diversity of tourism destination and goods, accessibility of natural and cultural features. -
Effect of vitamin e and selenium supplementation on the antioxidant content of milk and dairy products in dairy cows
9-12Views:391In 2007, the aim of the Ányos Jedlik program and the call for tenders was to support application-oriented, strategic research and development projects, which can increase the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy. In the framework of our project, we intended to examine whether non-protected antioxidants - in this case: vitamin E and selenium – used as feed-additives can increase the antioxidant content of milk. The milk with an increased level of vitamin E and selenium content can be used for producing functional foods which will represent competitive products on the current market of milk products. Our results show that the use of vitamin E and selenium as feedadditives can significantly increase the amount of vitamin E and selenium in the milk and also in the diary products.
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E-business in Hungarian Tourism
81-86Views:187Thanks to communication tools, globalization is spreading wordwide. For this reason, it is crucial to protect and strengthen our feature. On the one hand, we are repetitive joining the uniting world of economics, on the other hand, it is our responsibility to preserve our national characteristics with conscious politics.
Responding tardy to the touristic demands of the information society without risking the loss of our competitiveness market is highly dangerous at the current situation of the touristic, as the Hungarian Economic Development Program sets down. Unless we develop a strategy that realized radical changes in the next 4-5 years, Hungary can find itself in a disadvantageous situation regarding the touristic market of the 21st century. -
Evaluation of IT-Investments
378-386Views:193An informatical innovation is essentially a private business in the life of a venture but the ability of evolution and adaptability of ventures is remarkable for the national economy too. This is why it is important to observe the economical effects of IT investments. The introduction of an information system – as in the cases of other investments – requires pre- and post-calculations for payback of fixed assest, thrift and profitability. The operation of an information system means not only one-off acquisition of instruments and intangible assets, but requires continuous development, version control and improvement of hardware in the sake of conservation. There is a high rate of depreciation of IT investments in Hungary, because such goods change too quickly, together with the economic environment. If the conservation of IT instrument value wanted one has to make new expansions continually. IT specialists have determined some indices, one of which is Total cost of Ownership, which is an important indicator for investment analysis. In practice, there are some other models and methods we can adopt in our analysis. In this paper, I collected several relevant and usable methods for pre analysis of IT projects. Management can adopt these models in his investment process to make sound decisions.
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Effect of facility location on haulage efficiency
204-209Views:160In the 21st century, every economic sector must use the chances of evolution, technical and technological acquisitions, due to the level of competitiveness on the market. Such a sector as agriculture, where technology and the ideology of production are changing and adapting very slow to global expectations, by taking maximum advantage of opportunities, is a more central question. The greatest problems of Hungarian agriculture’s competitiveness are that this sector is very weak in capital and production costs make producers uncompetitive on the market. We can remedy this situation by using sources logically, purposefully and system approached. Logistics can provide the most useful assistance in such efforts.
In agricultural logistics, there is a great deal of uncovered territory. The aim is to transplant methods that are working correctly in other sectors into the agricultural sector, while maintaining development. One of the most important areas is transport logistics and material movement. Methods of analyzing and planning transportation and material movement found in professional literature do not take into account the specific needs of agricultural production. My aim is to examine the effect of facility location in the running of an enterprise. Through the results, I make suggestions for modifying the currently used logistic method and suggest further methods of examination. The effect of agro-specific needs must be examined in carrying out innovations and making logistical planning methods reliable. -
Development and Economic Benefits of Open Source Software
161-168Views:179This paper discusses open source software which became one of the most important trends in the software industry recently. The most often asked questions in this area are those related to intellectual property rights. The author used a more general approach and tried to give a survey of the advantages and disadvantages that the market players (developers, government and last but not least users) have to face.
After sketching the history of open source software and discussing some of the prevailing definitions, we turn out attention to the starting point: what motivates the developers? Then we give a general overview of the advantages and disadvantages of open source software. In the next part, the author analyses the software policies of the EU partially based on the abovementioned advantages and disadvantages. Finally the paper concludes with the discussion of user benefits and costs. -
Innovation Potential and Regional Competitiveness studies in the Northern Great Plain region
223-228Views:2091.5 million people live in the large region containing 3 counties, which makes it the second most populated region after Central Hungary. Its economy and land use are still defined by agriculture and it has been the least developed region in the country for a long time. In the country this region has the second lowest GDP per capita and employment rate. In contrast to the low values of the economic indicators the region has high potential for innovation. The University of Debrecen is located in the region having one of the widest range of education and intensive research and development is also a characteristic of the region.
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Using research findings in precision maize production
227-231Views:639The effect of crop production factors on maize yield are examined on chernozem soil in a more than 30 year old long-term experiment on the Látókép Experiment Site of the Centre for Agricultural and Applied Economic Sciences of the University of Debrecen. The aim of research is to evaluate the effect of fertilisation, cultivation, plant number, genorype and irrigation. The analysis of the data in the database of the examined period makes it possible to evaluate the effect of maize yield, as well as that of the crop production factors and the crop year, while the correlations and interactions between these factors were also examined. During the examination of the cultivation treatments, it was concluded that the highest yield was obtained as a result of autumn ploughing, but its effect largely differs in the irrigated and the nonirrigated treatments. Based on our examinations, strip cultivation should be applied periodically (e.g. strip – strip – ploughing – loosening) in areas with favourable soil conditions free from compacted layers.
In years with smaller, average precipitation supply or when the precipitation was higher than average, higher plant numbers were more favourable. Under drier conditions, but especially in several consecutively dry years, a lower plant number can be recommended which is not higher than 60 thousand per hectare. In the case of favourable water supply, 70-80 thousand plants per hectare can be used. The yield increasing effect of fertilisation was significant in the case of both non-irrigated and irrigated conditions, but it was much more moderate in the non-irrigated treatment. The extent of weed coverage was significantly affected by the previous crop. In the case of a favourable previous crop (wheat), the weed coverage was significantly lower than after an unfavourable previous crop (maize). In the case of the same previous crop (maize), the extent of weed coverage was mostly determined by the crop year and the extent of precipitation supply. Irrigation is not enough in itself, because if it was not accompanied by intensive nutrient management, yields started to decline.
The results of researhc, development and innovation contributed to the technological method which makes it possible to apply locally adjusted sowing seed, fertiliser and pesticide in a differentiated way, as well as to change the method of operations within the given plot. -
Challenges – the impact of climate change on the nutritional management of Hungarian orchards
323-334Views:442The agricultural sector is increasingly exposed to both environmental and economic risks due to the phenomena of climate change and climate variability. Fruit growth and productivity are adversely affected by nature’s wrath in the form of various abiotic stress factors. Climate change and extreme climatic events are predicted to increase in intensity, frequency, and geographic extent as a consequence of global climate change. It is no doubt that frequency of unexpected climatic events and their growing rate result in an increasing amount of problems for fruit growers globally. Today, climate change impacts are the most serious problems for Hungarian fruit growers as well. It can be stated that the nutrient demand of fruit trees can be supplied only under even worse conditions.
Therefore, it is so important to know and apply adaptation and mitigation strategies in horticulture to improve fruit quality and yield. In the last ten years, at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management at University of Debrecen expanded studies have been made to prove the importance of groundcover management in horticultural applications. In this mini review paper, is presented, how the university's researches contributed to the expansion of knowledge of preservation of soil moisture and what advice we can provide for fruit growers to face the challenges of climate change.
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Examination of the effects of the cropyear and the nutrient supply on the quality of winter wheat with the help of Győri’s Z-index
121-125Views:166In the case of winter wheat,the knowledge of several quality features is needed to be able to determine precisely the real quality of the given
wheat. Several systems have been worked out on the qualification of the winter wheat in Hungary and other countries as well. Evaluating the
quality is being made more difficult because the different quality features take part in the development of the quality in different degrees and
the values of the several quality features are in different intervals and these data are different dimension values. On the evidence of the
results, in the case of considering several features,it can be difficult to rank into one concrete quality cathegory. Researchers are trying to
develop complex quality index numbers in order to be able to define the quality more precisely. One of these complex quality index numbers
is Gyıri’s, so called, Z-index.
In three years from 2006 and 2008, we examined the change of the quality features of nine varieties of winter wheat with the help of the
Z-index under the influence of the effects of the different cropyears and the fertilizer treatment. The results show that the Z-index of the
examined varieties of winter wheat were influenced by several factors. Examining the data of the three different breeding years together we
can observe the corrective effect of the different cropyears on the Z-index, and if we examine the three years separately and together, the
differences of the quality features of the different varieties differentiate very well, and with the help of the Z-index the comparison of the
types is easier and perspicuous, and the Z-index represents the different nutrient reactions of the different types as well. On the average of
the three years, the types gave the best results at N120-150+PK nutrient level. Among the nine varieties the best results were given by Mv Suba,
GK Békés and Mv Mazurka in the case of both low and higher nutrient levels.