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  • Soil moisture sensors for sustainable water management in field crop production: A review of advances and application challenges
    41-54
    Views:
    859

    Efficient water management is essential for sustainable production of field crops amid climate change, population growth, and water scarcity. Traditional irrigation practices often lead to water use inefficiency, which harms soil health and reduces yields. To address this, reviewing previous studies on soil moisture sensors provides important context and guidance. Literature from Scopus, Google Scholar, and WoS (2019–2025) on soil moisture sensors for sustainable water management in field crops was screened. Out of 244 retrieved publications, 79 met the inclusion criteria with a focus on sensor technologies, applications, advances, and challenges, analysed thematically for research gaps and insights. Based on the findings, soil moisture sensors boost water management, improve yields of field crops, and support sustainable agriculture. However, hindrances related to high costs, lack of awareness, technical complexity, calibration needs, energy challenges, data interpretation difficulties, and compatibility problems hinder effective soil moisture sensor results. Integrating soil moisture sensors with decision-support tools optimises water use and protects soil health to promote long-term productivity under climate variability. Future research should strategise on the development of low-cost, reliable soil moisture sensors with technology subsidies, training, policy support, durability, integration, and simple data to empower farmers to adopt precision water management.

  • The status of conservation and management of indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa - A review
    79-91
    Views:
    919

    Indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa play an important role in local food security and they are adapted to local conditions. Their genetic and cultural values have to be recognised for national importance. The conservation of these breeds is very critical as most of them are already classified as endangered. The South African government has the initiative to attempt the conservation of these animals; however, it comes with several challenges. In addition to funding, breed conservation demands farmers to understand and recognise the role of such breeds in society. This is especially crucial in the rural communal lands where breeds are kept. Farmers that raise indigenous breeds should be taught the necessity of maintaining the purity of these breeds. Indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa are not favored by the commercial farmers and thus they are more vulnerable. This review outlines the nature of sheep farming and the conservation status of four indigenous sheep breeds in South Africa. The effort and challenges that are met in current conservation arrangements are discussed. Moreover, we emphasise on the conservation techniques that are employed in South Africa.

  • Challenges – the impact of climate change on the nutritional management of Hungarian orchards
    323-334
    Views:
    525

    The 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.

  • The effects of the climate change and the drought stress on potato production – A review
    61-67
    Views:
    839

    Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the fifth most important cultivated crop according to its growing area and fourth by its production volume. Originated from the Andes of South America throughout the last five centuries spread over the world and became a global staple food. Over the years potato production has greatly evolved due to advancement in agrotechnology reflecting in higher yields contrary to the worldwide decreasing production area. The wide range of potato’s ability for adaptation allows it to thrive in many different soil types and climates making it a main contributor in food security. Nonetheless rising temperatures, extreme weather events, water scarcity driven by climate change imposes serious challenges and threats for global potato production.

    This review presents the short history of potato cultivation, statistics of present and past production and agroecological needs for ideal farming. The review also attempts to explore the impact of climate change on potato growing spotlighting on drought and heat sensitivity.
    To deal with these climate change induced challenges several mitigation options are proposed just as foliar applications of salicylic acid, hydrogen peroxide, silicon and micronutrients to elevate perseverance against abiotic stresses.

  • New challenges in soil management
    91-92
    Views:
    420
    Soil management represents two important tasks that are harmonization of the soil protection with demands of the crop to be grown on the given land under prevailing farming condition. Further goals are to preserve and/or develop the soil physical, biological and chemical condition and to avoid the unfavourable changes of the soil biological activity and the soil structure. Classical authors emphasised the importance of creating proper seedbed for plants. In the physical approach, tillage was believed to play an important role in controlling soil processes. Consequently, the period of several centuries dominated by this approach is referred to as the era of crop-oriented tillage (Birkás et al., 2017). The overestimation of the importance of crop requirements resulted in damaging the soils, which inevitably led to turn to the soil-focused tillage. Since the first years of climate change, as the new trends have raised concern, tillage must be turned into a climate-focused effort with the aim of reducing climate-induced stresses through improving soil quality.
    The development of soil management has always been determined by the economical background. At the same time, deteriorating site conditions have contributed to the conception of new tillage trends by forcing producers to find new solutions (e.g. dry farming theory in the past or adaptable tillage theory nowadays). Győrffy (2009) recited the most important keywords were listed in 2001 and that seemed to be important in the future of crop production. These keywords (endeavours) were as follows:
    − Biofarming, organic farming, alternative farming, biodynamic farming, low input sustainable agriculture;
    − Mid-tech farming, sustainable agriculture, soil conservation farming, no till farming, environmentally sound, environmentally friendly, diversity farming;
    − Crop production system, integrated pest management, integrated farming, high-tech farming;
    − Site specific production, site-specific technology, spatial variable technology, satellite farming;
    − Precision farming.
    Győrffy’s prognosis proved to be realistic and the efforts mentioned above have mostly been implemented. New challenges have also appeared in soil management in relation to the last decades. The most important endeavours for the future are:
    1) Preserving climate-induced stresses endangering soils.
    2) Turn to use climate mitigation soil tillage and crop production systems.
    3) Applying soil management methods are adaptable to the different soil moisture content (over dried or wet may be quite common).
    4) Use effectual water conservation tillage.
    5) Use soil condition specific tillage depth and method.
    6) Adapting the water and soil conservation methods in irrigation.
    7) Preserving and improving soil organic matter content by tillage and crop production systems.
    8) Considering that stubble residues are matter for soil protection, humus source and earthworm’ feed.
    9) Site-specific adoption of green manure and cover crops.
    10) Applying site-adopted (precision) fertilization and crop protection. Considering the development in agriculture, new endeavours will occur before long.
  • A review of fertility challenges in wheat–perennial rye hybrids: Insights from the successful wheat–annual rye hybrid (triticale)
    43-50
    Views:
    156

    Hybrids of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and perennial rye (Secale cereale x Secale strictum) have shown promising results in enhancing agronomic features such as stress tolerance, perennial growth habit, and yield potential. However, fertility issues persist, posing a significant obstacle to the efficient utilization and successful implementation of hybrid vigor in crop improvement efforts. Fertility challenges, such as sterility and low seed production, are mainly caused by chromosomal mismatches, irregularities during meiosis, and genetic differences between the parent species. These factors disrupt normal gamete development, lower pollen viability, and cause embryo failure, all of which hinder the reproductive potential of the hybrids. Scientists have used multiple approaches to restore fertility, such as using cytogenetic methods to study chromosome behavior, applying polyploidization to stabilize hybrid genomes, and utilizing molecular tools to identify fertility-related genes. This review covers the specific factors that influence fertility in wheat-perennial rye hybrids, covering cytological, genetic, and environmental components. Gaining a better knowledge of the mechanisms underlying hybrid sterility and investigating techniques to increase fertility will significantly progress hybrid breeding efforts and aid in developing hardy perennial cereal crops. The outcomes discussed in this review aim to contribute to future research and assist in creating successful strategies for enhancing hybrid fertility in perennial grain breeding projects.

  • The Role of transformal leadership in local governments’ efficiency
    33-41
    Views:
    268

    Local 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.

  • Challenges and agroecological approaches in crop production
    75-89
    Views:
    347

    Never has the need been greater for an ecosystem approach to agriculture. As our global population exceeds 9 billion in the next 30 years, with a concomitant demand for agricultural products, ever more pressure will be placed on our agricultural systems. Meanwhile, climate change is altering the ecological settings in which agriculture is practiced, demanding adaptation. Knowledge generated by long-term research will help to address one of the grand challenges of our time: how to meet sustainably the growing world demand for agricultural products – in a way that minimizes environmental harm and enhances the delivery of a diverse array of ecosystem services.

  • Strategic planning in agribusiness
    23-27
    Views:
    674

    Agricultural businesses operate in a complex and dynamic environment, with many challenges and opportunities. It is therefore essential for these businesses to have a strategic plan. It is a critical process that helps businesses navigate in a complex and uncertain environment and achieve long-term goals and objectives. In this article, we have conducted a bibliometric analysis of academic journals to investigate the extent to which strategic planning is a researched topic in agribusiness enterprises. We found that there is no concentrated research, with only three keywords appearing in the literature with at least five repetitions. Even of the two repetitions, only 22 were found. The clustering of keywords helps to identify research directions. The results of a survey of 134 enterprises were then presented. The majority of enterprises do not have a long-term plan or even a written vision. We found that SWOT analysis is still the most common planning method among the companies surveyed. It was also found that there is no difference between industries in this respect. Significant differences were only found in relation to company size, with all large companies having a strategic plan and the vast majority of SMEs not. Only 17 out of 132 firms have a plan longer than three years, and 32 do not have any plan at all. Strategic planning can help to address many of the challenges in the agribusiness area, and it is therefore proposed to improve the proportion of firms planning through knowledge transfer.

  • Utilization of live feeds in fish larviculture: A review
    103-116
    Views:
    1221

    This review examines the significance of live feeds in commercial aquaculture industry for production of fish and shrimp larvae, along with various challenges and prospects. Live feeds are an essential food source in larviculture, especially for marine fish, which depend on them for nutrition during the initial days of exogenous feeding. They are palatable, highly digestible, and their movement stimulates natural hunting and foraging instincts, promoting better development, lowering captivity stress, and increasing survival rates. Artemia is the most commonly used live feed in larviculture; however, it has low levels of omega-3 HUFA. Copepods are the most nutritionally rich live feed, containing high levels of DHA and EPA. Despite these benefits, they are less frequently used in larviculture due to technical challenges associated with large-scale cultivation at high densities. The use of live feed is labour-intensive and costly. The feeding period for fish larvae can be shortened using a co-feeding strategy. Microalgae rich in DHA have been utilized to enrich live feeds. Further research is needed to determine the most effective approach to significantly reduce the weaning time of fish larvae from live feed. This will lead to gradual and eventual complete replacement of life feed in the near future.

  • Soil biological challenges in our age
    193-196
    Views:
    402

    The paper deals with the soil biological research and its contribution to the changed cropping strategy and to the sustainable and environmentally friendly farming and management. The paper emphasizes the importance of biodiversity, as one of the most important ecological functions of soil. The organisms, populations and communities living in the soil play a key importance in the preservation of soil fertility. The most important research areas are presented dealing with in the last decades the national researchers and the challenges we face regarding the current soil biological problems. We have to prepare to examine the soil biological effectiveness of the more widely spread bio-preparations, bacterium preparations, and bioregulators. The prerequisites are the versatile knowledge of the biological state of soils and monitoring examination of the different effects soils had (including the mentioned preparations).

  • The current status, challenges and prospects of native pig production and large-scale farming in Laos
    155-161
    Views:
    1098

    This 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.

     

  • Management of phytopathogens by application of green nanobiotechnology: Emerging trends and challenges
    15-22
    Views:
    645

    Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary and important research area in modern science. The use of nanomaterials offer major advantages due to their unique size, shape and significantly improved physical, chemical, biological and antimicrobial properties. Physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles have received much attention of researchers. There are different methods i.e. chemical, physical and biological for synthesis of nanoparticles. Chemical and physical methods have some limitations, and therefore, biological methods are needed to develop environment-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles. Moreover, biological method for the production of nanoparticles is simpler than chemical method as biological agents secrete large amount of enzymes, which reduce metals and can be responsible for the synthesis and capping on nanoparticles.

    Biological systems for nanoparticle synthesis include plants, fungi, bacteria, yeasts, and actinomycetes. Many plant species including Opuntia ficus-indica, Azardirachta indica, Lawsonia inermis, Triticum aestivum, Hydrilla verticillata, Citrus medica, Catharanthus roseus, Avena sativa, etc., bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Lactobacillus sp., Klebsiella aerogenes, Torulopsis sp., and fungi, like Fusarium spp. Aspergillus spp., Verticillium spp., Saccharomyces cerevisae MKY3, Phoma spp. etc. have been exploited for the synthesis of different nanoparticles. Among all biological systems, fungi have been found to be more efficient system for synthesis of metal nanoparticles as they are easy to grow, produce more biomass and secret many enzymes. We proposed the term myconanotechnology (myco = fungi, nanotechnology = the creation and exploitation of materials in the size range of 1–100 nm). Myconanotechnology is the interface between mycology and nanotechnology, and is an exciting new applied interdisciplinary science that may have considerable potential, partly due to the wide range and diversity of fungi.

    Nanotechnology is the promising tool to improve agricultural productivity though delivery of genes and drug molecules to target sites at cellular levels, genetic improvement, and nano-array based gene-technologies for gene expressions in plants and also use of nanoparticles-based gene transfer for breeding of varieties resistant to different pathogens and pests. The nanoparticles like copper (Cu), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti) and chitosan have shown their potential as novel antimicrobials for the management of pathogenic microorganisms affecting agricultural crops. Different experiments confirmed that fungal hyphae and conidial germination of pathogenic fungi are significantly inhibited by copper nanoparticles. The nanotechnologies can be used for the disease detection and also for its management. The progress in development of nano-herbicides, nano-fungicides and nano-pesticides will open up new avenues in the field of management of plant pathogens. The use of different nanoparticles in agriculture will increase productivity of crop. It is the necessity of time to use nanotechnology in agriculture with extensive experimental trials. However, there are challenges particularly the toxicity, which is not a big issue as compared to fungicides and pesticides.

  • An overview of swine production and marketing in Africa - Mini review
    121-129
    Views:
    751

     Pigs are the oldest domesticated animals, though their ancestry is still uncertain because of a lack of archaeological and genetic evidence. Pigs serve a vital role in reducing the demand for livestock and livestock products in most parts of the world. Especially in the African continent, pigs serve as mobile cash implying how easily they can be converted into cash to sort pressing family needs. Pig production in Africa is different from advanced systems of production in temperate countries, however, it has similarities with most of the tropical low and middle-income nations. Pig production in Africa requires attention to enable it to contribute effectively to the growing African population. However, it has been orchestrated with a myriad of challenges including market access. This mini-review is designed in a manner to provide an overview of pig production contribution to livelihoods in Africa and associated challenges with possible appropriate solutions.

  • Study of the Interaction Between Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and Silver Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus gibelio B.)
    16-19
    Views:
    575

    During the last few years, the spread of the silver crucian carp caused significant problems in pond fish culture. One of the main challenges of the successful fish production in fishponds, is to rid ponds of the silver crucian carp. In the course of the experiment, carp fry were stocked in 5 nursing ponds at the same stocking rate, with different (0-, 50-, 100-, 150-, 200%) stocking rates of silver crucian carp fry, respectively. During the breeding season, weekly test fishings were made to examine the growth of the fishes. At the end of the experiment, the yield/hectar and the growth rates were calculated. The experiment proved that the presence of the silver crucian carp in the fishponds causes lower productivity and growth rates in common carp. In the control pond (with no silver crucian carp), the average weight of the common carp was over 20 g and the yield/hectar was over 700 kg, while in the pond with the most silver crucian carp, the average weight of the common carp was 4.5 g and the yield/hectar was only 123 kg.

  • Balancing chemical fertiliser application for optimal maize yield and environmental safety
    65-76
    Views:
    291

    Chemical fertilisers play a crucial role in enhancing maize productivity by supplying essential nutrients, particularly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. However, excessive and imbalanced application of these fertilisers may result in soil degradation and environmental pollution. This review presents a comprehensive, bibliometric, and literature-based analysis of research on the balanced use of chemical fertilisers in maize production, spanning 2000 to 2025, and uses VOSviewer 1.6.20 as the analytical tool. The study analysed data from the Web of Science to examine publication trends, the configuration of keyword networks, and the dynamics of international research collaborations. The Mann-Kendall test revealed a significant positive trend (p = 0.001) in the volume of publications focused on chemical fertiliser balancing, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.5153. A total of 549 relevant studies were identified globally, with no language restrictions applied, indicating sustained growth in research output over time. Field studies demonstrate that reducing chemical fertiliser use by up to 25% when combined with biological amendments can maintain or enhance yields across diverse agroecological conditions. The emphasis is placed on sustainable fertilisation practices that balance productivity and environmental safety, highlighting challenges and future directions for adoption. Balanced fertiliser management is crucial for sustainable maize production systems, which simultaneously contribute to food security and environmental conservation. This study is significant as it systematically maps the evolution and current state of research on balanced chemical fertiliser use in maize production, providing valuable insights into publication trends, collaborative networks, and practical agronomic outcomes. Despite the progress, there remains a significant gap in region-specific guidelines and long-term impact assessments of integrated fertiliser management practices, which future research should address to optimise sustainable maize production tailored to diverse agro-ecological zones.

  • The electronic claiming for the Single Area Payment Scheme (eSAPS) in Hungary: the evaluation of a new system
    61-68
    Views:
    247

    The agricultural subsidies play a crucial role in the policy of the European Union. Remarkable part of the EU budget is dedicated to agriculture and rural development. The enlargement of the EU, the global changes in the market and other challenges are raising the demand for a better and more efficient way of work in the organization, using information and communication technologies, and especially the implementation of e-government
    services. The article presents the Hungarian electronic claiming system (called eSAPS) for European founds in agriculture, and evaluates the first year of its operation.

  • Impacts of ethnoveterinary medicine integrated with livestock farm technologies on the performance and antimicrobial resistance of indigenous goats in South Africa –A review
    93-103
    Views:
    535

    Ethnoveterinary medicine and livestock farm technologies represent a junction of innovation and tradition with the aim to accomplish livestock systems that are resilient, productive, and sustainable to meet 21st century challenges, especially the antimicrobial resistance issue. This article aims to emphasise the impacts of integrating ethnoveterinary medicine with livestock farm technologies on the performance of indigenous goats in South Africa. With the growing concern over antimicrobial resistance in livestock, there is a pressing need for complementary approaches to the health of animals and their productivity. In this review, the aim evaluated whether an integrative approach could offer a sustainable alternative that benefits animal health and productivity while addressing the concerns of antimicrobial resistance. Comparative study designs across multiple indigenous goat farms were used to integrate specific medicinal plants in ethnoveterinary medicine with present-day livestock technologies that are used to monitor the effects on livestock performance indicators and antimicrobial resistance patterns. In the treated populations, the outcomes were indicative of substantial improvements in reproduction and growth rates, and alongside, there has been a notable decrease in the markers of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, it is proposed that through these discoveries, the integration of these traditional and modern approaches not only improve the performance of indigenous goats but also contribute immensely to the mitigation of risks associated with antimicrobial resistance.

  • Challenges and responses for the convergence of people living in deep poverty in Hungary
    51-54
    Views:
    322

    The accompanying phenomenon of the ongoing economic crisisis the deepening and fixation of awidely reaching social crisis. The concept o fdeep poverty has become generally known in recent years and has now become inevitable the convergence of the most disadvantaged at EU, governmental,regional and local levels. Besides government and othe rprograms a lot of research and studies serve reintegration. Among convergence tools education and training play prominent roles, which besides the acquisition o fpractical knowledge, place special emphasis on the development of a convergence helping environment and culture, the creation of a "convergenceculture".

  • Research on rheological characteristics of winter wheat varieties
    266-272
    Views:
    849

    The gluten examination test is dominant in Hungary, comparing it to the qualification system of other countries. The determination of alveographic parameters is a basic criterion of winter wheat specifications in some western and southern European countries.
    In the Hungarian and foreign winter wheat qualification systems, in the standards, there is no limit for extensographical parameters. Customers dictate the limits and make their claims as to the specifications.
    We analyzed the alveographic and extensographical parameters of 19 winter wheat varieties grown by the Cereal Research Non-Profit Company in Hungary, and we made a comparison between the results in the challenges of the European Union expectations.
    Examining the information of alveographic and extensographical values, we found that the experimental varieties provide high base to flour types suitable for baking bread and baker’s ware. The GK Élet, GK Petur, GK Memento, GK Csillag, GK Kapos and GK Marcel varieties can meet the market of paste flour needs, too.
    In the variety series, the GK Kalász represents the highest values and the GK Garaboly shows the lowest parameters regarding the alveographic W and the resistance to extension.
    On the basis of relation, we can establish that we can estimate the following little known and used quality indexes: the extensographical resistance to extension with extensographical energy and the alveographic W value, the extensographical energy with the alveographic W value and the alveographic P and L values with the other alveographic parameters.

  • 60th Anniversary of Hungarian Plant Protection Service
    8-10
    Views:
    264

    The author briefly overview the history of the 60-year-old Hungarian Plant Protection Service, which has improved to a model by its ’golden age’ period with a well organized system and excellence of specialists on the chemistry period of Hungarian agriculture. The profound changes both in policy and economy resulted a serious structural changes which continue even nowadays. Meanwhile country borders have been opened than EU membership of Hungary have generated new challenges by appearance and spread of new pests.

  • Marginalisation and Multifunctional Land Use in Hungary
    50-61
    Views:
    234

    Our study prepared as a brief version of National Report in the frame of EUROLAN Programme. We deal with the interpretation of some definitions (marginalisation of land use, multifunctionality of land use, marginalisation of agriculture, multifunctionality of agriculture), with sorting and reviewing indicators of marginalisation and finally with the analysis of functions of land use. We suggested a dynamic and a static approach of marginalisation. We can explore the dynamic process by time series and the static (regional) one by cross-section analyses.
    It is very hard to explain the perspective of the future of marginalisation of land and of agriculture in Hungary. The process of marginalisation seems faster in the agriculture in the coming years, but it depends on the utilisation of new possibilities given by the EU financial resources and by the Common Market. At this moment agriculture seems one of the big losers of the accession.
    In the long term we should face considerable challenges in the land use. It is necessary to take into account that there is a supply market of foods and traditional fibre production world-wide. There are limited possibilities to produce and to market for example biodiesel (fuel), bioethanol, or maybe biogas. Thus the environment and landscape preservation becomes more and more real land use alternatives.
    The environmental interpretation of the multifunctionality of land use: activities (functions) of environmental preservation and nature conservation in a certain area, which aim to preserve natural resources by the existing socio-economic conditions.
    Preservation of rural landscapes is the task mainly for land-users, who can be commanded by legal means and can be encouraged by economic measures to carry out the above activity. In the recent past measures of „command and control” type regulation were predominant, however nowadays, especially in the developed countries, the role of economic incentives increases.
    As a conclusion of our analysis we can state that as long as the main land-dependent activities (agriculture, forestry, housing, tourism, local mining) cease to be viable under an existing socio-economic structure, then it is hardly possible to sustain the rural landscape on an appropriate level by non-commodity products (such as environment preservation, cultural heritage, nature conservation, employment etc.).
    1 The study was prepared in the frame of EUROLAN (EU-5 Framework Project), QLK5-CT-2002-02346, as a compiled version of the Hungarian National Report, The national project co-ordinator: Prof. Dr. Gabor Szabo.
    A part of places with high ecological values coincides with the areas with unfavourable agricultural endowments and underdeveloped micro-regions. We think so that the marginalisation preserves the non-environmental-sound activities and hinders the development of multifunctional agriculture and this process can change only by joint utilisation of endogenous and exogenous resources and methods. Thus the successful programmes for agri-environmental protection and multifunctional land use can serve the moderation of negative effects of marginalisation or maybe the marginalisation process itself.

  • Relationship of the employment policy with rural development in the European Union
    27-36
    Views:
    232

    Employment policy has won primary attention both at national and EU levels for the past decade. Managing its problems has become one of the major social economic and political challenges. One of the problems is the aging of the continent’s population, which is in close relation with the slow increasing or decreasing economic trends.
    Comparing the EU’s unemployment, employment and labour productivity rates to those of ten years earlier a positive tendency can be traced. On of the other hand compared with the USA, Japan or the average of OECD countries the Community has still not been able to reduce its several decades lasting leeway. Difficulties of labour management are much more striking in rural territories than in urban districts. Not even the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy: the rural development has been successful in managing the employment of the labour superseded
    from the primer sector so far, which is significantly reflected in the unfavourable indicators of labour management and unemployment.

  • Global tendencies in turkey meat production, trade and consumption
    83-89
    Views:
    1144

    Global meat production totaled 357 million metric tons in 2021. Poultry accounted for nearly 40 percent of total meat production, including 4.2 percent of turkey meat (5.8 million tons). Global turkey meat production has stagnated between 5.5 and 6.0 million tons since 2008, in contrast to the monotonous upward trend in poultry meat production. Turkey meat production generally occurs under well-integrated conditions, with some large multinational companies and smaller, regional players. The industry is exposed to a number of factors that affect supply and demand, including disease outbreaks, government regulations, consumer preferences, and economic conditions. Key factors driving market growth include population growth, urbanisation, and increasing consumer awareness of the health benefits of turkey meat over other meats. In addition, advances in processing, packaging, and distribution technology have improved turkey meat's shelf life and availability, further fueling growth. Turkey farming and production are mainly concentrated in certain regions such as North America and Europe, where industrialisation has a long history and infrastructure is well developed. Turkey meat production in these areas is sufficient to meet local demand and is often exported to other regions. However, in other regions where turkey farming is less developed, such as parts of Asia and Africa, turkey meat production is insufficient to meet local demand. This type of meat must be imported from other regions. The degree of self-sufficiency in turkey meat depends on the level of development of the sector in each region. This study investigates the factors affecting global and regional markets for turkey meat and systematised the development of global consumption, production, and trade of turkey meat.