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Applied EDI technologies in food traceability
69-74Views:95Due to globalisation, the new technological developments and the complexity of food supply processes, the European food sector is increasingly becoming more complex. The consumers’ trust in food, triggered and affected by a number of food crises, is low. Today, consumers increasingly expect safe and high quality food and demand information about the origin of their food. Also, economic health of food industry can be greatly affected by food crises; therefore efficient and effective mechanisms are required to assist food industry in tracking and tracing products along the food chain. In this paper we discuss the criteria for efficient and effective traceability system from an IT perspective (mainly data exchange) and we identify key requirements for ICT enabled traceability.
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Drought cycle tracking in Hungary using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)
97-101Views:326Drought is one of the natural hazard risks which badly affects both agricultural and socio-economic sectors. Hungary, which is located in Eastern Europe has been suffering from different drought cycles; therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the rainfall data obtained from ten metrological stations (Békéscsaba, Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Kékestető, Miskolc, Pápa, Pécs, Szeged, Siófok, Szolnok) between 1985 and 2016, by using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI).
The results showed that 2011 was recorded as the worst drought cycle of the studied period, where the SPI ranged between -0.22 (extreme drought) in Siófok, and 0.15 (no drought) in Miskolc. In a similar vein, the study highlighted the year 2010 to be the best hydrological year, when the SPI reached 0.73 (mildly wet) on average. Interestingly, the Mann-Kendall trend test for the drought cycle showed no positive trends in the study area. Finally, more investigation should be conducted into the climate change spatial drought cycle in Europe.
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Daily behaviour of Hungarian Grey Cattle under range grazing conditions
45-48Views:198Cattle behaviour on rangeland depends on external factors, such as grass allowance and quality, temperature, net solar radiation, distance from water-source, wind speed and direction, air pressure changes and the applied breeding technology. Our research is based on previous empirical observations and modern methods to analyze the behaviour of the Hungarian Grey Cattle. Today it is crucial to use cost-effective solutions in modern beef cattle farming therefore we introduce a cost-efficient method to study and follow cattle herds. We are studying relation between traveled daily distance and air pressure. The various weather fronts influence behavioural characteristics and traveled daily distance. According to our hypothesis, the pressure-change and the wind direction has significant effect on cattle activity on pasture. As the different air masses alter the barometric conditions and unbalance the neuroendocrine system, indirectly cause relaxed or agitated behaviour
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Remembrance of Bognár Sándor (1921-2011)
16-20Views:89Dr. Sándor Bognár was a distinguished cultivator of the horticultural entomology and a determining personality of the higher education of Hungarian crop protection. Training of the scientific and extension specialists of Hungarian agricultural entomology would have been unimaginable without him. He was researcher of the Plant Protection Institute, innovator of the crop protection training’s essential and organisational standard at the Horticultural College and Faculty, who sacrificed his life’s work for developing the crop protection and for the tracking of the history of Hungarian crop protection. He dealt with the Pimplinae (Ichneuminidae) at the very beginning of his carrier and later with the difficulties of soil dwelling pests (Elateridae) but he dedicated a lot of time to the pests of rice and the pest-assemblages of fruit trees and grape. It is important to mention his activity on the phytophagous mites, thus one can call him as one of the founders of the Hungarian agricultural acarology. One top of his educational work was the wonderful manual „Agricultural Entomology” written with László Huzián in 1974 and 1979. László Szalay-Marzsó said of this book that it was impossible to write a better one. He has been right. In spite of his advanced age he participated systematically in the conferences in Hungary and shared the knowledge gained during his long life, and the morals and patriotism got from his models and developed considerably.
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Quality management and traceability in crop production
273-277Views:173Today, food safety and quality is an everyday issue. Scandals in the food industry drew attention to the role and responsibility of food producers in the food chain. The European Union has set up a new integrated approach towards food safety, to which Hungary as an EU member and export-oriented country has also joined. The new “from farm to fork” principle states that food and feed production cannot be handled separately, as only feed produced from good quality raw materials can ensure safe food products. Another important issue is the traceability of products, allowing for the localization and recall of the defected item. In Hungary, there have been different documentation systems for tracking and tracing products, such as the land register in crop production, animal register in the livestock sector and hygiene registers in the food industry. In order to meet EU requirements, there is a growing number of initiatives to include primary production in the scope of food safety standards. The study introduces and compares the various management systems used in crop production.