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In cases where the country's economy is preparing for complete digitalization, the agro-industrial complex asks for a significant "reset", considering the existing threats and opportunities. This implies the diversification of academic papers with an emphasis on digital technologies, specialist training capable of working in agriculture and the processing industry on modern equipment using specialized software. The authors highlight and analyze the main trends, the focus on which will speed up the transformation of research, innovation and educational processes. The above is also true for the national projects and programs "Science and Universities", "Digital Economy", "Staff for the Digital Economy", and the departmental project "Digital Agriculture". The urgency of conducted studies and conclusions drawn by the authors is due to the following: modern agrarian science is a fusion of fundamental and applied academic and innovative research to enter the global agenda and respond to existing challenges. Therefore, agrarian science should be provided with experts in various fields who are able to formulate and solve urgent problems to meet the global trends in the agricultural development. It is impossible to make predictions regarding the digitalization efficiency of agriculture without this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, in the last decades, there have been significant changes in the categories of agricultural land use, in the two main directions of change: intensification and extensification. The main objective of this paper aims to analyze the main factors that influenced these changes in Romania at county level. The research methods used to achieve the main objective were: i) bibliographic documentation; ii) statistical analysis (data on the land fund structure at county level); and iii) cluster analysis. Starting from the theoretical model proposed by van Vliet, who identified multiple factors that affect changes in land use categories (demographic, economic, technological, institutional, socio-cultural and location factors) in his papers, it can be concluded that understanding the processes of changing the use of agricultural land and the factors that influence this process is important to anticipate Romania's future development paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possibilities of promoting rural areas of the Braničevo Danube region, primarily through the branding of agri-food products. Accordingly, the aim of the paper is to perform a market analysis to select the products with the highest potential to represent the BP region. The purpose of this product selection is to connect them with territory and people in order to enhance the tourism potential of the Branicevo-Danube (BD) region. The methodology is based on the market research conducted in the period December 2018-January 2019, when 67 agricultural producers surveyed in the area of the BP region were engaged in the production and processing of agri-food products. Also, we used indicators of the BD region for the analysis of the situation and the selection of perspective agri-food products with added value. The results of the research showed that the three most promising sectors in the BP region in the field of agri-food production are: 1. Vegetable and fruit processing, 2. Beekeeping and 3. Milk processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific article discusses the issues of precision agriculture, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture, the role and importance of unmanned aerial vehicles for the sustainable and efficient use of agricultural land in the process of crop cultivation and growing. Based on the use of UAVs, optimized application of a dose of mineral fertilizers, treatment with chemical agents to combat diseases, pests and insects of agricultural crops, were revealed and justified, which lead to environmental friendliness and increase the efficiency of agricultural production. The paper shows the value and usefulness of UAVs for accurate monitoring of agricultural land on a large scale for efficient agricultural production. The article notes that the obtained data from the UAVs can be used to protect soil fertility from wind and water erosion, to plan and promptly eliminate problems in soil irrigation and drainage system. The paper provides accurate and clear arguments for the effectiveness of the introduction of UAVs in the precision farming system, as well as in other agricultural sector branches. In addition, the article notes that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will contribute to significant savings in production costs and will have a qualitative impact on improving the state of the environment. The paper notes that the use and introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is one of the significant factors in the digitalization of the agricultural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of fairs for agricultural development and rural development with special reference to the promotion of rural tourism. It wants to point out the importance of agricultural fairs for the development of agriculture and tourism in the Republic of Serbia. The paper starts from a theoretical conceptual model of the importance of trade and communication fairs. The emphasis is on the participants of the fair in defining the concept of rural tourism development. The surveys conducted are based on the application of specific cognition and marketing research methods through a questionnaire. Special methods are analysis and logical deduction. The conclusion is that informing the participants of the fair can make a communication effort and emphasize the importance of tourism and rural tourism. Adhering to the research recommendations will allow increasing the role, importance and effects of the agricultural fair as a strategic instrument, will facilitate the elimination of doubts and overcome obstacles related to the economic importance of rural tourism. That will lead to the acceptance of the model of promotion of rural tourism by the fair, exhibitors and visitors to the fair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to environmental, economic, and social challenges, the living labs approach to innovation is receiving increasing attention within the agricultural sector. In this paper, we propose a set of defining characteristics for a particular type of living lab intended to increase the sustainability and resilience of agri-food systems: the "agroecosystem living lab". Drawing on lessons from the efforts of urban living labs researchers, we propose a new typology of "place-based living labs" to highlight the similar challenges faced by living labs aimed at sustainability and embedded within a particular territory or space-bound place (e.g., urban, rural, and agroecosystem living labs). Based on case studies from Canada and France, and supported by insights from the literature, we identify the defining characteristics of place-based living labs generally and agroecosystem living labs specifically. By highlighting what makes these types of living labs unique and how they are similar to other types, we hope to encourage their further study by researchers and help practitioners facing implementation or operational challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of paper is to present and analyse the current (under) development of agricultural insurance in Serbia. Agricultural insurance should be significantly more prevalent in Serbia given the quality of natural resources, the importance of agriculture for economic development, food security and employment of the population. The author believes that it is necessary to encourage the development of economic protection of agricultural production in Serbia. To this end, it is necessary to influence the development of awareness of agricultural producers and to consider the possibilities for introducing partially compulsory agricultural insurance in Serbia. The paper uses the descriptive method as well as the methods of analysis and synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of an analysis of the development of mobile traction and power means in agriculture: in most cases, a tractor is used in conjunction with agricultural machines and implements to perform technological operations; in order to increase labor productivity, there is a tendency to increase the power of the tractors used, and therefore the weight of tractors and machines connected to them increases, which leads to an increase in pressure on the soil and its over-compaction; When forming wide-cut units consisting of several agricultural machines with energy-saturated tractors, there is a need to use additional devices - couplers equipped with several support wheels, creating additional resistance to the movement of the unit, which increases the energy costs for performing the technological operation, reduces maneuverability, complicates the design and increases the metal consumption of the unit being formed. An analysis of the flow of scientific publications, including the Scopus database, showed that the interest of the scientific community in the research of robotic systems, including the development of agricultural unmanned vehicles, is growing every year. The article discusses the results of creating an unmanned traction-energy module and the method of its aggregation with agricultural machines. The use of the invention will simplify the design of traction and power equipment for agricultural purposes and agricultural machines, reduce their metal consumption, increase the productivity of agricultural units, reduce energy consumption and the cost of performing technological operations, and increase the level of unification of traction and power equipment for agricultural purposes and agricultural machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of the last century, the concept of rural development gained significance both in the developed and in the developing countries, including Serbia. In the past few years, ICT have gained a very important role in rural development. Apart from the significance in the area of information and communication in rural areas, modern technologies have found a far wider application in rural development. After a short observation of the most important aspects of rural development and rural areas, the paper outlines the significance of ICT application for the purpose of increasing competitiveness of rural areas. Research in the paper includes priorities of sustainable rural development on the EU for the period of 2014-2020, and also the research studies for Serbia based on the data of Republican Bureau of Statistics regarding the use of ICT and SWOT analysis provided in the Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy for the period of 2014-2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of agriculture sector is understood as being vital for economic development and well being of rural areas. Common agriculture policies in the EU and production shocks in agriculture sector reflect in production changes that causes direct and indirect effects for other industries development in the region, as well as, households' income. This paper aimed to evaluate agriculture sector's direct and indirect impacts for the economy by analyzing sectoral linkages and multiplier effects. Input-output analysis techniques were applied. Both output and income multipliers were evaluated. This paper supports the idea that agriculture sectors were more multiplying the economy than other sectors on average. This sector remains important catalyst of the economy, especially while taking into account development challenges in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the construction, kinematics and control system of a four-wheeled mobile robot for performing agrotechnical tasks of a wide range, from transporting crops and equipment in the field to the possible installation of additional units for various agricultural operations. The robot has a modular design to increase adaptability and, accordingly, increase economic efficiency in these industries. The platform is designed taking into account the specifics of operation, in particular during field work. A platform control system was also implemented that allows working in the mode of following a person. Laboratory and field tests showed the suitability of the development for agricultural tasks and the use of attachments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural insurance as a strategy in agricultural risk management mechanism has been introduced to paddy farmers in Indonesia for the last recent years. This strategy proves important to provide protection and easiness to bear the risk of farmingfor farmers. Personal interviews with a structured questionnaire were conducted with paddy farmers who joined an agricultural insurance called Asuransi Usaha Tani Padi (AUTP) program in Pati Regency to determine their preference to the product's attributes. Conjoint analysis was utilized to determine the importance of selected attributes of such insurance policies for these farmers. Research found that the premium insurance cost attribute is the most important factor and coverage attribute is the least important one. The results showed that the preference's utility of premium cost more than IDR180000, coverage less than 1 year, compensation of crop failure greater than 75% land area, and claim process more than 14 working days are the best option accordingto AUTP participants. This paper underlines the importance of designing premium cost and its subsidy to fully support the development of agricultural insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers are a significant factor in the well-being of any society, so it is important to research their attitudes and opinions about agriculture, rural development and similar topics related to agriculture. This paper presents attitudes of owners of family farms regarding agriculture in rural area of north western Croatia on various aspects of agriculture. The research was conducted in 2010. and 2021. within the convenient sample of owners of family farms via Google questionnaire. It was obtained wide range of answers about socio-demographic characteristics of the farmers, basic information about their agricultural production, challenges of institutional support to agricultural production, attitudes about subsidies in agriculture, use of agricultural services, domestic agricultural production, entering European Union, Euroscepticism, etc. There are two significant differences between Croatian farmers before and after Croatia's entry into the European Union. The first one is the structure of family farms and the role of agriculture in the economy which have been changed during this period of research and had a big influence on farmer's vision of development of agriculture and their role in rural development, in general. The second one is the fact that Croatian agriculture, attitudes toward agriculture and the mentality of farmers are changing slowly and the farmers are aware the problems in agriculture, but still, they believe in better future of Croatian agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research considers a telematics system which includes devices for tracking vehicles. The main purpose of the paper is to overview and select software. Existing software products for telemetry and monitoring are analyzed. Sustainable development is considered as a model of resource utilization, a model of human-nature interaction, a model of civilization development based on innovations and intellectual systems. Effective means of data collection, generalization and systematization in the field of agricultural mechanization, software complexes for data collection and management of machines by different manufacturers are analyzed, as well as an extensive group of software products for the sustainable development of agricultural infrastructure. Particular attention is paid to the need to determine the most appropriate ways to comprehensively solve the problem of collecting and managing data from machines by different manufacturers. The following methods are used for this: Method 1-Send to Wialon. Some tracking systems have a relay function-sending online data about the desired vehicles to another tracking system using an agreed protocol. In other words, it is the ability to copy location information on both systems; Method 2-WiaTag. For farmers who are not equipped with MTP Global Positioning System equipment, a solution is offered using the WiaTag mobile application. The Wiatag app is a free global positioning system tracker on a smartphone that does not require any costs to be installed on a car. It is considered appropriate to systematize the problems of sustainable development of the studied market in the form of a block diagram that differentiates and shows important characteristics of the role and position of subjects in achieving the main goal – the reconstruction of the agricultural machinery market and allowing for the means of innovative and technical restructuring of domestic agricultural production. At a certain stage of market development, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that each problem can be transferred from one block to another. The proposed solution to the problem of the lack of high-quality equipment, attractiveness in the domestic market, shown in the first block of the diagram, partially includes a solution to the problem of insufficient preferences for the domestic market on the part of the state. Machine-building enterprises and, as a result, solving the problem of the low level of technological equipment of domestic manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers the prospects for sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex, which ensures the country's food security and access to world food markets by the latest scientific achievements. The authors prove that the achievement of technological independence in the agricultural sector and the development of new technologies is an urgent task facing the country. In accordance with this, a set of measures aimed at solving this large-scale task is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is considered the backbone of developing countries. It is the only source of income for two-thirds of Indian workers. But in recent times there is a huge decline in the workforce in this sector. Many technological advancements and developments are being made in the agricultural domain, but most of the time the benefits of these technologies are not widespread to farmers of all economic classes. This paper aims at designing and fabricating affordable multipurpose cutting equipment for small-scale farmers that is capable of cutting sugarcane buds, banana leaves (in a circular shape), and corn stalks. A literature search on traditional and modern methods of bud cutting was conducted and based on that the machine is designed and fabricated. A foot pedal is provided for applying a force that reduces the effort and fatigue of the worker. Provisions are provided for replacing cutters to perform different cutting operations as mentioned earlier. Critical components that include various links and cutters are analyzed for safer design. Because of its ease of use, this equipment encourages women's participation in the agricultural workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the Internet of Things (IoT) for sustainability in agriculture continue to develop but are still limited to one particular field or one country. This study uses bibliometric analytic tools to graphically map scholarly publications and research trends in the IoT for Agricultural Sustainability sector throughout the world. The Scopus database is used to collect information for this study, and online analysis using the Scopus website and VOSViewer is used to exhibit bibliometric network mapping. We employ an article selection procedure that begins with the searched keywords and year limitations and then exports the database to RIS and CSV format files. We got 73 scientific publications published between 2012 and 2021 from the database. We also used VOSViewer to map the network. According to the database, researchers in India have the most published papers and are indexed by Scopus among the most prolific writers (N=20), with China coming in second (N=10) and Italy coming in the third (N=9). From 2018 to 2021, data analysis shows a substantial tendency of growing the number of IoT for Sustainability in Agricultural articles worldwide. This study recommends combining the research subjects of IoT for Sustainability in Agriculture: Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Agricultural Sustainability, IoT Application, abbreviated as AIBASIA research themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the paper is to elaborate the development of multipurpose agricultural vehicle, forperforming major agricultural operations likeploughing, seeding, harvesting. The modification includes fabricating a vehicle which is small, compact in size. The project is about amachine design which makes cultivation much simpler. The design of the chassis of the vehicle is made in such away that it issuitable for the operations. The design for automatic seed sowing equipment is made. The plough is designed and modified thecurrently available plough tool in such a way that it with stand the load. The harvester (cutter) is designed and working by scotch yoke mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the earlier times, agriculture was based mainly on recourses such as land and labor, but in the second half of the 20th century other recourses became an integral part of agriculture. One of these is biotechnology, which is becoming even more important nowadays, because the world must deal with increasing agriculture production. The purpose of this study was to understand what biotechnology is, how this technology affects agriculture and how it works. The paper gives the definition of the concept of biotechnology, also there is considered the introduction of these technologies and there are analyzed risks and modern challenges. In the main part of the work, the analysis of the latest research in the field of agricultural biotechnology was carried out. The results are summarized, and there are given recommendations for further research in the field of biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to identify opportunities for the development of the bioeconomy in Latvia, assessing its role in the development of the agricultural sector. Nowadays, the development and sustainability of natural resources are of great importance. The bioeconomy can be considered as one of the oldest sectors of the economy, which life sciences and biotechnology can transform into one of the most modern sectors of the economy. From a number of perspectives, one of Latvia's development opportunities is the more sustainable and efficient use of natural resources. The bioeconomy provides a combined approach to integrating knowledge-based economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, respecting the principles of the circular economy. The aim of this paper is to provide information on a study carried out to investigate and analyse the development perspectives of the bioeconomy and organic farming in Latvia. The research methodology includes theoretical concepts and a framework of factors influencing the bioeconomy. The study uses the Delphi method, collects data from expert interviews and surveys, uses the Porter's hypothesis method, and analyses the competitiveness of organic farming enterprises in Latvia based on Porter's five forces method. The development of the bioeconomy is mainly related to the production and efficient processing of bioresources. Rural areas and regions are therefore the ones with the greatest potential for development. Research data show that the growth of the bioeconomy will contribute to the development of Latvia's rural areas and regions and that Latvian organic farming enterprises have great potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the necessity of identifying problems of the organization of marketing of agricultural products of the Republic of Serbia is treated. The exemption comes from the fact that marketing can be presented through a process of several steps (attention, interest, desire and action), and usually starts from a marketing process of a product, service, or organization. Most of the current marketing processes of organizations relates to the task of retaining permanent clients through activities of creating relationships between consumers, improving customer service, better representing the benefits of products and services, etc. In the given sense, marketing of agricultural products is also considered. It is believed that modern agrarian production of Serbia is unimaginable without adequate marketing approaches that involve engaged agrarian entrepreneurs, sophisticated equipment and flexible transport networks. The agrarian entrepreneur should be incorporated into a chain that includes production, processing, turnover, banking transactions and science. Such agrarian entrepreneur must also be educated and prepared for modern agribusiness. Only in this way, and in accordance with natural conditions, already abandoned agricultural land can be used again and again, but only for the production that is in the mentioned agro-industrial chain. It is understood that the ultimate goal should be not only domestic, but above all the world market. The fact is that these processes are complex and require that marketing has a certain level of development. In addition, credit, tax, educational and other systems that influence the development of agricultural products are also important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of agricultural production is to a great extent affected by volatile risks. This paper presents possibilities that financial markets provide to manage such risks. It minutely describes basic derivatives, futures and options, with a special focus on their use on agricultural commodities. The paper further describes probably the most popular futures -- weather futures. Furthermore, the authors deal with complex and cross-hedging strategies. The last section brings the analysis of possibilities of establishing a derivatives market in Serbia. The first step towards this goal is to set up a commodity market and adopt related legislation, but also to meet other preconditions, such as to establish a licensing system, simplify trade with foreign entities, establish a system of clearing, develop a framework for extra-judicial settlement and to work on internationalisation of trade. Once these preconditions are met, it would be possible to establish an agricultural commodity derivatives trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an insight on the evolution of system of agro-ecomanagement in Bulgaria, assesses its efficiency and major challenges, and withdraws lessons for Serbia. It incorporates an interdisciplinary approach, and analyzes diverse private, market, and public modes of environmental governance during post-communist transition and European Union integration in Bulgaria. After that it assesses the efficiency and major challenges of eco-management, and suggests recommendations from the Bulgarian experiences for Serbia and other countries with similar development and environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture and rural areas are of the exceptional socio-economic importance for the Republic of Serbia, therefore, their management, although a very complex task, is an imperative. Responsible governance is essential at all levels, starting with the most important and irreplaceable role of the state, i.e., relevant authorities and institutions at the macro level, to local self-governments, the private sector and farmers. At the global level, management of agriculture and rural economy significantly determines the national institutional structure, directions of development and models of rural development and agriculture. In the light of the EU integration of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the effects of many global interrelated factors that inevitably affect each and every country, the mentioned facts should be thoroughly considered. With this in mind, the aim of this paper is to identify the opportunities for improving the management of agriculture and rural development in the Republic of Serbia, in terms of better strategic management, i.e., creating and implementing adequate development policy tailored to the real needs of local farmers and non-agricultural economic entities in rural areas, as well as the modernization of the lower levels of management, including the smart use of external support. The research focuses on the following: key characteristics of agriculture and rural areas in the Republic of Serbia that are considered important in terms of management; management models currently applied; developing more efficient management practices in line with the contemporary internal and external challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the factors of the development of agriculture in the city of Novi Sad, and accordingly defines the development priorities. The aim at the research is to analyze the real possibilities for improving the situation in this field through the SWOT analysis. The analysis focuses on: demographic characteristics and trends in rural settlements, trends in the development of agriculture in the city of Novi Sad, agro-technical equipment, storage and finishing capacities, as well as development priorities in the agriculture of the city. The results of the research show that the improvement on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the city of Novi Sad requires the implementation of adequate strategic measures and projects in the field of improvement to human potential, higher level of processing of agricultural products and better agricultural equipment of agricultural producers. New rural development policies are focused precisely on defining effective mechanisms to ensure coordination of the development of agriculture and other activities in rural areas, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, with the aim of improving the living standard and quality of life of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will analyze a series of interesting aspects regarding the organization of agricultural chambers, as key for agricultural development and food security in South East Region. The positive economic consequences of implementation and development of agricultural chambers system could be a good example for those states in the region that did not apply to this solution, in order to develop their agricultural potential and food security. Without a clear and rapid implementation of agriculture policies dedicated to farm and farmers, in the context of climate changes adaptability in our region, will irreversible and immediately affect the price volatility of agricultural commodities and with economic consequences to the agricultural potential. It is obvious, that national agricultural policies must be aligned with the reality of the region because the agricultural potential and food security it is not only a national or regional problem, it is a global problem which must concern us because it has profound global implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Agricultural Cooperative is an autonomous association of natural and / or legal persons, as the case may be, a private legal person established on the basis of the expressed consent of the parties in order to promote the interests of cooperative members in accordance with the principles of cooperation. In the course of the paper we will present the laws of agricultural co-operation, professional associations and the role of cooperatives in the development of agriculture. Also, the types and forms of agricultural cooperation in the European Union will be presented. To create agricultural producers in associative forms new opportunities for economic development are opened by attracting regional, zonal or local advantages and using collective power in order to increase the prosperity of members, their families and the communities they are part of. The cooperative can carry out several types of activities that have various benefits for members and help them achieve these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore alternative trajectories of agricultural modernization and rural resilience. We do this at a time when the agricultural sector must respond to an increasing scarcity of natural resources, challenges like climate change, urbanization, demographic change, food security, consumer demands, distributional issues in food value chains and changing urban-rural relations. The discussion relates different trajectories of agricultural modernization to the multiple mechanisms underlying rural prosperity and resilience. We contrast the mainstream capital-intensive and technology-driven model of agricultural modernization with more incremental, socially embedded and localised forms of development. Potential synergies between different modes of farm 'modernization', resilience and sustainable rural development are highlighted and a different futureoriented understanding of the term 'modernization' explored. We pay particular attention to the situation in Central and Eastern Europe and the segment of small-holdings for which ecological modernization and innovation through learning and networking can be particularly supportive. The conclusions focus on some current information needs of policy-makers: the links between different forms of farm modernization, rural development and resilience, and the implications for agricultural knowledge systems and the new European Innovation Partnerships. It is emphasized that local capacities for transdisciplinary research need to be strengthened and that more attention should be paid to addressing modernization potentials that are less mainstream. The paper seeks to foster discussions that help overcome simplistic viewpoints of what 'modernization' entails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of the concept 'European Innovation Partnership – Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability' (EIP) depends on the effective bridge-building between research, technology and stakeholders, including farmers, businesses, advisory services and NGOs. The Federal State of Brandenburg aims to introduce the new policy instrument which can, in principle, lead to a faster transfer of innovation to practice. If implemented successfully, EIP enable a systematic feedback from practice to science and learning more about research needs. However, there are several challenges related to the national and regional implementation of the new concept. The paper accompanies the on-going process of the EIP implementation based on a critical scientific analysis. The recommendations are based on the experiences from the well-established Innovation Network for Organic Farming of Eberswalde University and the related innovation groups and projects which already operate similarly to the envisaged Operational Groups as a core EIP element. The paper shows the lessons learned so far, aiming to support regions and institutions with similar objectives related to the EIP concept.The success of the concept 'European Innovation Partnership – Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability' (EIP) depends on the effective bridge-building between research, technology and stakeholders, including farmers, businesses, advisory services and NGOs. The Federal State of Brandenburg aims to introduce the new policy instrument which can, in principle, lead to a faster transfer of innovation to practice. If implemented successfully, EIP enable a systematic feedback from practice to science and learning more about research needs. However, there are several challenges related to the national and regional implementation of the new concept. The paper accompanies the on-going process of the EIP implementation based on a critical scientific analysis. The recommendations are based on the experiences from the well-established Innovation Network for Organic Farming of Eberswalde University and the related innovation groups and projects which already operate similarly to the envisaged Operational Groups as a core EIP element. The paper shows the lessons learned so far, aiming to support regions and institutions with similar objectives related to the EIP concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is the main staple food in Indonesia that has the four largest population in the world. East Java is one of the largest rice producing centres in Indonesia, many other regions such as DKI, Papua, NTT, North Sumatera, South Sumatera, West Sumatera, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, DIY and Maluku depend on its supply of rice. The purpose of this paper is to develop system dynamic model for estimation of the East Java's rice contributions to Indonesia’s food security. The objective of the model is to provide a learning tool for policy-makers to improve their understanding of the long-term dynamic behaviour of the rice production, and as a decision support tool for exploring plausible policy scenario. Management and agricultural development. Structural and behavioural pattern tests, and statistical test were used to evaluate and validate the performance of the model. The results showed that the simulated outputs agree dwell with the observed reality of the system. Three additional scenarios were simulated. (scenario 1) expanding rice field area, (scenario 2) improving the intensification and there should be additional support to farmers through provision of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and be given sufficient training to best apply these input and (Scenario 3) increasing the amount of infrastructure in order to distribute more supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, the emergence of this "modern" nutrition entails the emergence and development of "modern" diseases. There are quite a lot of indicators on the degree of pollution of the foods that determine the occurrence and development of these diseases. By means of this paper we intend to correlate these data strings and present them as an alarm signal related to the current conjuncture of the development of the society. This proving once again, that the return to nature is a viable alternative for Europe, both through the available resources and the needs of society, to ensure both the development of its agriculture in a sustainable way through an eco-friendly alternative, but mainly by contributing to the health component, which consumes extremely many resources. There are studies that show that in the economy, the orientation of the consumption of the population towards the eco-friendly products may be an alternative with important economic consequences. Starting from the conclusions of these studies, but also the calculation of the indicators mentioned above, we will substantiate our conclusion that eco-friendly products can be a viable solution in the development of a nation's economy, starting from the durable development of the agricultural sector. Especially for the Eastern European countries, eco-friendly agriculture may be a competitive advantage over the other European countries in the centre and the Western parts of the continent. All these are very interesting statistical data proving that the ecofriendly products are the support for an efficient and healthy economic activity, especially for the Eastern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical coordination in agri-food chains is a significant and increasing phenomenon in CEEC. It is observable that this development prefers large scale production. However, in these countries the agricultural sector is still a mixture of small scale and large-scale farming. Hence, for small scale farmers, horizontal collaboration can be assumed to be a prerequisite to stay in the market. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the question whether co-ops are the appropriate approach to integrate small farmers into modern supply systems. Further we want to analyze how co-operatives can cope with the quality demands they face in modern distribution channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources play an increasing role in the agricultural energy development. These sources are used both for autonomous power supply to consumers and for integration into a centralized power grid. The paper outlines the basics of a theoretical approach to choosing a source by the magnitude of the Umov vector, which characterizes convective energy transfer and is determined by the vector product of the flux density by the energy distribution velocity in an elastic medium. For practical evaluation of the effectiveness of different types of renewable energy sources, it is proposed to use the value of the reduced efficiency, which is a quotient of the classical efficiency coefficient division by the value of the working space of the corresponding converter. The concept of workspace includes the sum of the volume occupied by the converter and the volume surrounding it, in which the placement of other similar converters is not permissible. The necessity of considering the natural relaxation of renewable sources is considered and the necessity of comparing the dynamics of replenishment and selection of energy resources is substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether states play a crucial role in facilitating economic development and why state intervention promotes development in some countries more than others. It applies these questions to agriculture by focusing on the cases of smallholder production of oil palm in Malaysia and Nigeria. In the former, the state, through the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), was effective at expanding the nascent oil palm subsector by using efficient, capital-intensive production and processing, and incorporating poor peasants for the first time into the production system. In Nigeria, in contrast, the state was unable to significantly increase output or alter the production methods of oil palm peasants. While the Malaysian state had a relatively rational and skilled bureaucracy, giving it high intrinsic capacity, the divergence in the effectiveness of oil palm promotional policies was also the result of the states operating in vastly different contexts. This paper argues that the different class structures and extent of capitalism created different contexts that mediated the state's development of extrinsic capacity--its capacity to implement policies by securing the cooperation of outside social groups. The greater development of capitalism in Malaysia resulted in differentiation of the peasantry, creating new classes of peasants willing to participate in the state's development programs and helping the state build its extrinsic capacity. In Nigeria, capitalism remained underdeveloped and the peasantry relatively undifferentiated, which largely deterred peasants from cooperating with the government's efforts to promote new production systems and technology to improve productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper it is presented the review and the possibilities of using renewable energy sources (RES) in Serbian agriculture. The features are conditioned by geographical factors. Status and perspectives of RES applications are conditioned by some specific features and factors, whereby it should be noted that location and climatic conditions are the most dominant factors. The solar, hydro and wind energy are in the main focus of the paper. Also, it will be presented the practical examples that are applied, or should be applied in Serbian agriculture. Some conclusions for further development are noted at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors analyze selected data from the evaluation of extension service in Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, which was conducted during 2012 and 2013. The paper points to the importance of theoretical and methodological frameworks for extension evaluation in general, but also to theoretical and hypothetical framework that was used for the conducted evaluation. Selected results from this research show that the characteristics of the selected farms significantly differ from the Serbian average (a larger farm size, higher education level...), and that the most commonly used are (expensive) individual methods in extension work, mainly for the transfer of technologies and information to the farmers. The farmers' attitudes regarding quality of their cooperation with the extension service of Vojvodina are positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rent-seeking behaviour is the activity of influencing the political process to obtain favourable outcomes or to avoid unfavourable ones. In other words, groups in search of economic benefits offer incentives to politicians to provide these benefits. Politicians, in turn, respond positively if it is in their own best interests to do so. Therefore, rent-seeking behaviour is generally viewed as wasteful activity. But, some rent-seeking activities may actually increase of overall welfare. If an economy has no distorsions, rent-seeking activity will result in inefficiencies. However, if distorsions do exist, it is possible that rent-seeking activity can improve economic efficiency. The concept of rent was introduced to the economic literature by the D. Ricardo, who referred to the scarcity of land as a factor of production in the face of rising demand for food. The modern concept of rent also encompasses the benefits arising from the possession of other limited resources. This rent obtained in a natural way, namely in the market through the competitive (price) mechanism, is called economic rent. On the other hand, rent obtained in an artificial manner, namely by way of political mechanism and government decisions, is called political rent. This is a form of benefit resulting from the employment of limited resources in activity that does not increase the quantity of products or services, but only leads to the transfer of income between economic entities. Intention of this paper is twofold: first, to extend the paradigm of sustainable agricultural development and concept of political rent; and second, to present the results of the empirical research about political rent in Serbian agriculture as sector supplying public goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural research is one of the oldest areas of interest in Romanian research. In the communist period this field functioned based on the relation of partnership between the grand research unity and the grand production unity, so that the research results would have direct appliance. The post-communist period came along with a profound agricultural reform which caused the grand production unity to be shredded in small family farms. This fact was the beginning of the decline for the grand research unity because it remained without consumers for its research products. This paper aims at presenting the main factors which stand against the development of agricultural research, and it offers some solutions for overcoming the current impasse of the domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the globalized world the convergence of economic growth processes in various sectors world-wide is expected. The authors focused on convergence of development processes in agriculture on global and regional scale with special focus on Europe. The main aim of the paper is to examine whether there is such convergence. Using yearly data from more than 100 countries and years 1992-2016, it was proven that there is globally significant beta-convergence when technical effectiveness indicators and the share of agricultural employment are taken into account. It is especially true for Europe. When share of agricultural employment is analyzed strong beta- and sigma-convergence is observed for every analyzed region. Still there is strong sigma-divergence and no sign of beta-convergence in the case of agricultural value added per worker. Europe and Asia are the only exceptions. The results suggest strong relation between overall economic development and development in agriculture. One can also conclude that substantial differences in agricultural sectors among analyzed countries are caused by the differences in capital equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated growth of the world population will put additional pressure on ways of meeting the food needs of the people, given the limited resources available to them. In this regard, consideration should be given stimulating agricultural sector by making investments to streamline production in the economic sector. Its funding, however, is hampered by the existence of specific risks higher than those of other sectors of the economy. This paper analyzes the risks and financing of the agricultural sector, and proposes a set of tools and innovative measures to facilitate the financing of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of regional agriculture using geoinformation technologies. The article focuses attention on the need to apply geoinformation technologies in the process of studying the development of agriculture and rural areas. During the research the main regularities of the development of agriculture at the regional level were revealed. The authors have developed a series of maps reflecting modern processes in the development of the region's agriculture. The main trends in the development of agriculture have been identified, a spatio-temporal and a GIS-analysis of the development of agricultural production and use of land resources has been carried out. On the basis of geo-information technologies a grouping of the territory according to the specialization of agriculture and economic and production forms of management was carried out. The basic principles and approaches to the creation of the GIS of agricultural production in the region are formulated, and a methodical scheme for its implementation at the regional level is presented. In paper the possibilities of GIStechnologies for monitoring and decision-making for sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An agricultural development environment is comprised of a number of complex factors interacting in space and time. Those are economic, social and ecological factors that define certain conditions for agriculture development from the aspect of sustainable development, and they do so through their simultaneous effect. These factors are made up of different variables, i.e. determinants, the effects of which cannot always be predicted with reliability, yet they can significantly influence the (un)sustainability of a development environment of agriculture. This paper analyses the development environment of agriculture in the EU from the aspect of sustainable development, using the quantitative statistical method called factor method. Quantitative analysis is conducted by using available statistical data from the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and the statistical data available from the European Commission EUROSTAT. This type of analysis is particularly important in the context of finding suitable measures to improving the agri-economic activity, achieving the agrisocial equality and preserving the agri-ecological ambient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of Technological have been a great support for making decisions in various fields especially in agriculture. The development of agriculture has been on under development for the past few years due to lack of Agriculture knowledge and environmental changes. The main aim of this paper is to reach farmers for their awareness, usage and perception in e-Agriculture. The study used statistical survey design technique to collect data from farmers for their awareness in e-Commerce. The results obtained indicated the level of awareness is less such that there is a need for eagriculture for their support. e-Agriculture is a platform for supporting marketing of agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a quantitative and qualitative approach of performance from Romanian agriculture exploitations,, focusing on the need to implement the methods to determining of it. Are references to the content of performance, to the variables that influence, to the assimilation of methodology for assessing of the its level by managers or producers. For this purpose, are created theoretical and methodological conditions which to provide information necessary for the understanding and acceptance of application of methods for determining the performance. For this, are used the statistics in this area by presenting some methods with large utilization in production activities and in marketing and illustration, by elaborate a questionnaire from producers, to convince them to implement methods and techniques as scientific base of decisions. Considering the multitude of factors which acting on achieving performance, the results show, undoubtedly, the need of minimum of economic and managerial knowledge which to put in value the potentialities of exploitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is aimed to present the state of rural development problems in the Republic of Moldova during the last decade. It also tends to formulate the prospective policies. The study is based on the statistical data provided by, National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry The nowadays rural development challenges in the Republic of Moldova have two major dimensions. The first dimension is related to the process which should bring a successful structural transformation where agriculture, through higher productivity, provides food, labor, and even financial resources to the process of urbanization and industrialization. The second dimension seeks to start the modernization of rural life, development of non-farm activities and infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food shortage has been among the most threatening problems to the world since the beginning of the new century. And it means more to the countries with a large amount of citizens such as China. Chinese governments at different levels have being taken different kinds of actions to stabilize and increase the yields of grains. A major premise of making right decisions is the ability to accurately assess crop growth and food supply, and an scientific decision-making process to provide appropriate strategies or countermeasures based on them. This can be accomplished partly by using the decision support system (DSS) that provide accurate and detailed information about crop growth and food supply. In this paper, an agricultural spatial DSS (ADSS) frame was studied and developed to meet the increasing demands. The ADSS was aimed at suggesting efficient strategies for problems in crop growth and food safety as well as providing timely and accurate information about crop growth and food supply. The system, based on the spatial information technologies and crop growth simulation methods, contains three parts: (1) a spatial agricultural resources data warehouse has been constructed; (2) a crops monitoring and simulation package was studied and developed; (3) a spatial decision support package for food-supply security developed. The ADSS has been applied to the Northeast China and been proven to be a successful tool for crop growth monitoring and food security strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Romanian rural area is facing many problems such as: the lack of infrastructure to support agricultural development, the lack of a program to develop rural tourism, the lack of interest of Romanian peasant towards keeping traditions and developing his vocation that was inherited over time, artificial industrialization in agricultural sector. All these led in time to the current situation which is faced nowadays - a low demographic percentage in the rural sector characterized by a majority of elderly people, the lack of youth and perhaps, most importantly, the lack of young families . These variables underlie this paper's theme of interest, namely the difference between the population and the activities of rural area at the beginning of the 90s and nowadays. In 2017, the number of enterprises in Romania is growing, compared with the period 1990-2005, hence we propose to increase the number of legal entities. With a gradual decline in enterprises number, the qualified personnel and in most cases unqualified personnel has been reduced significantly and has contributed to the increase of unemployment rate. As a solution to this situation and a continuation to the previous specific objective, we propose to support the integration/ reintegration of unemployed people into the labor market, and especially the young people, through activities of qualification, retraining and improvement. Subsequently, more methods will be considered to support the repopulation of Romanian village and the development of a sustainable society. Basically, the small producer and the traditional peasant household could create local agricultural economies, in such way that production on a small scale, but in a large number of economic agents to become an engine of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consideration of issues relating to various aspects of energy security is in the focus of interest of the key factors in the long-term strategies for sustainable development of modern states. The achievement of the objectives of sustainable development requires integration of social, economic and environmental dimensions and development of a new energy strategy relying on alternative energy sources. In this paper, the technique of content analysis of secondary documents of relevant international institutions within their jurisdiction is used to collect, analyze and publish data on the current global energy situation and the greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the subject of the work relates to the analysis of the role of nuclear energy in achieving an ambitious seventh goal of sustainable development, regardingthe access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all roles of nuclear energy and its share in the global fight against climate change. The aim of the paper is to present the potential contribution of energy production to the development challenges of sustainable development. The comprehensive reassessment of the relevant domestic and foreign scientific papers relating to these issues came to the conclusion that nuclear energy contributes to decarbonisation of global economy, especially of the security of the energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of import and export of fresh vegetables in Romania presents major imbalances, which tend to increase from year to year. Even if it is a vegetable-growing country, Romania imports fresh vegetables from countries like Turkey, the Netherlands or Italy, countries with a tradition of growing vegetables and significant areas of protected areas, benefiting from the benefits of this way of cultivating vegetables. In the present paper, using the technical-economic method of the comparison, based on the statistical data, an analysis was made of the areas cultivated with vegetables in the 8 regions of Romania, according to the main crop systems, the production made, as well as the quantities imported and exported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communal forests occupy one million hectares in the Northern of Portugal and Galicia. Since centuries ago, "Baldios" and "Montes Veciñais en Man Común" (MVMC) played an essential function in the economy of their owner communities. This role was lost all through the last century due to the enormous afforestation and the decrease of agriculture. The restitution of democratic regimes returned the communal forests tenure to the communities. Given the extension and high average area, our paper aims to research its potentialities and limitations of contribution to rural development. Two case studies, one in North Portugal and another one in Galicia, allow identifying the individual and collective traditional uses and the achievements made with revenues linked. Both Galician and Portuguese realities exhibit similarities and complementary benefits, and needing social and economic innovation to make a better use of rural resilience. Communal lands and small-scale business projects could maintain the network of local produce markets with attractive aesthetic values as well as biodiversity conservation. The comparison of the different criteria shows economic aspects are the most valorised by the stakeholders. The management decision of collective forests was the alternative mixed by the communities and the Forestry Services as the best one to complete the main objective of sustainable rural development. As a final conclusion of our work, remarking that the communities owning these forests currently seem to have the conditions to successfully manage their properties if the commoners are able to mobilize and adequate organize the communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]