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The paper presents the relationships of organic farming with sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. The promotion of environmentally friendly agriculture and environmental protection are implemented within agri-environmental programs. The aim of these programs is to achieve sustainable rural development and preserve biodiversity. The goal of studies was to assess the sustainability of ecological agriculture at the level of an agricultural holding. Organic farming is perceived as a system that is most favorable from the perspective of environmental protection. Analysis was conducted on the basis of data from ecological farms in the Podlaskie voivodeship registered in the FADN system in 2014. Ecological indicators (share of cereals in crops, vegetation coverage of the soil throughout the year, stocking density, balance of organic substances, agricultural and environmental actions taken) as well as economic indicators: land profitability and productivity and profitability of labor, were accounted for. It was determined that the conditions of environmental sustainability were met with regard to the majority of ecological indicators. From the perspective of economic effects, organic farming achieved a positive financial result, but it was lower than in conventional farms. This result was achieved thanks to public subsidies for ecological production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In article discusses the influence of environmental conditions on health and lifespan of people in modern society, also by studying the number of cases of cancer represented by the assumption of low efficiency of the traditional approaches to environmental security, which does not consider many factors of dangerous influence on people. The aim of the study is identification of interrelation between an ecological situation and cancer cases. An attempt was made to identify the factors of influence aren't traditionally relating to ecological indicators. In article also discusses constantly increasing number of devices of a wireless communication. General conservation of key environmental indicators in the country is indirect evidence that problems in this sphere is not being up to the end of the study. Conclusion is that a lot of wireless equipment is the serious destructive factor for human health and in particular the number of canser cases. Nowdays governments of different countries spend a lot of money for variable projects in the field of ecology, but in many cases these projects and measures have no result, because a huge number of different technical equipment made a great harmful influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient management of water resources is crucial point for Italy and in particular for southern areas characterized by Mediterranean climate in order to improve the economical and environmental sustainability of the agricultural activity. A three-year Project (2005–2008) has been funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Policies; it involves four Italian research institutions: the Agricultural Research Council (ISA, Bari), the National Research Council (ISSIA, Bari) and two Universities (Federico II-Naples and Milan). It is focused on the remote sensing, the plant and the climate and, for interdisciplinary relationships, the project working group consists of agronomists, engineers and physicists. The aims of the Project are: a) to produce a Decision Support System (DSS) combining remote sensing information, spatial data and simulation models to manage water resources in irrigation districts; b) to simulate irrigation scenarios to evaluate the effects of water stress on crop yield using agro-ecological indicators; c) to identify the most sensitive areas to drought risk in Southern Italy. The tools used in this Project will be: 1. Remote sensing images, topographic maps, soil and land use maps; 2. Geographic Information Systems; 3. Geostatistic methodologies; 4. Ground truth measurements (land use, canopy and soil temperatures, soil and plant water status, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Crop Water Stress Index, Leaf Area Index, actual evapotranspiration, crop coefficients, crop yield, agro-ecological indicators); 5. Crop simulation models. The Project is structured in four work packages with specific objectives, high degree of interaction and information exchange: 1) Remote Sensing and Image Analysis; 2) Cropping Systems; 3) Modelling and Softwares Development; 4) Stakeholders. The final product will be a DSS with the purpose of integrating remote sensing images, to estimate crop and soil variables related to drought, to assimilate these variables into a simulation model at district scale and, finally, to estimate evapotranspiration, plant water status and drought indicators. A project Web home page, a technical course about DSS for the employers of irrigation authorities and dissemination of results (meetings, publications, reports), are also planned. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]