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Many authors emphasize that reducing the income deprivation of the agricultural sector in relation to the non-agricultural sectors is a prerequisite to the growth of sustainability of agriculture. Thus, this raises the question: despite the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the value of agricultural income in EU countries, is there still income deprivation for agriculture in relation to non-agricultural sectors? If so, is its depth comparable among farms with a different scale of production from the same EU country or among farms with the same scale of production from different countries? The answers to these questions constitute the added value of the article. The aim of the paper is to compare the ratio of agricultural income to non-agricultural income in regard to family farms in EU countries. Results show that the CAP solutions do limit the agricultural income disparities but that there are significant differences in the income deprivation of farms with different production values in the same country. These differences also apply to farms with a similar production volume in different countries. This publication includes critical analysis of literature, spatial-analysis and panel regression. The time scale of the research is 2004–2017, the spatial scope is individual EU countries and the subjective scope is representative EU Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct payments are the main component of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). They form approximately 76% of CAP budget in the programming period 2014-2020. The main purpose of the study is to outline the opportunities and challenges for Bulgarian agriculture, based on the analysis of direct payments distribution. The Lorenz curve, as the most widely used measure of inequality, is applied in the paper to surveying the disparities in the direct payments distribution. The results of the analysis show highly uneven distribution of the direct support across Bulgarian farms. The Lorenz curve indicates that payments are accumulated mainly in the larger-scale farms, thereby generating problems for small holdings and structural imbalances. The allocation of EU funds has impacted on the level of investments, productivity and economic efficiency of Bulgarian agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of investment support from the common agricultural policy on labour and total factor productivity of agricultural firms in Sweden. Detailed firm-level data on 34 300 firms are used to estimate a matched panel model that relates firm productivity to a series of factors reflecting internal and external characteristics. The recently developed Coarsened Exact Matching method is used to estimate matched control groups and handle selection bias. Findings show a positive and significant treatment effect of investment support on firm productivity, but only for small firms. The analysis also reveals that an increase in the size of the support in relation to firm income has a negative and significant impact on productivity for all firms. Differentiating between various types of investment supports indicates heterogeneous treatment effects. The policy instrument can improve its efficiency if targeted to small firms and investments that have a link to public good provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues have been one the most important for sustainable agricultural development in recent years. The EU common agricultural policy (CAP) direct payments (DP) system, which requires the most significant financial resources, should also promote environmental sustainability in agriculture. However, there is a lack of systematic approach and instruments to assess the impact of the DP system to environmental sustainability. This paper examines the linkages between DP system and environmental sustainability indicators. The underlying research question is: how 2004-2013 CAP DP system had impacted environmental sustainability. To answer this, the article uses a comparative analysis, a statistical analysis, theoretical modelling as a basis to determine, prove and evaluate the linkages between DP system and agricultural environment sustainability indicators. The article also provides empirical results of Lithuania and Puglia region (Italy). These regions were selected because of the similarity by area size and population, however with different DP systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GE Chilled Ammonia Process (CAP) is a post combustion CO 2 capture technology that produces a high purity CO 2 product stream that can be utilized in the existing and new markets. The development of the CAP technology began with laboratory bench-scale experiments to confirm that aqueous ammonia solution effectively absorbs CO 2 with sufficiently low vapor phase ammonia emissions at reduced temperatures. From these results, a technology development program was initiated to scale-up and validate the process for commercialization. The approach taken here is illustrative of industrial scale process development and improvement. For the CAP CO 2 capture technology, the development effort involved an iterative approach as information from the different development stages was obtained to set environmental & economic targets, develop predictive tools and models for process optimization, and to support validation efforts at operating facilities. Over the course of the program, the technology was successfully tested on flue gasses produced from coal, oil, and natural gas combustion, in addition to flue gas produced from refinery applications. Process know-how and operational experience was gained and together with validated data from bench-scale and pilot plant facilities was returned to push process design improvement and the development of predictive models. Currently, the CAP design is also modified and extended into applications involving Urea, Methanol, and Soda Ash Production. While many lessons learned and process improvement opportunities have been extracted from pilot plant and other test facilities, pilot plant results and process modeling studies are still unveiling potential for further improvement. Optimization and integration with the power generation facility occurred in the development phases of several FEED studies for large CCS plants. The CAP design is ready for a demonstration-scale project and now is much improved from the design that was tested originally at laboratory bench-scale. For example, the CAP scrubbing solution is now operated in a non-solids mode where precipitation is not a part of the overall operational strategy and the process flow scheme is now modified and improved from original flow schemes implemented at early pilot facilities to improve performance at reduced cost. This work summarizes the bench-scale, pilot-scale, and validation facility results and offers insights into the lessons learned and effort required bringing the technology into commercialization at an industrial scale. The lessons learned from each of the pilot plants at different sizes are illustrated and the associated impact of the results from each pilot plant in the current CAP product offering is also discussed. A summary of the important results from CAP test facilities including Stanford Research International (SRI), WE energies, EONCAP-Karlshamm, AEP Mountaineer, TCM and GE's pilot facility in Vaxjo, Sweden are presented. Distinguishing features of the GE CAP are provided drawing comparison to open literature versions of ammonia based CO 2 capture processes. Evolution of key performance parameters such as energy demand, product quality, solvent strength, process flow scheme, etc., at the different plant sizes are also discussed. In addition, the current state of development for extending the technology into areas where CO 2 may be utilized productively are also be addressed in addition to the latest improvement concepts currently being studied on CAP. Finally, the paper will also summarize the advantages of CAP as compared to conventional amine based processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several classes of near-MDS sets of PG (3 , q) are described. They are obtained either by considering the intersection of an elliptic quadric ovoid and a Suzuki-Tits ovoid of a symplectic polar space W (3 , q) or starting from the q + 1 points of a twisted cubic of PG (3 , q) . As a by-product two classes of complete caps of PG (4 , q) of size 2 q 2 - q ± 2 q + 2 are exhibited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, we know we must pay attention to the foods we eat to be healthy. Therefore, we should choose foods rich in vitamins and minerals in our menu. Fruits are ideal for this purpose, so we have chosen to investigate the evolution of pear production for several reasons. The study aims to analyze in detail the areas, yields and pear production in Bulgaria for 60 years. The analytical part includes: 1) a review of the literature on the research topic worldwide; 2) a review of research related to the orchard production in Bulgaria; 3) an analysis of pear production in Bulgaria; 4) an impact of policies on pear production in Bulgaria; 5) an analysis of the stability and storage of pear fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale, high-input, and intensified agriculture poses threats to sustainable agroecosystems and their inherent biodiversity. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) covers a great number of nature conservation programs (Agri-Environment and Climate Measures, AECM) aiming to encourage sustainable agriculture. Currently, farmers are not encouraged to broadly implement these measures due to the lack of structured information, overly complicated and unclear application procedures, and a high risk of sanctions. In addition, the current structures are associated with time-consuming monitoring and control procedures for the paying agencies. Digital technologies can offer valuable assistance to circumvent relevant barriers and limitations and support a broader uptake of AECM. NatApp is a digital tool that supports and guides farmers through the complete process of choosing, applying, implementing, and documenting AECM on their fields in accordance with legal requirements in Germany. We introduce the concept of NatApp and analyze how it can simplify and encourage the uptake and implementation of AECM. This study identifies its unique features for the provision of information and documentation opportunities compared with other digital farming tools focused on sustainable agriculture and outline how it can support farmers to actively contribute to more sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosciutto di Parma, Bavarian beer and Roquefort—Geographical Indications (GIs) have been systematically protected at the EU level for 30 years and are now an important part of the farm2fork strategy. The article analyses how the integration of the EU GI system can be explained from an institution and discourse theoretical perspective and ties in with the soft spaces debate. In doing so, scalar shifts in competence from a German perspective and the role of discursive spatial relations are examined in more detail. The empirical results are based on a mix of methods that includes the evaluation of secondary statistical data, document analyses, participant observation and expert interviews. The study shows that the European Commission (EC) is increasingly acting as a spokesperson for GIs, but that regional actors are also playing a more important role in implementation and enforcement. This development is fed by the influence of the agricultural policy instrument in terms of competition, but also consumer protection and trade policy. Overall, there are three development layers: protect and systematise, legitimise and expand and open and defend. A more independent development of the EU GI system as an instrument of quality policy and for the development of rural areas could give greater weight to the sustainability-relevant, environmental policy aspects currently demanded by society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Cubana de Ciencias Forestales is the property of Universidad de Pinar del Rio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Global Public Health is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agriculture is an important source of food for people, forage for animals and raw materials for processing industries. Effective public administration of such an important economy sector as agriculture and all the sectors connected with it is an absolute must for a sustainable development of every single village as well as the whole country/continent/world. The research was conducted with the help of the univariate, empirical and comparative analyses. For better visual representation of the analysis results, such visualization tools as tabular method, bar charts, graphs with markers were used in the research. The trend lines for both products types, being upward either during the researched timeframe or the next two years taken for the projection making, were built with the help of the exponential function, having been chosen from the exponential, linear, logarithmic, polynomial and power ones. The criterion for the choice of the appropriate function was the values of the R² coefficient. The research results testify to the effectiveness of the EU public administration for agriculture and agricultural products exports as well as the correctly created/chosen/implemented strategies/policies/initiatives. The research and its results are of great help for public administrators, companies engaged in the international trade for agricultural products of either the EU or any other country outside of the union as well as NGOs, beginners and experienced statisticians and data analysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the highest incidence of chronic liver disease worldwide, seriously endangering human health, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. In the recent years, increasing evidence has shown that intestinal flora plays an important role in the occurrence and development of NAFLD. Synbiotics can alter gut microbiota and may be a treatment option for NAFLD in the future. Objectives: To systematically investigate the therapeutic effect of synbiotic supplementation on NAFLD patients. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted. Data sources and methods: We conducted a search on four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were then screened, and data from the included studies were extracted, combined, and analyzed. Result: This study analyzed 10 randomized controlled trials involving 634 patients with NAFLD. The results showed that synbiotic supplementation could significantly reduce the level of alanine aminotransferase (mean difference (MD) = -8.80; (95% CI [-13.06, -4.53]), 푝 < 0.0001), aspartate aminotransferase (MD = -9.48; 95% CI [-12.54, -6.43], 푝 < 0.0001), and γ-glutamyl transferase (MD = -12.55; 95% CI [-19.40, -5.69], 푝 = 0.0003) in NAFLD patients. In the field of metabolism, synbiotic supplementation could significantly reduce the level of total cholesterol (MD = -11.93; 95% CI [-20.43, -3.42], 푝 = 0.006) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (MD = -16.2; 95% CI [-19.79, -12.60], 푝 < 0.0001) and increase the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (MD = 1.56; 95% CI [0.43, 2.68], 푝 = 0.007) in NAFLD patients. In addition, synbiotic supplementation could significantly reduce liver stiffness measurement indicator (MD = -1.09; 95% CI [-1.87, -0.30], 푝 = 0.006) and controlled attenuation parameter indicator (MD = -37.04; 95% CI [-56.78, -17.30], 푝 = 0.0002) in NAFLD patients. Conclusion: Based on the current evidence, synbiotic supplementation can improve liver function, adjust lipid metabolism, and reduce the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD, but these effects need to be confirmed by further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of large amounts of Sentinel-2 data has been a trigger for its increasing exploitation in various types of applications. It is, therefore, of importance to understand the limits above which these data still guarantee a meaningful outcome. This paper proposes a new method to quantify and specify restrictions of the Sentinel-2 imagery in the context of checks by monitoring, a newly introduced control approach within the European Common Agriculture Policy framework. The method consists of a comparison of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series constructed from data of different spatial resolution to estimate the performance and limits of the coarser one. Using similarity assessment of Sentinel-2 (10 m pixel size) and PlanetScope (3 m pixel size) NDVI time series, it was estimated that for 10% out of 867 fields less than 0.5 ha in size, Sentinel-2 data did not provide reliable evidence of the activity or state of the agriculture field over a given timeframe. Statistical analysis revealed that the number of clean or full pixels and the proportion of pixels lost after an application of a 5-m (1/2 pixel) negative buffer are the geospatial parameters of the field that have the highest influence on the ability of the Sentinel-2 data to qualify the field's state in time. We specified the following limiting criteria: at least 8 full pixels inside a border and less than 60% of pixels lost. It was concluded that compliance with the criteria still assures a high level of extracted information reliability. Our research proved the promising potential, which was higher than anticipated, of Sentinel-2 data for the continuous state assessment of small fields. The method could be applied to other sensors and indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, low-density parity-check (LDPC)-coded carrierless amplitude and phase (CAP) modulation with spatial diversity is proposed to mitigate turbulence-induced fading in an underwater visible-light communication (UVLC) channel. Generalized-gamma (GG) distribution was used to model the fading, as this model is valid for weak- and strong-turbulence regimes. On the basis of the characteristic function (CHF) of GG random variables, we derived an approximated bit-error rate (BER) for the CAP modulation scheme with spatial diversity and equal-gain combining (EGC). Furthermore, we simulated the performance of the CAP system with diversity and LDPC for various turbulence conditions and validated the analysis. Obtained results showed that the combination of LDPC and spatial diversity is effective in mitigating turbulence-induced fading, especially when turbulence strength is strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union legislative proposals for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the income support remains an essential part of the CAP. This paper analyses agricultural income levels, the role of EU aids in ensuring fair levels of income and how different socio-economic and structural characteristics affect farms' economic viability. Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data have been processed and economic viability has been assessed by comparing Farm Net Income to a reference income and by estimating a profitability index to check whether the agricultural activities remunerate factors owned by the farmer and his/her family. After an explorative analysis, two multinomial logit models have been estimated to evaluate how structural and socio-economic characteristics affect the likelihood of a farm to be viable with and without EU aids. Both structural farm characteristics and farmer's production strategies explain the likelihood of a farm to be viable in the short and in the medium-long term. Farms are more likely to be viable as the size increases and the higher the capital intensity, while viability likelihood decreases with the farmer's age, when the holder is a woman, and the farm is localized in Southern Italy. CAP payments do not modify the factors that affect farm viability but can change their weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of the Common Agricultural Policy's (CAP) subsidies on the level of economic sustainability of farms by means of three-fold study. To determine the economic sustainability of farms the authors applied the income gap ratio. Next, the level of income differentiation between farms of various economic classes was established. The last part consisted of the recognition of statistically significant CAP schemes that shape agricultural income in farms of different size and in assessing how the respective subsidies should increase or decrease to fill the recognized gap, based on the coefficients of panel regression. The spatial scope covered all EU countries in 2005–2015. Results show that due to the CAP's support the average income of farms has approached the average non-agricultural income, but distribution of this support favored the largest farms, increasing disparities within the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O principal objectivo deste artigo é conhecer as atitudes dos agricultores face à produção agrícola, ao apoio político e ao projecto de rega de Alqueva numa micro-região mediterrânica do Sul de Portugal, no contexto da Política Agrícola Comum (PAC) de 2003 e do Health-Check. Simultaneamente, pretende-se conhecer as intenções comportamentais destes agricultores frente à inovação tecnológica e ao futuro regadio público neste contexto político. Os resultados destacam que a grande maioria destes agricultores constituem um grupo relativamente homogéneo face às suas atitudes. Este cluster mantém uma mentalidade muito produtivista, um forte desejo de manter um foco agrícola, rejeitando veementemente noções de liberalização política. Apesar de possuírem elevada capacidade inovadora e de estarem conscientes da importância do seu contributo na defesa do mundo rural, reconhecem que as futuras condições institucionais da PAC, do fornecimento da água do regadio de Alqueva e das condições de acesso ao crédito, lhes poderá comprometer os seus planos inovadores no futuro. Por isso, conclui-se que é necessário compreender as especificidades da agricultura regional nos diversos países da União Europeia para que as políticas tenham êxito local. No caso português, são necessários estudos mais abrangentes de forma a encontrar resultados mais consistentes.The main purpose of this paper is to know farmer' attitudes face to the agricultural production, the political support and the irrigation project of Alqueva in the context of the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and the Health-Check, in a micro-region located near the Mediterranean Sea, in the Southern region of Portugal. At the same time, this paper also aims to understand the behavioural intentions of farmers face to the technological innovation and the future of the irrigation project in this political context. Results show that the majority of farmers are a relatively homogeneous cluster about their attitudes and behavioural intentions. These farmers still maintain a productivist mindset, a strong wish to maintain an agricultural focus and they strongly reject the notions of policy liberalisation. Although they have a great potential of innovation and being aware of the importance of their contribution in the protection of the rural environment, they recognize that the future CAP, the water supply irrigation price and the conditions of access to agricultural credit, could compromise their innovation capacity in the future. The conclusions suggest that it is necessary to understand the particularities of a regional agriculture in different countries in the European Union so the policies can take place successfully. In the Portuguese case, more comprehensive studies are necessary in order to find more consistent results.

Although, the environmental and climate concerns have been put on the agenda of the CAP, permanent grassland covers have decreased, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions still account for 10 percent of the EU’s total emissions, soils continue to degrade and wildlife numbers decline. Hence, despite the fact that formally the CAP has integrated environmental aspects, the environmental outcomes of this approach have been questioned on multiple fronts. (Heyl K. et al, 2020) As a result, a series of reports and impact studies were carried out with the role of supporting the configuration of the CAP 2021-2027, as an attempt to further mainstream environmental considerations across the new CAP. Taking into account all these elements, this paper analyse descriptively the CAP’s environment and climate elements. The objective is to identify the key challenges that the new CAP have to address considering shortcomings of the CAP 2014 - 2020 from the environmental and climate perspective

New social demands, opportunities in the green economy, opportunities opened up by digital technology, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of remote work have again drawn attention to rural areas. In 2020, the European Commission conducted a public consultation on the long-term vision for rural areas. Support for rural areas is already provided under several EU policies, which contributes to their balanced, fair, green and innovative development. To support the implementation of the action plan, the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the cohesion policy will be of particular importance, which will be accompanied by a whole range of policies from other areas.The aim of this paper is an analysis of the EU legal framework of rural development policy, together with an analysis of the further development of the LEADER approach. Finally, a special focus is placed on the analysis of documents (long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas) that deal with the future of rural development in the EU.

Copyright of Ecología Política is the property of Fundacio ENT and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is, after presenting the specifics of AKIS as an approach to promoting innovation applied within the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, to carry out a comparative assessment of the innovation systems in agriculture in the countries of Western and Central and Eastern Europe. The assessment is based on three criteria - diversity of groups in the system, frequency of interactions of these entities in AKIS and main actors who interact directly with farmers. The synthesized data show that, in general, in the agriculture of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the variety of partners in their innovation systems is relatively small, the intensity of interactions between them is relatively weak, and the transfer of knowledge to farmers takes place to a greater extent by public organizations than by private sector representatives and farmer-based organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the setting of critically ill patients. Pneumonia, and in particular community-acquired pneumonia, is one of the most common causes of illness and hospital admission worldwide. This article aims to review the association between AF and acute diseases, with specific attention to pneumonia, from the pathophysiology to its clinical significance. Even though the relationship between pneumonia and AF has been known for years, it was once considered a transient bystander. In recent years there has been growing knowledge on the clinical significance of this arrhythmia in acute clinical settings, in which it holds a prognostic role which is not so different as compared to that of the so-called "primary" AF. AF is a distinct entity even in the setting of pneumonia, and acute critical illnesses in general, and it should therefore be managed with a guidelines-oriented approach, including prescription of anticoagulants in patients at thromboembolic risk, always considering patients' individuality. More data on the significance of the arrhythmia in this setting will help clinicians to give patients the best possible care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The timely alleviation of symptoms is essential for managing community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Juhongtanke oral solution is a traditional marketed Chinese patent medicine believed to ease CAP symptoms. The currently available evidence is based on a few retrospective studies of patients with various types of pneumonia, whereas robust randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that support this notion are lacking. Material and methods: In this multi-center, prospective RCT, patients were randomly allocated to receive routine treatment alone or a combination of Juhongtanke oral solution (20 mL q8h) for 5 days and maintained for an additional 3-day safety observation period. The primary outcome was Breathlessness, Cough, and Sputum Scale (BCSS) score evaluated on day 5. Secondary outcomes included the evaluation of cough and dyspnea items in the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) from days 1-5, remission rate in BCSS and VAS during the treatment course, and the length of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality. Results: Of 272 patients assessed for eligibility, 240 were enrolled in the study (n =120 per group). The mean difference in BCSS evaluated on day 5 was a median 1 point [95%CI (1.00, 2.00)], significantly lower in the treatment group compared with the control group (p < 0.001). Similar results were observed in VAS on day 5, with statistics of a median 2 points [95%CI (1.40, 2.50)] in the cough item and a median 1 point [95%CI (0.50, 2.00)] in the dyspnea item, significantly lower in the treatment group compared with the control group (both p < 0.001). The treatment group had a favorable outcome in BCSS and VAS remission rate assessments compared with the control group, with 99.50% vs. 89.17% in BCSS (p = 0.01), 98.33% vs. 75% in the cough item of VAS (p < 0.001), and 88.33% vs. 62.50% in the dyspnea item of VAS (p < 0.001), respectively. No notable adverse effects were observed during the study. No differences were observed in the length of hospitalization between groups (with a median of 7 days for both groups, p = 0.871). Conclusion: Juhongtanke oral solution may be considered to alleviate the clinical symptoms of CAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's e-world, search engines play a vital role in retrieving and organizing relevant data for various purposes. Different methods are used to find user search goals. Personalization is the process of finding exact needs of a user using different representations and machine learning techniques. These methods exploit feedback sessions and bipartite graphs, along with machine learning techniques such as clustering, classification and Apriori algorithms. This paper proposes a variant of feedback session method for inferring user search goals, where bag of words approach is employed for representation. K-Medoid clustering algorithm is used to derive the cluster for the keywords entered by the user. The performance improvement can be evaluated by using evaluation measures like Average Precision (AP), Voted Average Precision (VAP) and Classified Average Precision (CAP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural biodiversity conservation has been recognized as a fundamental resource for the maintenance of ecological and economic functions. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has an impact on crop diversity decisions of farm managers. In so doing, we allow the diversity decision to depend on a rich set of economic and agro-ecological variables, such as prices of the most common cereal varieties, and agro-ecological and socio-economic characteristics at farm and regional level. Using a panel dataset over the period 2004–2010, we compare the results obtained from pooled-OLS and dynamic panel GMM estimators. The empirical analysis shows the existence of a positive relationship between CAP payments and diversity. In addition, decoupling subsidies from production seems to have a positive effect on biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studii de Ştiintă şi Cultură is the property of Studii de Stiinta si Cultura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) defined in 2013 is implemented since 2015. It offers several options to the Member States/Regions. This paper describes the choices which have been made in Wallonia and their consequences on direct payments. It appears that 42% of the farmers will lose between 2014 and 2019, while 44% will gain and a quasi-status quo is observed for the remaining 14%. Finally, the new situation is politically acceptable and gives more support to small farms, young farmers and cattle breeders, though the global envelope for direct payments will decline in Wallonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated agriculture has increased sharply in recent decades in Greece due to directives from the Common Agricultural Policy (C.A.P.), market forces, and consumer demands. The purpose of this paper is to highlight those factors affecting the adoption and rejection of the integrated systems in agriculture. The survey was based on a variance for one factor (ANOVA) analysis applied to data obtained from a survey of farmers (structured questionnaire) in Greece. These results indicate which factors are directly or indirectly related to the subsidy. They also significantly affect the implementation of integrated agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper employs linear programming for the optimization of agricultural income generated by energy crops for the prefecture of Evros. To be more specific, we optimize agricultural income from soybean, the sunflower (proxy for energy crop), corn under different scenarios having as restrictions the value of the subsidies as a proxy for EU policy the value of inputs (costs of capital and labour) and under the irrigation conditions. Three different scenarios will be taken into consideration regarding the implementation of Common Agricultural Policy. The results of different scenarios under which the Common agricultural policy is implemented will provide us with an insight on the identification of energy crops for which the agricultural income is a potential significant motive to the farmers for their adoption related not only to other energy crops but also conventional crops. According to our findings higher income is acquired by the cultivation of the sun flower compared to that of rapeseed in non-irrigated areas while in irrigated areas highest income comes from the crop of corn compared to the crop of sunflower and rapeseed. The practical value of the present work stands on the formation of a structure of different energy crops that secure income maximization, while if we take into consideration crops with limited needs in non- cultivated areas with less fertile soils might also contribute to the formation of rural development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses how farmers differ in their willingness to pay (WTP) for crop insurance. Data from a choice experiment were analysed using the latent class approach to reveal the number of latent groups and differences in farmers’ WTP for crop insurance in Finland. The analysis identified three homogeneous groups that differed significantly from each other. Farmers in these classes were characterized as ‘catastrophic loss preventers’, ‘risk lovers’ and ‘shallow loss preventers’ based on their implicit prices for insurance attributes. The outputs provide valuable information when these latent groups are connected to farm typology. The results indicate that the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is not sufficiently flexible to take into account the differing needs of farmers for agricultural risk management. If the EU is to implement efficient risk management policies for agriculture, flexibility will be needed in the legislation, and shallow loss insurances will also need to be introduced to cover all risk prevention needs equally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast majority of European farmers are dependent on EU subsidies, which makes subsidy regulations through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) powerful tools in shaping agricultural landscapes. Unfortunately, steering recommendations are sometimes arbitrary, like in the case of pasture management, where 50 trees per hectare constitute an upper limit to qualify for subsidies. Although pasture biodiversity is well studied and the core of many CAP conservation programmes, it is seldom studied as direct effects of subsidy systems. In this paper, we examine plant diversity in relation to the impact of subsidy systems in Swedish woody pastures along a gradient from 3 to 214 trees per hectare. We selected 64 sites where we recorded vascular plants, soil properties and canopy cover. We found a general increase in γ- and β-diversity along the gradient, whereas α-diversity and the number of grassland specialists remained indifferent along the gradient. Additionally, tree density, organic content and C:N-ratio were the strongest predictors of species composition. Hence, when CAP regulations encourage tree cutting for pastures to qualify for subsidies there is risk of homogenisation of EU grasslands, leading to decreased γ- and β-diversity. If a general target for the subsidies is to increase biodiversity, there is need to scrutinise these regulation details to preserve the high values of woody pastures. We argue that habitat variation, species diversity and low intensity management, rather than a specific number of trees, should be the main incentives for financial support to preserve biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the socio-economic and demographic impact of the reforms in Romanian agriculture, since 1990, on rural families, is one of the important components in the new context of the CAP, which includes new perspectives on the concept of rural family. From subsistence to sustainability, it implies the medium and long term objective of the main reforms in Romania's agriculture after the December 1989 Revolution, which were mainly represented by the start of the process of transition to market economy, by benefiting from the advantages of land rent and maybe the most important reform is Romania's accession to the EU. This paper aims to conduct an analysis of the evolution of the Romanian rural area in its many facets, focusing on the main reforms in post-December Romania agriculture, as well as the concepts of rural development in terms of sustainability and multifunctionality. In the context of a Romania that, since the accession of the EU, being considered perhaps the most important reform is the reform of agriculture, which is in the process of implementing the European model of agriculture and rural development. In order to demonstrate how the rural areas have been changed across the years, an empirical study has been assessed. It shows that there is a representative relationship between the farmers' productivity and incomes, proving how the economic prosperity of the rural citizens is determined by labour effectualness, while multiple reforms have been reshaped families' welfare.

Abstract The periodic reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are announced each time by a strategic document in the form of a Communication by the European Commission (EC). The content of the last Communication differs from previous ones, which raises the questions of what frames the EC has employed with respect to its CAP reforms and how these frames have been modified over the past 26 years (from 1991 to 2017) in order to legitimise the preservation of the CAP. This paper tries to fill the gap in the research of frames in the main strategic documents on the CAP by employing comparative historical framing analysis. The results show consistent use of five frames: the policy mechanism frame, farmers’ economic frame, foreign trade frame, budgetary frame, and the societal concerns frame. While they have all remained in use, most have been changed significantly over the years. Throughout the analysed period, the farmers’ economic frame has retained its primacy and continuity, demonstrating the power of the farmers’ lobbies and conservative member states. If in the initial Communications the environment was barely present within the societal concerns frame, it has gained importance in the recent Communications, in addition to other general societal issues, such as climate change, food security and quality, health, digitalisation, innovation, and even migration. By marginalising the policy mechanism frame and replacing it with the implementation model and increasingly emphasising the societal concerns frame with social justifications of the CAP, the EC is trying to legitimise the CAP after 2021.

Emergence of new state-of-the-art technologies has enabled an unprecedented amount of high spatial resolution satellite data having great potential for exploitation of extracted time series for a vast range of applications. Despite the high temporal resolution of time series, the number of real observations of optical data that can be utilized is reduced due to meteorological conditions (such as cloud or haze) prevailing at the time of acquisition. This fact has an effect on the density of the retrieved time series and subsequently on a number of coincidental observations when comparing the similarity of time series from two different data sources for which the simultaneous acquisition date is already scarce. Classical tools for assessing the similarity of such time series can prove to be difficult or even impossible because of a lack of simultaneous observations. In this paper, we propose a simple method in order to circumvent this scarcity issue. In the first step, we rely on an interpolation in order to produce artificial time series on the union of the original acquisition dates. Then, we extend the theory of the correlation coefficient (CC) estimator to these interpolated time series. After validation on synthetic data, this simple approach proved to be extremely efficient on a real case study where Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope NDVI time series on parcels in The Netherlands are compared. Indeed, compared to other methods, it reduced the number of undecided cases while also improving the power of the statistical test on the similarity between both types of time series and the precision of the estimated CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counterfactual analysis has been recommended as a means of assessing the impacts of European Rural Development Programmes (RDP) over recent years, although its application has been scarce to date. This paper examines the use of counterfactual analysis to assess socioeconomic impacts in a set of 2007–2013 ex-post evaluations. The analysis undertaken shows that a wide variety of counterfactual approaches have been applied, although certain barriers still remain to address the estimation of RDP impacts following the EU evaluation standards. Furthermore, we noted that impacts provided by individual RDP evaluations may hardly be aggregated, making it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the effectiveness of rural development policy at the EU level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presently, optical access networks are in great demand to meet the bandwidth requirement due to rapid growth in high speed applications for smart devices, cloud computing, big data analysis and other 5G applications. In this paper, 5 × 10 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing carrier-less amplitude phase modulation-passive optical network (WDM-CAP-PON) with frequency comb is proposed and demonstrated. Also, 450 nm blue laser diode having bandwidth 0.8 GHz is used for visible light communication using 6 m FSO link to support cost effective high data rate optical network. The WDM-CAP-PON employing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing has been analysed in terms of tolerance to the fiber non-linearities through the effect of variations in launch power (− 5 to 4 dBm), datarate (2.5-40 Gb/s) and distance (20-110 km) on Q-factor and error vector magnitude (EVM%) by considering pre-, post- and symmetrical-dispersion compensation schemes. It is reported that post-compensation is superior to pre- and symmetrical-compensation schemes to achieve the minimum 3.8 × 10−3 BER under 7% forward error correction (FEC). The faithful transmission distance achieved for 10 Gb/s WDM-CAP-PON using post dispersion compensation scheme is 110 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]