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The study assesses the spatial efficiency of Romaniaʼs counties and development regions from the perspective of sustainable development. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to calculate spatial efficiency, and A-P model (Andersen and Petersen) was used to rank efficient units (those with a score of 1.000) to assess superefficiency. The results of the study are graphically translated into four maps. The average efficiency of Romaniaʼs counties is 0.945 and the average efficiency of development regions is 0.986. Almost all development regions are efficient, with the only inefficient region being the Sud-Est region (0.887). The development regions with the highest superefficiency scores are located in the western part of Romania. The highest score of superefficiency is registered by the București-Ilfov region (30.997), the capital of the country and its surroundings, the economic engine of Romania.

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A region has a certain area within which there is a certain number of cities that are different in the number of the inhabitants, located at different distances from each other, forming an urban system that is based on the multitude of relationships between them. This study investigates the hierarchy of the 16 cities that make up the regional urban system of Dobrogea, as well as the spatial interaction between them. To achieve these goals, several models were used, such as those of Zipf, Beckman, and Reilly-Converse, and the Jefferson index. The results of the study indicate the urban primacy (hypertophy) of the largest city in the territory located between the Danube and the Black Sea, Constanța, as well as the macrocephaly of its regional urban system. Zipf's law shows the incoherence, the imbalance of the urban system and divides its cities into plethoric cities and deficit cities. The same characteristics of the urban system are also confirmed by Beckman's law. By applying the Reilly-Converse law, the zone of influence of the city of Constanța was delimited, almost 38% of the entire area of the Dobrogea region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to empirically assess the efficiency / inefficiency of five Danube ports in five neighbouring countries and to observe how it evolves over an eight-year period ranging from 2014 to 2021. The five ports are located on the lower course of the Danube River and are the most important in their states: Smederevo (Serbia), Ruse (Bulgaria), Galai (Romania), Giurgiuleti (Moldova), and Izmail (Ukraine). The study uses a mixed-method, namely the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) window analysis method and Andersen and Petersen's super-efficiency model to evaluate the efficiency of these ports over time. Port efficiency analysis is based on a single output, i.e. the cargo throughput, and four inputs: the total port area, the total area of warehouses, the quay length, and the number of cranes. It was determined that none of the five ports analysed reaches the maximum efficiency of 1.000, their average efficiency being quite low, only 0.631. The highest average efficiency is recorded by the Serbian port of Smederevo, with 0.768, this port being found to make good use of its resources for production. On the other extreme, the Bulgarian port of Ruse was found to be the least efficient port, obtaining the lowest average efficiency over an eight-year period, with only 0.360. The study tries to capture the causes of the inefficiency of selected ports and propose some measures to improve their efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to corn, sorghum is more sensitive to the action of synthetic chemicals in the administered herbicides and most of the time the plant stagnates in growth for a few days, even if the application doses are moderate. As the spectrum of weeds is quite diverse in Romania, there are species that are difficult to control in sorghum culture, such as Sorghum halepense, Setaria ssp. or Echinochloa crus-gali L., in this research we tested several variants of weed control using herbicides applied in pre and post emergence. The most valuable variant in combating weeds in grain sorghum crop proved to be the variant with Dual Gold (S-metolachlor 960 g/l) 1.5 l/ha applied in pre-emergence + Trek P 334 SE (Pendimetalin 64 g/l + Terbuthylazine 270 g/l) 2.5 l/ha applied post-emergence, variant which had a calculated Abott's coefficient of 98.2%. The combination of Dual Gold (S-metolachlor 960 g/l) 1.5 l/ha + Casper 0.4 l/ha (5% prosulfuron+50% dicamba) also provided a high cultural hygiene assurance, and was close to the previous variant with a calculated coefficient of 97.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide abiotic stress factors such as excessive temperature, precipitation, drought, salinity, soil pH, greenhouse gases, ultraviolet (UVB) radiation, and air pollution pose a persistent threat to both diseases and plants affecting hostpathogen relationship depending on geographical and temporal distribution of inoculum amount and cultivars susceptibility. Leaf rust of rye, which is caused by Puccinia recondita f. sp. secalis (Roberge ex. Desmaz) has become one of the most important limiting factors for rye production in Central and Eastern Europe. During 2020-2021 growing season, a plant-pathogen interaction profile was observed on four rye genotypes in a randomized complete block design with three replications in dry area from Research and Development Station for Plant Culture on Sands Dăbuleni in south of Romania. Adult plant partial resistance was assessed through host response and epidemiological parameters as final rust severity (FRS), area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), relative area under the disease progress curve (rAUDPC), coefficient of infection (CI) and infection rate (IR). The response of rye genotypes to leaf rust included different variation in resistance reaction ranging from moderately resistant to very susceptible. A negative and highly significant correlation of AUDPC with grain yield (r = -0.9222***) was found during 2020-2021 cropping season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Asia is situated in the proxy vicinity of two large states: the Russian Federation and China, both looking for the undisputed status of a global actor. The mode the two states relate to Central Asia differs because of the way each projects its power. The Russian Federation has a multidomain cooperation with the Central Asian states, mainly focused on the security aspect, while China, on the other hand, is betting on the economic force through which it could influence Central Asian politics in its favor. USSR’s implosion and Kremlin’s revisionist and imperialist intentions of influence sphere reconfirmation corroborated with China’s accelerated economic development strengthens mainly competition, not cooperation, between the two actors who are also strategic partners. Turkey, through its foreign affairs’ pragmatic and opportunistic policies, supports the Turkish-speaking communities in Central Asia and aims for mentoring their policies. The USA, the EU, India and Iran are, foremost, interested in the energy resources of the region, because of economic reasons, as an alternative to the Russian gas or as a resource for their own development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravitational model is the most common tool in urban geography in spatial interaction modeling. This model, derived from Isaac Newton's law of universal gravity, uses two variables to estimate the spatial interaction between at least two points (cities in our case): the number of the population of these cities and the distance between them. The use of gravitational force in predicting spatial interaction dates back to before 1850. This study aims to study the spatial interaction between the cities of Constanţa County, Dobrogea region, Romania through three models proposed by H.C. Carey, W.J. Reilly-P.D. Converse and G.K. Zipf. The spatial interaction between the county-capital city of Constanţa and the other cities in the county weakens with the departure from it, becoming negative. Having the largest number of inhabitants, Constanţa extends its urban influence to the entire county. The only city in the county that comes closest to the zipfian distribution is Mangalia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change and human activity, biotic constrainers are anticipated to expand to regions where they were previously irrelevant. This will present new management challenges for crops, particularly in cropping systems dependent on minor cereals diversification. In Central and Eastern Europe, Secale cereale is a minor cereal that contributes to the diversity of crop species, particularly in marginal areas where wheat cultivation is unfavourable. During 2020-2021, using different chemical and biological pesticide formulations, a plant-pest-pathogen interaction profile was observed on Suceveana rye genotype in a randomized complete block design with three replications in dry area from South of Romania. The best protection against leaf rust (Puccinia recondita f. sp. secalis) was provided by Poliversum (Pythium oligandrum M1, 1×10.000.000 oospors/g product) for the 1st assessment - attack degree = 0.65% and for the 2nd assessment - attack degree = 1.42%, while against pests was provided by Bioinsekt and deltametrin (0.75 ml/ha). Negative and significant correlation of leaf rust attack with grain yield (r =-0.8561***) and pests attack with grain yield (r =-0.8631***) were found during 2020-2021 cropping season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

tural and religious segregation (an obstacle in attracting signifi cant foreign investment and achieving a coherent development program). Seen by most of the parties involved as a geopolitical area of potential infl uence, the region has real development opportunities, but it could be drawn into a potentially implosive uncontrollable race, a range of geopolitical clashes and geostrategic repositioning that can evolve unfavourably for the well-being of the cohabiting communities. The Caucasus ethnic disputes led to military clashes with the Russian Armed Forces for more than two centuries and rooted some anti-Russian sentiments for generations. Ethnic fragmentation, division and resettlement carried out in the Caucasus by the Soviet leadership sought to create a buff er zone, characterized by constant instability and a zone where policies contrary to the Kremlin’s vision could not be implemented. Regaining the infl uence lost by Turkey, consolidating Iran’s fragile position in the region, Russia’s desire to reconquer, along with the expansion of China’s economic projection, hinders European and transatlantic eff orts for a democratic development of the region, that could be benefi cial for the citizen of Caucasus [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of temporary meadows is of particular scientific importance, because they make possible the edification and characterization of some essential aspects regarding the relationship between the diversity, stability and maturity of ecosystems; the relationships between species; the biological balance between natural and artificial ecosystems; aspects that are greatly debated nowadays. They can replace degraded permanent meadows, or on arable land intended for fodder. When creating the mixtures, the basic requirement that must be taken into account is that they form a uniform grass cover and are well adapted to stationary conditions. The importance of developing temporary meadows led to the initiation of studies at ARDS Secuieni, starting with 2017, with the aim of creating the best mixtures adapted to the pedo-climatic conditions in the area. The results obtained in the conditions of Central Moldavia showed that fertilization with different doses of fertilizer influenced the production of dry matter compared to the non-fertilized variants. The variant fertilized with the dose of N80P40 kg/ha had the highest fodder production, i.e.16.13 t/ha d.m.; the difference compared to the control was quite a significant one; and the lowest production was obtained with the control variable (N0P0), i.e. 9.47 t/ha d.m. Analysing the data obtained, it can be easily noticed that, in the variants studied, there were five production cuttings; alternating hay mowing with that for simulating grazing (mixed regime). Analysing the results obtained, for the first cutting, regarding the influence of fertilization and the mixture used on the percentage of grass and leguminous species, it was found that in the mixture of 85% grasses (Dactylis glomerata 60% + Lolium perenne 25%) and 15% perennial leguminous (Lotus corniculatus 15%), the percentage of grasses participation in the grass cover was between 64.5% for the variant fertilized with N40P40 and 86.0% for the variant fertilized with N80P40. The leguminous that are part of the grass cover were between 12.7% for the variant fertilized with N80P40 and 34.6% for the variant fertilized with N40P40, and the percentage of participation of various species was between 0.5% and 1.4%. The participation percentage of perennial grasses and leguminous varied depending on the dose of fertilizer applied, and the quality of the fodder obtained was good for all the mixtures studied, being primarily determined by the doses of fertilizers administered, but also by the species and the proportion of their participation in the sowing rate under the conditions of Central Moldavia from 2017 to 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of pesticides in modern agriculture has led to increased concerns about the risk of pollution of surface waters, soil and its agro-productive properties. The application of large doses of pesticides using outdated technologies and non-performing agricultural equipments, with poor application in terms of distribution uniformity and the lack of farmers’ knowledge and measures to prevent the drift phenomenon leads to their spread outside the targeted areas and implicitly to the increase of environmental pollution. In the present study, three anti-drift agents: EM260 (dodecilbenzensulfonat of calcium 50%, and butanol 18%), SC (heptametiltrisiloxan polietilenglicol) and respectively SO (surfactant non – ionic) have been tested according to ISO 22866, in the field conditions of Agricultural Research Development Station (ARDS) Caracal, Romania. The obtained results emphasized that the most valuable, among all variants, was EM260 (dodecilbenzensulfonat of calcium 50%, and butanol 18%) with smaller drift effect recorded at 1 meter distance (6.4%), followed by the second point, at 3 meters (3.1%) and at 5 meters with a calculated value of 2.1%. Also, at this variant the affected plants percent was smallest from the entire tested assortment, of 35.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fall of the USSR gave birth to new geopolitical realities in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the intervention by force and military power was no longer a solution. After years of reform, the Russian Federation was forced to apply coercion to its former political satellites. In this context, the Russian leaders initiated the reconstruction of the old sphere of economic and political influence by using identity conflicts, energy blackmail and hybrid warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drifting is a global issue worldwide and consists in the application of crop protection products or other sprayed materials away from the target area, leading to substance loss, possible damage to nearby crops and plants and pollution of local surface waters. Without the use of anti-drift agents, drift-reducing nozzles or other drift-reducing techniques, spraying fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in general would be ineffective. Thus, crop protection effect is reduced and waste, which can result in lower incomes for farmers and higher costs for food consumers. Concrete solutions to reduce drifting and waste of crop protection products are necessary and require focus on specific particularities. The present research should increase the interest for multifaced solutions to reduce drifting. In this light the purpose of this review considers the most important data and relevant literature on this topic in order to offer significant insights and to identify knowledge gaps within literature. Thus, short- and long-term solutions refer to proper identification of the best agents that can be used for anti-drift technology. Without the use of anti-drift agents, drift-reducing nozzles or other drift-reducing techniques, spraying fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in general would be ineffective. The anti-drift market is at a very early stage due to the lack of user education and lack of high-quality research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we intend to provide an updated situation on the land used in organic agriculture system and registered in the database of the Agency for Payments and Intervention for Agriculture - Vâlcea County Center, during the campaigns for submitting single payment applications, related PNDR framework 2014-2020. The amounts granted as financial support for the implementation of Measure 11 - organic agriculture are also highlighted in terms of value. Compared to the areas that benefited from support through Measure 11, it was observed an increase during the studied period from 10.56 ha in 2015 to 6,054.98 ha in 2020, areas that include several categories of land uses: arable land, permanent crops and permanent pastures. As for the number of farmers who have accessed this form of support, it has increased from 3 in 2015 to 37 at the end of 2020. The average value of payments - expressed in euro - at the farmer level registered an increasing trend, starting from 2,138.21 euros in 2015 and reaching a maximum of 16,625.58 euros in 2020, with a total of payments of 615,146.67 euros related to this measure in Vâlcea County, in the year 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to cause the spread of pathogens and pests in areas where they have not been relevant before, bringing new challenges for cropping systems based on crops diversification by minor cereals. Rye is a minor cereal that contributes to crop species diversity in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in marginal environments unfavourable for wheat production. During 2019-2020, a plant-pest-pathogen interaction profile was observed on Suceveana rye genotype in a randomized complete block design in dry area from Research and Development Station for Plant Culture on Sands Dabuleni in South of Romania. The best protection against leaf rust was provided by Dithane M 45+Bioinsekt (the 1st assessment = 2.98%; the 2nd assessment = 4.86%), while the best control against pests was provided by Mimox+Bioinsekt (the 1st assessment = 0.83%) and Mimox+ Decis Expert 100 EC (the 2nd assessment = 1.03%). For pests and leaf rust control was noticed the synergistic effect of insecticides and fungicides used in the experiment. Negative and significant correlations of attack degrees with grain yield (r =-0.7886**, respectively r = -0.8332**) were noticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of practicing a sustainable farming system include the use of renewable energy sources, fuels from residual crop biomass or biomass produced for this purpose. From the multitude of crops with high energy potential suitable for cultivation in climatic conditions in Romania, sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. var. Sacharratum). it proves to be one of the most important species, which is highlighted both by its high capacity to generate high yields, but also by the consistency and quality of fresh biomass production. Due to the stalks whose juice is rich in sugar (12-22% Brix), which can be easily converted into biofuel, either directly by fermentation or indirectly by obtaining alcohol, sweet sorghum is enlarged in culture, with obvious tendencies to increase surfaces on the European continent. The data presented in this paper were obtained from a study conducted on the chernozem soil in the Caracal Plain, in order to identify the ability of new hybrids of sweet sorghum to capitalize the climatic conditions specific to the area and to express their productive potential through high yields of fresh biomass with a high sugar content. The obtained data showed that the most valuable hybrid proved to be SASM 1, with a total biomass production of 88.1 t / ha and a ratio of stem participation to total biomass of 81.3%. The average soluble dry matter content (Brix) determined with the portable field refractometer, in the conditions of 2019 year, was 18.2% for the same hybrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food loss and waste is a global issue worldwide, posing a real challenge to both food security and sustainability. The productivity of our food system is reduced by food loss and waste, which can result in lower incomes for farmers and higher costs for food consumers. Food loss and waste occur at different levels along the food chain supply in production, postproduction procedures, processing, distribution and consumption. Concrete targets to reduce food loss and waste are necessary to be set at country levels focused on specific particularities. Thus, for developed countries the focus should be on waste, while for developing countries the focus should be on food loss, but also considering best solutions for reducing food waste in the future. The present review considers the most important data and relevant literature on this topic in order to offer significant insights and to identify knowledge gaps within literature. The present research should increase the interest for multifaced solutions to reduce food loss and waste in order to increase food security. Thus, short and long term solutions refer to proper identification of food loss and waste gaps along food chain supply, e-commerce platforms for products marketing, rethinking standards on aesthetic requirements for fruits and vegetables, shorter value chain in order to put the farmers in direct contact with markets and consumers, improved packaging during transport of fresh products, investing in agtech, biotechnology, smart packaging and consumers' education in using food and food-related resources more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chickpeas are a culture that is part of the Leguminous family, with multiple uses in human nutrition, as an industrial raw material, in animal feed (not used as green fodder) as well as from agro-technical point of view (good for other cultures due to biological peculiarities). As advantages of culture, it is noted the uniform baking and the existence of the indehiscent pods. The culture presents a productive potential for Romania, between 1,000 and 1,500 kg/ha, under the conditions of use, in production, of local populations and varieties. The study relates to the possibilities of enlargement in the culture of the chickweed as a result of climate change, as the plant is not a demanding one for water consumption, and presents a relatively affordable technology for farmers. In this context, are noted areas cultivated (694.59 ha - average level for the analyzed period), total productions (720.37 t) and average productions (about 1,010 kg/ha), specific to Romania, as well as the quantities of imported product (561.15 t) and Exported (50.56 t) by our country for the time interval 1992-2018. The analyzed timeframe captures both political, economic and social changes, as well as changes under the main climatic parameters, with a rather significant impact on the productive activity of the vegetal sector. Our country is not an important player on the market of this product at European and world level, but the existing conditions may lead to a reduction in the external trade balance, and the proper use of the specific national potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reaffirm itself as an uncontested global actor, the Russian Federation aspires to „new horizons” where the „Putinist” ideology could be easily adopted by authoritarian/dictatorial elites and moves the eff ort’s centre of gravity towards projecting the doctrine away from Europe and into Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In this context, the EU and NATO enlargement process in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the resilience consolidation of the states in the respective areas have determined the Russian Federation to reconsider their eff ort on the Western Strategic Direction (defence consolidation, harassment and interests promoting through third parties) and to capture the initiative on the South-Western Strategic Direction. The newly created and consolidated outpost (the Crimean Peninsula) was quickly transformed from a territory that was conquered, estranged, leased and then reclaimed into a stronghold on the South-Western Strategic Direction and use as a natural extension of the territorially -expansionist foreign policy of the Russian Federation Crimean Peninsula’s return to the „motherland” was followed by ample programmes meant to easily connect the Peninsula to the Russian continental land from economic, transport infrastructure and especially military standpoints. The latter was carried through overcrowding the newly acquired land with personnel and equipment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project Management practice leverage concepts and models that try to maximize assessment accuracy with regards to effort and resource consumption. A central aspect is analysis of project complexity. The higher the complexity, the higher the cost and resource usage and risk. In this article, we define project complexity classes and propose models for estimating those. Key factors that drive complexity have the utmost importance. Ultimately, guidelines on translating project complexity into cost and duration estimation are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The researches were carried out in the period 2020-2021 on the cowpea crop, located in irrigated conditions, on a sandy soil with low natural fertility, in the southern area of Oltenia, and aimed at reducing the effects of abiotic stress and increasing production, through management fertilizing the crop with environmentally friendly products. Five variants of foliar fertilization were experimented (non-fertilized foliar, Basfoliar 36 Extra, in a dose of 3 l / ha; Maturevo 3.35.35 + ME, in a dose of 3 kg/ha; liquid Biohumussol in a concentration of 1 %; Polyactiv Mn, at a dose of 1.5 l/ha), on two agrofunds of root fertilization (N30P30K30; N60P60K60). The obtained results showed that ensuring a rational fertilization of cowpea, in relation to the requirements of the plant and the state of soil fertility can regulate the mechanisms of plant protection against stressors on sandy soils. The foliar fertilization with environmentally friendly products has positively influenced the percentage of dry matter, bound water and the concentration of vacuolar juice in cowpea leaves, increasing the plant's resistance to thermohydric stress. Through the foliar fertilization of the cowpea crop, there were increases of production between 30-47.5%, on the agrofound of N30P30K30 and of 15.8-22.1% on the agrofund of N60P60K60. The cowpea registered a maximum production (2,983.4 kg/ha), at the fertilization with Maturevo 3.35.35 + ME, in a dose of 3 kg/ha, on the agrofund of N60P60K60, with the significant difference (p>0.05), compared to unfertilized foliar. There was a positive correlation, distinctly significant, between between the leaf area index and cowpea grain production (r = 0.882 **). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]