Recently we have been noticing words as 'sustainable development', 'environment protection', 'environmentally friendly' etc more and more often. We understand meaning of those concepts, but there are no unambiguous definitions of these words in literature. Each of these notions includes particular characterizing elements which understanding and characterizing of which make possible to detect correctness of application or context. Sustainability like entrepreneurship is a process which takes place within definite environment around it. Mutual interaction of the processes produces consequences which have to satisfy all the interested parties. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate several science branches to solve this problem- i. e. economics and ecology. Nowadays, environment issues become part of each person, institution, policy and law. Environmental questions are integrated in different fields of economics and entrepreneurship, as well. It is hard to define environmentally friendly entrepreneurship. But there is a flexible definition that could be used in different economical spheres with great variability of economical circumstances, and it is- characterised circumstances would not be secured for a long time, yet. It is complicated to define the concept since this is a value involving process. Values which are sources for idea of sustainable development are based on need to form society satisfying human interests and unthreatening future generations, necessity to secure economical growth including moral, social and ecological aspects.

This paper discusses the continuous field view of representing geography and its role in forest inventory. Describing all forest attributes at any location or point and storing this information in digital databases, as an alternative to store forest compartments as vector polygons and associated attributes, is considered to be important for development of remote sensing and GIS applications for forest inventories. Main results achieved following this approach during the last decade in Lithuanian university of agriculture are described. Special research polygon near Kaunas was developed. Four auxiliary data sources (Spot Xi, Landsat TM, digital aerial photos and stand-wise inventory material), three estimators (two-phase sampling with stratification, the k-nearest neighbours and regression) as well as different methods for auxiliary data integration were examined to get point-wise forest characteristics. The lowest root mean square errors at a level of virtual sample point using optimal implementation tactics are – for mean diameter 24 %, height 18%, age 28%, basal area 37%, volume per 1 ha 40% and percentage of coniferous trees 29% of the mean value of corresponding forest characteristic. Integrating additional auxiliary information – characteristics of forest compartments, estimated during the conventional stand-wise inventory – and satellite images improved the overall estimation accuracy. Pre-stratification of sample plots using the attributes of compartments improved the estimation accuracy for certain stand groups. A new approach of segmentation, aimed to construct conventional forest compartments – estimation of point-wise forest characteristics for every pixel of satellite imagery and using them instead of original image values – was suggested and investigated.

Progeny testing of Scots pine in Latvia is carried out in only few locations, however, material from selections via seed orchards is deployed in various climatic and soil conditions, therefore concerns arise for influence of genotype environment interaction on levels of genetic gain. Problem is addressed based on 3 open pollinated progeny tests, consisting of 80 open pollinated families, located in 3 distant climatic regions in Latvia. Test age is 27 years, therefore not only growth, but also branch quality traits can be reliably analyzed. Strong genetic correlation (rb=0.80-0.94) among sites for tree height and diameter was found, but considerably weaker for branch traits like diameter of thickest branch (rb=0.52-0.67), average branch diameter, and sum of branch diameters (rb=0.41-0.49). Coefficients of additive genetic variation and coefficients of phenotypic variation among family means, determining potential of improvement via breeding, can be inflated by up to half, based on single site estimates for growth traits and double for quality traits. Backward selection based on results of several trials, in contrast to forward selection or utilization of single experiment results, could lead to improvement of branch traits close to the same as for growth traits (height and diameter). Single site narrow-sense heritability estimates for analyzed growth and quality traits are up to twice as large as across site estimates, indicating possibilities of serious bias in genetic gain estimates based on results from one test site. Testing at 4-5 sites for further breeding work is recommended.

Willows (Salix sp.) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinecea L.) (RCG) are fast growing perennial energy crop and potential cultures for recovering of cutaway peat lands. Cut away peat land soils are characterized by high acidity (pHKCl 2-3), high NH4**+1, and lack of P and K. Wood ash could be good liming agent and resource of potassium. Waste water sewage sludge (WWSS) compost is effective fertilizer and source of phosphorus. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of application of WWSS compost and wood ash fertilizers of different doses on ingrown of willow cuttings and RCG in potted cultures. The wood ash addition of 10 g lE-1 and 20 g lE-1 to WWSS compost mix with peat from used query in proportions 1:1 and 4:1 were tested. The length of shoots and dry mass of shoots and roots were assessed to determine the effect of fertilization on growth of crops. Chemical analyses of growing media were performed to determine the content of main nutrient elements and pHKCl changes during season. The positive effect of fertilization on growth of crops was observed - an optimum dose for willows is (10 g lE-1) equivalent to 10 tDM haE-1 wood ash with mix of WWSS compost with peat. RCG produces more biomass in growing media containing largest doses of wood ash and WWSS compost premix. The willows produced bigger amount of biomass and accumulated more nutrients from growing media than RCG.

The vegetation of Pruno-Fraxinetum plant communities was described in 2004 – 2005 according to the Braun-Blanquet method throughout Latvia, in forests where common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) are dominant species in tree layer on moist soils. Classification of relevés (in total 52) by two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) resulted in two variants of this association: typical variant (typicum) and variant with Filipendula ulmaria. Ellenberg indicator values were used to find out the relationship of flora with climatic (light, temperature, continentality) and edaphic (soil reaction, nitrogen, moisture) factors. Canonical correspondent analysis (CCA) was used to find out differences between two variants of Pruno-Fraxinetum. Results of this research have shown that these forests have complicated structure (form four vegetation layers, high species richness), which mainly depends on moist, rich eutrophic soils, usually with presence of limes. Main differential soil factors in ecological analysis are gradients of soil richness: moisture and nitrogen regimes. The influence of other factors was less expressed. Due to the human influence, especially drainage, the moist ash forests are decreasing and the species composition is changed. As Pruno-Fraxinetum forests in Latvia lie on the northern border of its distribution, the species composition differs from forests in the rest Europe; species characteristic determined by floodplain forests in Central Europe are absent.

The objectives of this study were to (1) describe the economic agents of the chain and their commercial and legal relationships; (2) identify the articulations between links, technological levels, indicators of efficiency, installed capacity (scale), and degrees of occupation; (3) characterize and estimate the costing and pricing structures, and the generation of value in different links of the chain; (4) identify those critical costs that can be modified through technological interventions, policy, or other activity; (5) determine the biological and economic risk factors throughout the chain; and (6) develop a methodology to identify and estimate the costs and benefits in each segment and evaluate the generation of value throughout the beef chain. Data at the farm level was obtained from a national livestock survey (CORFOGA 2005b), which provided data on production systems, inventories, productivity, culling, and labor. In addition, surveys were carried out in different segments: (1) auction houses, (2) slaughterhouses, (3) butcher shops, and (4) supermarkets. The aim of these surveys was to describe behavior, determine risks and costs, and identify problems. The weak dynamics of livestock production in Costa Rica are reflected in unsatisfactory productivity indicators. The annual gross income was estimated as US$44/ha for cow-calf operations, $126/ha for dual purpose (including income from milk sales), and $135/ha for fattening activities. Such income rates are considered extremely low, if one uses as reference the commercial value of land allocated to livestock production (ranging between $1000 and $2000/ha). The aforementioned biological inefficiencies, combined with high land costs, impede the recovery of opportunity costs for the capital invested in land, thus making beef production uncompetitive. The cow-calf operation, with its low productivity, remunerates family labor with wages below the legal minimum. On the assumption that the only cash cost is that of labor, cow-calf farms pay family workers at a wage that is equivalent to 60% of the legal minimum. Auctions present relatively good profits per event. However, when these profits are analyzed on a calendar-day basis, they are unattractive because of the low use of installed capacity. One strategy that would usefully improve the efficiency of the auction system in Costa Rica is its integration to reduce the number of fixed operational costs or encourage sharing of these houses so that administrative and operational personnel are rotated among the several existing auctions, taking advantage of the fact that they differ in their days of operation. This scheme would help reduce fixed costs and the commission collected without affecting profits, thus improving efficiency in this link of the chain. However, this option is not easy to implement, as auctions are run by private operators, whose various interests do not always coincide. The industrial sector formed by rural and industrial slaughterhouses shows a low occupation of installed capacity, resulting in high operational costs and low labor efficiency. The total operational costs of slaughtering and dressing are estimated as being between US$32 and $66 per animal. If the estimated unit costs are compared with the rates charged per slaughtered animal (between $15 and $23), then we have to conclude that rural slaughterhouses work at a loss and that industrial slaughterhouses cover their operational costs with processing services and the very small profit margins from sales of byproducts. The best performance in terms of efficiency and profitability is found in the retail sector of butchers and supermarkets. The rate of profits, expressed as the fraction of the final price paid by the consumer that remains in the butcher’s hands as remuneration of his work, ranges widely between 3% and 40%, with an average of 32%. If these profit rates are compared with those of other retail businesses, which are about 8%, then this type of activity presents excellent profit margins with relatively low risk. If, in addition, we take into account that this sector also offers the consumer a broad range of meat cuts from other animals such as pork and chicken, and processed meats, then profit margins are still higher. The value generated throughout the chain, as a percentage of the final value of the young steer at retail price according to activity, is distributed as follows: fattener (34%), retailer (33%), breeder (19%), slaughterhouse (7%), transporter (6%), and auction house (1%). As observed, the distribution of value throughout the beef chain is totally inequitable and incongruent with the level of individual risk confronted by the actors who form it. The inequity observed in the distribution of added value reflects a clear dominant position in the market of some actors of the chain, which enables them to capture a very high fraction of the profits. The value generated in the chain, adjusted for operational time in each link, ranges between US$0.28/animal per day for the breeder and $45.85/animal per day for the butcher. Thus, the highest proportion of the total added value concentrates on the final link of the chain. The butcher or supermarket obtains, on the basis of one animal in the same unit of time, 164 times more value that the breeder located in the first link of the chain. The latter has to confront biological and economic risks not covered by insurance policies, whereas retailers may mitigate risks through insurance policies for their raw materials, equipment, and infrastructure. The competitiveness of the beef chain is the aggregate of the efficiency and productivity of all the links that form it. In a situation where, in the final segment, the demand for beef is low and weakly dynamic, then economic signs of modernization and the technological change it promotes, are not being generated in other components of the chain, particularly in the first link of production. This, in turn, results in a vicious cycle, generating low productivity and lack of competitiveness. To promote technological change, efficiency, and competitiveness in the value chain for beef in Costa Rica, we propose the following six recommendations: 1. That successful experiences of other chains such as that of poultry be analyzed and learned from to identify strategies that would increase the efficiency of the beef chain as a whole. 2. That strategies for promoting the milk production of breeding cows be developed to increase family income, as remuneration of labor is currently below the minimum wage. This option would be viable only in localities where a milk market exists. That livestock producer funds [a livestock producer fund consists of granting livestock in company to produce meat, provided that the producer concerned has adequate pastures for this purpose on his farm] be created as mechanisms to develop social capital, reduce transaction costs, and help improve the chain’s productivity and profitability. These organizations would bring together the different classes of the chain and favor synergies in the interaction of public and private actors. 3. That incentives be created to promote the large-scale adoption of already available improved forage species, as most of the problem of low livestock productivity originates in poor and deficient feed. This strategy would emphasize feeding during dry seasons, thereby minimizing seasonal weight losses in the national herd and improving the profitability of farms. 4. That a carcass classification system be established, based on quality and price that would permit differentiating supplies for different segments of the market. 5. That consumer education be promoted on the health benefits of beef, forms of preparation, and differentiating between cuts, uses, and qualities of beef products.

Objectives of this study were to compare costs and expected benefits of feed supplementation in cattle with alternative shrub legumes during the dry season using as a case study the hillsides of Central Nicaragua. The information used was gathered in a survey of 32 farms in the states of Boaco and Chontales in Central Nicaragua. The survey was designed to determine herd structure, land use patterns, milk and beef production, and use of inputs for animal nutrition, in order to estimate production, reproductive parameters and employment of family/contracted labor, as well as indicators of profitability of the alternatives under study. To calculate the economic return to the investment in alternative forages, a simulation model that applies optimization techniques through linear programming, implemented as a spreadsheet, was used to perform an ex ante evaluation of the costs and benefits of different land use alternatives and of interactions between technological components and biological productivity. The model compares the costs and benefits of the traditional feeding system versus an improved feeding system. The traditional system consists of grazing naturalized pastures (Hyparrhenia rufa) during the rainy season. In the dry season producers supplement the herd with small areas of king grass (Pennisetum spp.). The improved feeding system consists of establishing forage legumes for dry season feeding as a supplement to replace king grass during the dry season. Supplements to evaluate are the shrub legume Calliandra calothyrsus as partial replacement of the herbaceous high quality legume Vigna unguiculata, commonly known as Cowpea. Under the new feeding system, herd size can be increased by 60% due in part to the increase in stocking rate as well as to the increase in the quality of the diet offered with higher protein content. This increase in herd size raises both milk and beef output that generates an increase in farm income by 1.8 times more (i.e., from $1,314/farm/yr to $2,386). The economic return to family labor is increased by 20% to $ 5.26/day equivalent to 2.3 times higher than the local wage rate. The adoption of Vigna (Cowpea) after the harvest of maize/beans and a shrub legume as Calliandra to replace king grass seem to have the potential to significantly improve the productivity in smallholder farms. with the resulting increase in the economic return to family labor.

In this study wool characteristics of Libyan sheep in north-eastern Libya were investigated in a coastal region extended from El-Marj (32 25 N and 20 30 E) to Emsaad at the north-eastern border of the country (31 33N, 25 6 E). Twelve locations, one flock per flock were studied. Three sites have been sampled from each animal (Shoulder, mid-side and breech). Mean staple length and fiber diameter were 12.16cm and 38.43 µm respectively. In this study, staple length and fiber diameter didn’t significantly vary between locations studied. Sample site on the body of the animal significantly affect both staple length and fiber diameter, with breech position samples showed the shortest staple length and the thickest fiber diameter (P< 0.05). There was no difference between samples taken from mid-side or shoulder in all measured traits. Results of this study showed that Barbary sheep raised in the eastern part of the country characterized by a long staple and a large fiber diameter, and then confirmed the previous studies studies stated that this breed could be classed as a long carpet wool breed. Samples taken from mid-side position could be representative of Barbary sheep fleece

International audience

peer reviewed | A survey on the production characteristics of guinea fowl (Meleagris numida) was carried out in the Borgou department located in the soudano-guinean zone North-Est of Benin. Chicks and reproductive groups were kept either on station under improved management conditions or in rural environment. In rural environment, the birds were divided in two groups. The birds pertaining to the first group were treated against parasitic diseases, whereas those in the second one (control group) received no treatment. Under station conditions, the feed conversion ratio and the daily weight gain were 8.8 and 5.7 g/day respectively. Mean body weight at six months of age were 1151g and 1085g for males and females, respectively. Sexual maturity was reached at 36 weeks of age. For mature hens kept on station, laying rate and the mean egg weight were 37.2% (65% at the peak) and 41.1g respectively. Smothering, stress and pricking were the major constraints to the cloistering of guinea fowl. In rural environment, the mean hatchability rate was 70%. Mortality rate and adult body weight were not significantly different between groups. Mortality rate observed in the rural environment was 50% for both treated or untreated birds. Apart from the parasitic affections, the main causes of mortality were the rain, the predators, the cold and the fragility of chicks. The mean body weight at six months of age is higher for the birds raised under village conditions in comparison to the birds kept on station.