The present research was carried out to investigate the effects of different fertilizer treatments on grain yield and yield components of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) ‘Harenda’ cultivar. The five treatments were as follows: control (standard NPK fertilization), standard NPK fertilization plus liquid NPK (10-11-11) fertilizer, standard NPK fertilization plus liquid NPK (10-11-11) fertilizer with microelements, standard NPK fertilization plus calcium micronized suspension fertilizer, and standard NPK fertilization plus Cu, Mn, Zn, Ca micronized suspension fertilizers. The field trials were conducted in 2017 at the Experimental Site of Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute in Puławy, Poland. Applications of calcium micronized suspension foliar fertilizer and a mixture of Cu, Mn, Zn, Ca micronized suspension fertilizers significantly increased grain yield of spring wheat, respectively by 44.5% and 38.6% in comparison with control (standard NPK fertilization). These fertilizer treatments also enhanced yield components of spring wheat. Moreover, micronized suspension fertilizers (Ca and the mixture of Cu, Mn, Zn, Ca) had a significant effect on ear number and thousand grain weight of spring wheat compared to control and NPK fertilizers. Liquid NPK and micronutrient-enriched NPK fertilizers had a significant effect on thousand grain weight compared to control.

Healthy seeds are essential for the optimal plant population and yield, but seed-borne pathogens, such as Fusarium spp., may reduce seed germination, quality and cause damping-off of the seedlings. Fusarium graminearum is a dominant pathogen of cereal crops and can cause significant losses of grain yield and quality. It is important to evaluate the role of alternative inoculum source in crop rotation. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of F. graminearum infection on different plant seed germination and seed infestation. The research was conducted at the Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, in 2017. Visually healthy seeds of bean (Vicia faba L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.), soybean (Glycine max. (L.) Merr.), lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), white (Trifolium repens L.) and red (Trifolium pratense L.) clover were inoculated with 10 mL of F. graminearum suspension, adjusted to 1×106 conidia per mL. Seed infection was counted 2 and 6 days after inoculation (DAI), seed germination energy and reduction rate – after 3 DAI and germination index – 6 DAI. Results showed that all inoculated seeds were covered with typical to F. graminearum red-purple mycelium. The results of inoculated seeds with F. graminearum showed red-purple mycelium growth on the seeds (infection from 21.25 up to 100%). The results showed that germination energy decreased on pea (2.56%) and lupine (7.79%) seeds. Our results suggest that various plant seeds differently react to F. graminearum infection. The highest infection of F. graminearum was obtained on pea, lupine seeds and the least on red clover.

Conducting agricultural activity in areas facing natural constraints (ANC) affects farms’ production and economic results. ANC payments were introduced to compensate farmers for higher costs and lost income. The aim of the study is to compare the production and economic results of farms receiving ANC support with other farms. It was hypothesized that ANC farms achieve lower production and economic results than other units. The analysis is based on Polish FADN data concerning 2015. The sample included 12,105 farms, of which 4,652 (38.43%) received ANC subsidies. To describe the characteristics of the surveyed farms, positional measures were used due to strong asymmetry. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the significance of differences in distributions. The results indicate the existence of significant differences in the production potential, production and economic efficiency of farms receiving ANC payments and ones without them. Agricultural farms receiving ANC payments are characterized by a significantly smaller area of agricultural land, a lower share of arable land in the UAA and a smaller share of leased land. They also have lower production volume, lower land and labour productivity. They achieve relatively lower incomes. Nevertheless, the payments to a small extent reduce these differences. On this basis, it can be concluded that ANC payments in Poland do not provide full compensation for differences in the production and economic results of a farm with worse agri-environmental conditions. Therefore, the impact of the CAP on the economic results of farms located in ANC is relatively small.

The changing economic and social situation in the regions leads to the changing understanding of the potential which exists in the countryside. This research is based on the idea that farmers operate in close neighbourhood with the local communities and therefore they may hold a potential to start innovation processes in rural regions as agents of change. This may happen individually or together with the local community. Farmers are active in acquiring new knowledge and experience through collaboration with advanced innovation centres in research laboratories and universities, and sharing with the local community, thus making these innovations open. The success of innovators comes in line with the collaboration and therefore the defined three key factors of ‘innovating together’ in this research are: first, the shift from technical to organizational innovations; second, the shift from sectorial to territorial rural development strategies; third, the size of farms and rural enterprises due to the limited number of employees. Theoretical findings are followed by empirical investigations from representative data collected in Lithuanian farms in 2017, supported with relevant statistical analysis. Research results show that the potential for ‘innovating together’ in Lithuanian farms is rather weak when taking into account all three factors. However, there are reasons behind this which give insights for future developments in the field.

During the last decade a huge number of Latvian citizens have left the country and live abroad, which complicates to a certain extent the chance of easily returning and settling down in Latvia. At the same time, the Latvian entrepreneurs are ultimately demonstrating their desperate need for all kind of workers. Especially it could be seen in sectors like medicine, retail, heavy and light industry. Rapidly growing Diaspora allows to acknowledge that there is a big potential of labour force flowing away from the country, sometimes staying without any work positions for quite a long time. The aim of this article is to find evidence that Latvian Diaspora could be involved in the Latvian economy and business by using a new attitude and approach, which should be supported by teleworking. During research the main methods used were content analysis of strategic and planning documents as well as analysis of the best practices in the world and Latvia, with the aim of establishing a model of remote work development and finding out proposals for a better participation of employees, employers and territory representatives – local governments and state institutions. This article is a part of and supported by the State Research Project EKOSOC-LV, part 5.2.2. The authors express their gratitude to the Institute of Social, Economic and Humanities research of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences.

Social entrepreneurship plays an increasingly important role in tackling socio-economic problems. It has gained recognition in Latvia among politicians, academicians and social entrepreneurs; consequently, the number of social enterprises increased in the country, yet there is a lack of research studies on social enterprise models and their classification. Accordingly, the research aim is to examine the theoretical models of social enterprises in Latvia. In the scientific literature, there is no strict classification of social enterprises, but based on different criteria, it is possible to distinguish several types or models. In Latvia, there are relatively few social enterprises; for this reason, it is quite difficult to categorise them. However, social enterprises are divided by sector, field of activity, target group, scale of activity and other criteria. The research stresses the following key social entrepreneurship models: the Selfinitiative Model, the Government Participation Model, the Municipal Participation Model and the Company-initiated Development Model. These models are based on two key criteria – support intensity and taking the initiative in establishing and developing a social enterprise.

Current paper contains the research concerning the role and concentration of IT specialists in contemporary Latvia. It is based on theoretical findings about the location of creative class in certain areas that meet the requirements of technology, tolerance and talent. At the same time, the advantages of creative people staying in the area are undoubted. Creative class and, first of all, super-creative core of creative class bring economic and technological development into the area it is located at. The goal of the article is to examine areas of creative IT specialist concentration within Latvia. The statistics and dynamics of IT position increase were examined and trends found. In order to define the role of IT specialists in Latvia, the allocations of IT specialists across the country were analysed. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index of Information and communication industry employee concentration was calculated. It was found that IT specialists in Latvia are extremely concentrated. Riga planning region accumulates 91.51% of all IT specialists in Latvia.

Considering tourism as a driving force in the growth of rural economy, the research in this industry is gaining its popularity. In the era of the Internet, no business is imaginable without having its own website. However, implementing a website does not already mean that customers will like and approve it. Website quality is a necessary task to maintain in line with its functioning. The aim of the research is to assess the quality of the Lithuanian rural tourism homestead websites. Only understanding the website-related factors that are important for consumers may lead to a proper management of a website and customer attraction as well. The research results show that the information on the websites has to be easy findable, clear, and consistent; photos that substantiate the information are necessary; the information and photos have to be managed properly; and the eWOM part has to be included on the website. Proper management of latter factors can enhance the possibility of maintaining a high quality website that encourages consumer intention to visit the homestead.

The preservation and nurturance of national heritage products, which are inherent to particular localities, are very significant for the economic and social vitality, and sustainable development of a country. National handicrafts are a means of maintaining national identity, originality, and distinction in a constantly changing world. For a long time Lithuania was an agrarian country, so its cultural heritage and handicrafts are closely related to the rural environment, culture, traditions, and materials. Nowadays this heritage is a very important source of alternative employment opportunities. In 2007 Lithuania enacted the Law of National Heritage Products; in 2008 and 2011 Programmes for the Protection of National Heritage Products, their Market and Development of Handicrafts were approved. The goal was to provide governmental support to create favourable conditions for the creation, realisation and popularisation of national heritage products. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the situation with traditional handicraft protection in Lithuania within the Programme implementation framework and to submit proposals for better implementation. The analysis shows that not all Programme goals were achieved: those for which municipalities were responsible were implemented better than those implemented by governmental institutions. A presumption could be made that the top-down approach is only partially suitable for the Programme implementation. The partners from the ‘bottom’ (associations, local activity groups) should be involved in the implementation of the Programme to reach better results.

Professional self-determination is an important issue for anyone in the course of a lifetime. The dynamic nature of modern social and economic circumstances makes the issue even more topical. It determines the necessity to improve the career development support system currently existing in the field of education, where various specialists, by purposeful and systematic cooperation, help students in setting their career goals, understating the changeable working environment, seeing various alternatives and making deliberate career decisions. The career support is important as it helps learners choose a suitable professional sphere, profession and educational institution for continuation of their self-improvement upon acquiring of general secondary education. The aim of the research is to provide a scientific basis for topicality of career guidance implementation in school educational environment in order to promote the students’ professional self-determination. In Latvia, a number of career development guidance systems, including counselling and student career support methods and forms are being created and approbated in the educational environment, focusing on the career support curriculum and principles, which would ensure a purposeful implementation of students’ professional self-determination at schools.