The positive benefits of dietary fibre (DF) include regulation of the intestinal transit, prevention of risk or treatment of diabetes, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, colon cancer, and obe- sity. The aim of this study was to collect information on knowledge about dietary fibre of citizens of Latvia. The questionnaire consisted of 22 questions. Its aim was to evaluate knowledge in three distinct areas: six concerning knowledge about food fibres; six — about the relation be- tween fibres and various foods, and ten about the relation between fibres and diseases. The methodological study was conducted involving 231 participants, of which 83.5% were female and 16.5% male, aged between 18 and 80 years. The respondents were selected by convenience, and they differed in age, literacy, gender, geographical area of residence, and included people from different cities and smaller villages. 67% of the respondents considered that consumption of sufficient amounts of fibres can prevent or treat different diseases. 85% of respondents noted that legumes (peas, beans) are a source of fibres, but that it was more possible to take up the fibre with a combination of vegetables and animal products. The questionnaire revealed that respon- dents are aware of the benefits of fibre consumption for promoting health and treating some dis- eases. | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DAMAGE: Historical Background (1939–1991) / Andrejs Mežmalis. Latvian Industry – 1940-1960: Excessive Expansion and Increasing Regional Disparity in the USSR / Juris Prikulis. Determining the Damage of Occupation: Hypothetical Evaluation of the Development Path of Latvia, had it not Been Occupied / Jānis Kalniņš, Gunta Piņķe. Direct Denographic Losses Suffered by Latvia as a Result of Soviet Campaigns / Pēteris Zvidriņš. Indirect Demographic Losses Suffered by Latvia as a Result of the Soviet Occupation / Edvīns Vītoliņš. Methodology for Determining Human Value / Jānis Počs. ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: Environmental Damage Caused by the Soviet Regime to Latvia / Rolands Artūrs Bebris. Pollution Caused by Industry and oil Products / Ināra Krūmiņa, Ivan Semyonov. Environmental Damage Caused to Latvia by Pesticides Used in the Soviet Agricultural System / Daina Pužule, Ināra Krūmiņa. Estimation of the Damage Caused to the National Economy of Latvia by the Soviet Armay and the Military-Industrial Complex / Ilgonis Upmalis. Damage Caused to Latvia by the Deployment of the Soviet Army in Kurzeme in 1939 / Ēriks Tilgass. Environmental Damage Caused to Latvia by the Soviet Baltic Navy and Estimated Losses / Ojārs Gērke. Methods and Results of Remediation of the Historically Polluted Territory, Former Soviet air Force Base at Lielvārde / Oļģerts Aleksāns.

The establishment of the system Soil – Yield that occured in Latvia during the 1970–80s could be considered as the beginning of precision farming with the available technologies. The first precision farming technologies have been associated with harvesting where combines and tractors with the automatic steering were used. The precision agriculture in Latvia includes various branches. Latvia farmers are using precision crop farming, precision livestock farming, precision fruit growing, precision bee keeping, precision farming greenhouse and precision growing berries. Precision farming technologies in Latvia are introduced mainly in large scale farms, with more than 1000 ha. The most important researches in precision farming in Latvia were done in 2000s.

Rhododendrons are relatively new beautiful ornamental plants in Latvia forming an essential part of public and private gardens, although they were introduced in Latvian territory already during the first half of 19ᵗʰ century. Rhododendrons deserve their immense popularity due to the diversity of their habitat, size and type of blossoms and leaves and their flowering season. There are about 1000 rhododendron species in the wild up to now whereas breeders in various countries have created more than 30 000 cultivars. Intensive rhododendrons introduction and acclimatization in Latvia started in 1957 when Rihards Kondratovičs, at the time director of the Botanical Garden, University of Latvia, started his research on the introduction and acclimatization of rhododendrons. Winterhardiness of about 400 wild species in Latvia was tested and 76 species were found to be suitable. Following the development of an extensive collection of wild rhododendron species and cultivars, the Rhododendron Breeding and Experimental Nursery “Babīte”, University of Latvia, was established at 1980 and the active breeding of new winterhardy cultivars was started. In 2017, the collection of outdoor rhododendrons of the University of Latvia consists of 76 species and 265 cultivars, including 109 cultivars bred in Latvia by Professor Rihards Kondratovičs.

The solvency of an enterprise is one of the central problems that is tackled by the management of the enterprise during the entire period of doing business by the enterprise. The research aim is to examine exogenous factors affecting the solvency of enterprises in Latvia. The research novelty involves the identification and analysis of exogenous factors affecting the solvency of enterprises in Latvia in the period 2006–2015 by means of pairwise correlation analysis. The research concluded that the global economic crisis affected the solvency of enterprises in Latvia, yet since 2011 the situation has stabilised and the number of proclaimed insolvency cases reached the precrisis level – on average, 84 cases per 10 000 registered enterprises. In tackling insolvency problems in Latvia, entrepreneurs mainly preferred insolvency proceedings, in the result of which the economic activity of the enterprise was terminated. In the period of analysis in Latvia, only 1 % of entrepreneurs who underwent insolvency proceedings and 4 % of entrepreneurs who filed for legal protection proceedings were able to restore their solvency and continue their business. In the period 2006-2015 in Latvia, the solvency of enterprises was affected by: (1) socio-economic factors of the overall development of the country (GDP contraction, increase in unemployment and decrease in the number of the employed), (2) market factors (decrease in imports) and (3) other factors (negative demographic trends).

Europe is the number two producer of beer worldwide. However, the quantity of beer sold in Latvia in the last decade did not increase considerably, and the average quantity of beer consumed per capita rose very slowly. Even though beer consumption was stable in Latvia, the quantity of beer supplied to the market was approximately three times greater than the quantity of the other kinds of alcoholic beverages combined, totalling about 15 million dekalitres. Besides, in recent years in Latvia the segment of craft beers tended to increase, which became increasingly popular in Western Europe and the number of small breweries sharply increased there. In Latvia, the number of small breweries increased at a slower pace, therefore, the research aim was to examine the factors influencing the development of small breweries in Latvia. The research found that most of the breweries in Latvia qualified for the status of small brewery, the output of which did not exceed 50 000 dekalitres per year. Although small breweries produced craft beers, yet their performance and development were considerably influenced by the activity of the large breweries and the purchasing power of consumers. Small breweries positively influence the beer drinking traditions of Latvians, which can contribute to the stable development of the small breweries. Small breweries have their competitive advantages in the market, which is due to the quality and assortment of their products, as well as they perform extra economic activities that contribute to their recognition.

Latvia is at the northern border of the species range of S. alba L. in Europe, and there has been some debate whether the Latvian populations of S. alba are autochthonous, as this species has long been planted in Latvia as an ornamental tree in gardens, parks and roadsides. In addition, there is increasing interest in the use of several Salix species (including S. alba) as bioenergy crops. Natural S. alba stands throughout Latvia, as well as stands of possibly hybrid origin were analysed using nuclear and chloroplast markers. Our results showed that S. alba populations are probably natural, and that the rate of vegetative reproduction is low, supporting the evidence that Latvia is within the natural range of S. alba. These results provide the basis for the identification of possibly introduced or artificially regenerated stands of S.alba in Latvia. In addition, our results confirm that S. alba hybridises with S. fragilis, and that natural stands including hybrid individuals can be established. The analysis of chloroplast markers indicated that the predominant hybridisation occurs by fertilisation of S. fragilis by S. alba pollen; however, the extent of haplotype sharing between these two species should be further investigated.

Peat is one of the most valuable natural treasures in Latvia, which generously found in local bogs and used in agriculture for centuries. Currently, 95% of this mineral resource is exported to abroad, mainly in various substrate forms useful for horticulture. Previously peat much used as a fuel material, but in recent years the amount is reduced to zero. Each year, the turnover of the sector is growing – on these and other trends Latvian Peat's Association board member Ingrīda Krīgere and Chairman of the Council, one of the largest peat extraction companies in Latvia Ltd Laflora Chairman of the Board Uldis Ameriks tells. | Kūdra ir viena no vērtīgajām Latvijas dabas bagātībām, kas dāsni atrodama vietējos purvos un izmantota lauksaimniecībā jau gadu simtiem. Pašlaik 95% šī derīgā izrakteņa tiek eksportēts uz ārzemēm, galvenokārt dažādu dārzkopībai noderīgu substrātu veidā. Iepriekš kūdra daudz izmantota arī kā kurināmais materiāls, taču pēdējos gados šis apjoms sarucis līdz nullei. Katru gadu nozares apgrozījums pieaug – par šo un citām tendencēm stāsta Latvijas Kūdras asociācijas valdes locekle Ingrīda Krīgere un padomes priekšsēdētājs, viena no lielākajiem kūdras ieguves uzņēmumiem Latvijā SIA ''Laflora'' valdes priekšsēdētājs Uldis Ameriks.

Two events – the 3rd International Scientific Conference “Sustainable Fruit Growing: From Plant to Product” and 4th European Workshop on Seabuckthorn, EuroWorkS 2016 was held in Latvia (17–19 August 2016, at Hotel “Monika” in Riga). Both events are the sequel of traditions, introduced by Institute of Horticulture, Latvia University of Agriculture (formerly Latvia State Institute of Fruit-Growing) and the German Society for Seabuckthorn and Wild Fruits. The International Scientific Conference „Sustainable Fruit Growing: From Plant to Product” is an event organised every four years (since 2008) by the Institute of Horticulture, with an aim to bring together scientists and practitioners involved in a range of disciplines of fruit growing science and industry, to present the latest research results and to discuss practical implementation and further needs. Both events were attended by 114 participants, who were from 20 countries. Most of the participants came from European countries – including 42 from Latvia, 11 from Finland, 9 from Germany, and 7 from Lithuania, and eight delegates came from Asia (Peoples Republic of China, Russian Federation, Turkey and Uzbekistan). Besides scientists and students, the Conference and the EuroWorkS 2016 also were attended by farmers and producers, especially by those ones working with seabuckthorn and who came from Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania.

Territorial competitiveness and sustainable development may be assessed in a number of dimensions, and they are affected by various factors. Regional economies are complex, dynamic systems arising from the interactions of housing, labour, business and other market systems with characteristics of a place, all enabled and shaped by the government and civic-sector activity. Agriculture continues to have an important influence on the economy of most rural regions, and agriculture continues to be the main land use in rural regions. For these reasons, support payments play a large role in the development of rural territories in Latvia, particularly after the accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004. The research aim is to identify the role of support payments in the development of municipalities in Latvia. To achieve the aim, the following specific research tasks were set: 1) to analyse the amounts of support payments received by municipalities of Latvia; 2) to assess associations between the amounts of support payments and other socio-economic indicators for municipalities of Latvia. The present research found that support payments played an essential role in the development of territories in Latvia, as Latvia received EUR 4.610 billion through various support payment schemes in the period 2002-2015, and its municipalities attracted 90 % of the total or EUR 4.126 billion. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) area-based payments represented the most significant amount of support payments for municipalities, and most of the payments were received by the municipalities having a large agricultural area and a small population. In the period 2009-2013, the funding of European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and European Fisheries Fund (EFF) projects received by municipalities of Latvia amounted to, on average, EUR 2501 per capita, and there were strong associations between the amounts of support funding per capita and the size of subsidies from the Local Government Equalisation Fund, the managed utilised agricultural area (UAA) and the turnover of enterprises engaged in primary production.