The growing popularity of wooden panels renders this market segment increasingly competitive. The article describes a new type of fibre boards e.g. the furniture production, developed in cooperation with ATB (Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim) by using a new method of raw material preparation and specific production technologies of ATB. The main raw material is preserved hemp (Cannabis sativa) stalks. The samples are made of raw materials with different wet-preservation time and varying types of binder. For the first time there is used main raw material with short time wet-preservation. Samples that are 8 mm thick correspond to a medium-density fibreboard and that are 16mm thick correspond to a low-density fibreboard, fitting in its mechanical properties to standard BS EN622. On ATB’s experimental processing line 1,200x800x8 mm and 1,200x800x16 mm size board samples are produced and the tests are performed to determine such parameters as bending strength, thickness swelling and thermal conductivity according to EU standard methods.

The legal regulation of the public sector auditing among the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) of the Northern and Central-European countries holds the potential to offer new perspectives on the functioning and independence of these public audit institutions. This paper aims to examine the external audit practice among the Baltic Sea Region countries as it is defined in the laws and legal acts aimed at the functioning of the particular institution. The task was carried out by conducting an analysis of the legal regulation of the corresponding supreme audit institutions. Overall, SAIs in the Baltic Sea Region closely cooperates with the Parliaments in the reporting phase. Meanwhile, most of them are closely integrated with the legislative power during the phase of the appointment of the head of the audit institution as well as during the budgeting phase and later on during the reporting phase. The research shows that among the Baltic Sea Region countries the Supreme Audit Institutions pursue audits in diverse range of fields as stipulated in the legal regulations. The paper also indicates a space for further research in the field of the SAI legal regulation, audit merit and further interrelation with the executive and legislative powers as well as the impact of such cooperation on the functioning of the accountability system in the particular country.

Nowadays, veganism is becoming increasingly popular, because health concerns are usually the primary reason why people turn to vegan diet. The aim of the study was to identify the supply of vegan products on the Latvian market by analysing the ingredients used in the production of the products, nutritional and energy value of vegan products. 192 vegan products made in 20 different countries and available in online stores that offer their goods on the Latvian market were analysed. The research was carried out from January to March 2020. Information on the country of origin, ingredients, nutritional and energy value of the products was taken from product labels. The majority of the vegan products in Latvian online stores come from Germany. The most important ingredient in the production in product groups such as meat substitutes and dairy alternatives is soya (Glycine max.), which provides high protein content. The vegan products could not be characterized as low in fat, as the average fat content in the various product groups ranged from 7.9±1.7 to 19.7±3.3 g 100 gE−1 of product, except beverages. The average energy values for all product groups varied between 210.7 kJ 100 mLE−1 for beverages and 1226.0 kJ 100 gE−1 for snacks. There would be a need for everyday vegan products in the Latvian market, as most of the products are snacks at the moment, and legumes should be used as ingredient in the production of new vegan products with increased nutritional value.

Catch crops contribute to soil and environmental quality, which has determined a growing interest in their use as a nature-based solution. Though, the introduction of catch crops increases the complexity of farm management and is related with additional costs. In Latvia, the area under catch crops accounts for less than 5% of the arable land, while 30% is bare over the winter. In order to identify the possibilities for promoting of catch crops in Latvia, the objective of the study is to explore the support practices for growing of catch crops in the Baltic Sea region countries. The paper seeks to explore the main benefits associated with the growing of catch crops, followed by the study and synthesis of the main support measures. For the study, numerous information sources have been explored and appropriate research methods applied. Catch crops reduce nutrient leaching from the soil, transfer nutrients to the next crop, improve soil quality, reduce soil erosion, and mitigate climate change; these benefits can translate also at farm level, mainly as reduced N inputs. Growing of catch crops is being increasingly supported in the Baltic Sea countries – as a greening measure and by different agri-environment and climate measures of the RDPs 2014−2020. Growing of economic focus area catch crops (supported in quite a similar approach in these countries) and introduction of agri-environment scheme for catch crops (supported in directly and/or indirectly targeted way) can contribute to the solving of environmental problems and decrease the share of bare land left over the winter in Latvia.

Cooperation and financial stability of agricultural companies, especially small and medium ones, is very significant for the development of agricultural sector. In Latvia, cooperatives represent different sizes and industries: dairy, grain, fruit and vegetable, forest, agricultural services and home production. The research aim is to assess financial distress in agricultural cooperatives in Latvia by applying the prevention system indicators. The evaluation of financial indicators is based on the methodology developed by Deutscher Raiffeisenverband e.V. (DRV) – the leading association of agricultural and food industry cooperatives and cooperative-oriented companies in Germany. This system prescribes reporting and monitoring requirements for cooperatives to perform the preventive case analysis to ensure a successful operation of a cooperative or to prevent financial problems, if any. Therefore, financial indicators of cooperatives in Latvia were analysed adapting the DRV analysis methodology to the situation of Latvia to identify cooperatives requiring support to ensure viability. The evaluation of cooperatives by the number of employees, assets, sales and other financial indicators convincingly demonstrates that the largest and most financially strong cooperatives in Latvia operate in the grain sector, followed by the dairy sector. The assessment of financial distress reports that 10 out of 51 analysed cooperatives experience risk of operation. The most common threat to a cooperative in Latvia is related to its equity; however, it is recommended to evaluate this indicator in line with other indicators, for example, changes in equity in recent years and length of a cooperative’s operation.

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) in the tropics is often undertaken by smallholders and communities whose livelihoods rely on agriculture and forestry. While digital technologies can improve efficiency in FLR efforts, socio-technical barriers often impede the participation of these key actors in the restoration process. The main barriers are lack of technical infrastructure, access to digital tools and services, lack of ease of use for non-tech-savvy farmers, and lack of design targeted for low-literate and marginal groups. Moreover, precisely because of the transformative momentum of digitalization, there is a risk for smallholders to enter the digital divide and power asymmetry gap. The platform has been piloted in Kenya and Cameroon and tracks and monitors activities along the entire restoration chain, from seed collection to on-farm tree planting and monitoring of management activities and payouts to farmers. GeoTree offers participatory functionalities, including interactive forms, polls, geospatial features and maps, and community-driven data collection, which can be integrated into community channels. While other digital tools focus on monitoring tree planting for the purpose of carbon offsetting, GeoTree addresses the digital barriers facing smallholders and communities and enables them to participate fully in FLR efforts. GeoTree leverages blockchain technology to provide an integrated planting management process. The system allows gathering ground-level data with offline encryption and supporting low-internet environments and tracing the restoration process to provide transparency, facilitate real-time monitoring, evaluation, and verification, and support mobilization of sponsors.