Environmental conditions and climate change on a global scale affects the overall agriculture and food supply. Consumers demand for vegetables with high nutritional value is increasing. Consumers more and more are thinking about a healthy and balanced diet, but it is not easy to provide year-round fresh vegetables. Nettle (Urtica) leaves traditionally are used in early spring as a leafy vegetable in salads and soups. Young leaves before flowering are used for human consumption. Nettle contains a lot of vitamins and biologically active compounds. The research aim was to evaluate different stinging nettle clones, which grow in Pūre village (Tukuma district, Latvia). Samples were collected, when shoots were 10 – 15 cm long. Content of chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins in five nettle clones leaves were analysed. Biochemical analysis was done in Latvia University of Agriculture, Institute of Soil and Plant Science laboratory. Differences were observed between all clones. Significant difference between genotypes was observed in anthocyanins content, but not in chlorophylls and carotenoids content. Higher anthocyanins content was observed in samples, which grow in places with low nitrogen and phosphorus content. Content of biochemical compounds can influence some metal ions, environmental and other factors.

Great emphasis has been placed on agriculture by the European Union (EU), considering that agricultural production provides a framework for development of the processing industry and ensures food provision. Europe 2020 Strategy presents coordinated objectives of support for the rural development for the years 2014–2020. It has been emphasized that each Member State needs to set its national headline targets. Implementation of strategic provisions of the EU and Lithuania requires adequate identification of the priorities of agricultural scientific research and experimental development. It may significantly contribute to securing competitiveness, economic and social progress of the agricultural sector. The aim of the research was to prepare proposals for the Lithuanian Programme that sets the scientific research and experimental development priorities, long- and short-term research programmes for the period until 2020 in the view of demands of economy. Individual Working Groups (WG) have been formed of specialists of Lithuanian research and educational institutions as well as the advisory services. WG have proposed prospective applied research to develop within different areas of agriculture in 2014–2020. This served as the basis for the survey aimed at identifying a general demand for applied scientific research and potential problem areas in relation to agriculture, food economy and rural development that could be addressed by prospective applied scientific research. An anonymous survey was used across the country and summary results have been presented for two areas: crop management and agricultural engineering.

The aim of this article was to provide an overview on the current status of fruit tree diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae, their importance and distribution, epidemiology and control possibilities with emphasis on plums and cherry. The plant diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae are economically important and occur worldwide on large diversity of plants. On stone fruits, diseases caused by different pathovars of Pseudomonas syringae are economically important in major fruit growing regions. The severity of damages and economic importance depends on the geographical region, host plant species and pathovar of P. syringae involved in the disease. Bacterial canker induced by P. syringae pv. syringae on all commercially grown stone fruit species and by pv. morsprunorum predominantly on cherries and plums is considered to be the most serious one. Bacterial decline caused by P. syringae pv. persicae is severe on nectarine and peach. Despite the wide spread and economic importance in the most stone fruit growing areas the diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae in some areas, e.g. Baltic States, are poorly studied, and the data on distribution and pathovars involved in the diseases observed are still missing.

Strawberries (Fragaria× Ananassa Duch.) are widely grown in Latvia, and it is the first berry crop that ripens in summer. In Latvia, climate conditions are very suitable for strawberry growing. Unfortunately, meteorological conditions have become very changeable in recent years. The short day (SD) strawberry cultivars are the most important ones for Latvia, as they initiate flower buds in autumn. For these cultivars it is important to initiate flower buds at the end of September till the end of October. The day length has to decrease less than 14 hours per day to begin this process. In Latvia, the day length below 14 hours per day is at the end of August. The second important limiting factor for initiation of flower buds is the average day temperature, which must be between 10 and 15 °C. The studies on strawberry flower bud initiation in Latvia were done long time ago, on a very small scale and fragmentary. The current paper analyzes the temperature regime during the period of previous ten years (2004 – 2013) in autumn in Dobele in relation to suitability of this climatic factor to the flower bud initiation and strawberry yield next year. The soil surface temperatures during the last ten years in August were about +20 °C, which means that the flower bud initiation could not occur as early as it was described in the previous study.

Bioenergy production growth rates in the recent years are leading to waste – digestate and wood ash amount increases, which are essential to be managed in the most efficient and safe way. In the formation of plant nutrient recycling these waste products are useful to be included in the energy crop fertilisation plan. In order to study the waste products application options for energy crops – reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) and festulolium (×Festulolium pabulare) fertilisation trials were arranged in 2012 at the Skriveri Latvian University of Agriculture (LLU) Research Institute of Agriculture. In all fertiliser treatments: wood ash; digestate one time per season; digestate two times per season and mineral fertilisers the same doses of the main plant nutrients (N, P, K) were provided, the missing quantities of elements compensating with mineral fertilisers. To obtain the grass biomass, two cutting regimes were used – two-cut and one-cut harvest system. This article summarizes the findings on the productivity of the 1st year of use grassland swards and sward structure data. The productivity of perennial grass biomass was dependent on the type of applied fertilisers, grass species and cutting regime. In the first production year the highest average dry matter yield (7.30 t haE-1) was produced by reed canary grass. The highest DM yields in average for both grass species were obtained by mowing once per season – in autumn at crop senescence (7.01 t haE-1) and in fertilisation treatments of wood ash (WA) – 8.06 t haE-1 and mineral fertilisers (MF) – 7.24 t haE-1.

Biogas production from organic wastes is gaining popularity, especially in agriculture, which produces high quantities of organic wastes suitable for anaerobic digestion. Digestate is the valuable by-product of the biogas production that is considered as a valuable fertilizer. The objectives of the experiment conducted from 2012 to 2013 at the Estonian University of Life Sciences were to compare the impact of biogas digestate, undigested (raw) cattle slurry, and inorganic nitrogen fertilizer on grass yield and to assess the fertilizer value of digestate produced from different feedstock. Fertilizers were applied to the grassland rich in low grasses by broadcasting in quantities according to the nitrogen rate of 180 kg haE-1 in three split applications. The application rate of organic fertilizers was calculated based on NH4 -N content. Grassland yield was determined on four treatments: (i) control (no fertilizer was applied), (ii) mineral N-fertilizer (NH4 NO3), (iii) cattle slurry and (iv) cattle slurry digestate. Grass yield was measured three times during the growing period. Our research showed that digestate when applied based on its NH4 -N content is effective fertilizer in grassland. It could be used as a substitute for mineral-N fertilizer, but its efficiency is slightly lower when compared to cattle slurry, due to its lower application amount resulting in lower nutrient and organic matter amount applied to the grassland. Co-digestion of cattle slurry with solid manure, hay and silage does not decrease digestate fertilizer value in grassland, because the addition of other substrate increases digestate DM content.

Live weight and body condition are indicators for dairy cow’s (Bos taurus) health, milk productivity and reproduction. Live weight and body condition are defined by genetic and non-genetic factors. These factors are dependent on dairy cows growing and welfare. The aim of research was to analyze body condition relationship with milk productivity and live weight. Data were collected from 49 different breed and lactation dairy cows. Research location was Latvia University of Agriculture Research and Study farm ‘Vecauce’. Data were collected from October 2013 to January 2014. Body condition score of all cows decreased from 2.8 ± 0.05 to 2.5 ± 0.04 points in research period. Milk yield increased from 35.6 ± 0.79 kg in the 1st recording to 40.9 ± 1.12 kg in the 2nd recording. Milk yield decreased in the 3rd recording (p is less than 0.05). Fat content was the lowest in the 2nd recording (35.5 ± 0.09 g kgE-1). Protein content was significantly different in the 1st and 2nd recordings (p is less than 0.05). Somatic cell changes were not significant. Body condition decreased of older lactation cows, but milk yield increased at the same time. Milk yield was significantly the greatest in red breed group, compared with Holstein black and white cows (51.1 ± 3.21 kg vs. 41.4 ± 0.78 kg; p is less than 0.05). Body condition score significantly affected live weight in such body condition score groups: less than 2.5 points, 2.75 to 3.0 points. Effect was not significant on live weight in body condition score 3.25 less than group. Milk productivity and quality traits were not affected by the body condition score (p is less than 0.05).

Estimating feed intakes of individual cows in a loose-housed system is difficult and unreliable. It is known that estimating intakes from the number of bites taken at grazing is unreliable. Feeding from a total mixed ration (TMR) is likely to have fewer confounding variables. All cows were over 30 months old, of three breeds: Holstein Friesian, Estonian Red and Estonian Native. There were 30 feeding bins and 66 cows. Cows were observed over the whole 24 hour period, from 1st July to October 22nd 2011, in Märja experimental farm, of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, and data from 37 cows were collected. Measures taken included: time spent at the feed bin, number of bites taken at each visit, weight lost from the bin, and evidence of stealing. Mean time spent at each visit to the feed bin with standard error was 4.4 + 0.68 minutes. The mean number of bites per visit was 7.1 + 1.01. There was a significant correlation between the number of bites and total time cows spent feeding (p is less than 0.001), with a regression R2 value of 79.8%. No correlation was found between the number of bites and feed removed at each visit (p=0.851) nor between the time per visit and amount of feed removed (p=0.681). Therefore, there is no evidence that either the number of bites taken per visit or the time spent at bin per visit is related to intakes. There was no effect of age. Stealing was evident and widespread.

The article discusses the results of comprehensive studies histomorphological signs of skin and hair of sheep (Degeress) of various stripes, especially the thickness of the skin and its layers that are commonly identified indicators. Studies allow to bring the scientific basis for the proper development of activities aimed at increasing production of wool, quantity and quality of which skin microstructure largely depends on. Sheep of different colors have a specific feature on the histological structure of the skin, which is essential for the development of effective methods of selection that enhance productivity of sheep wool. The researches have established that brown suit sheep has thickened skin as compared to red and gray color (p is less than 0.01). In turn, pilar layer of the skin is also much thicker at brown coloration sheep (2029.7 ×10E-6 m) than in sheep red (1850.6×10E-6 m) and sulfur (1773.7×10E-6 m) suits, the difference is statistically highly significant (p is less than 0.001). The thickness of the pilar layer is up to 70% of the dermis, which varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 1773.7×10E-6 m to 2029.7×10E-6 m. Reticular layer thickness varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 743.5×10E-6 m to 826.4×10E-6 m.

Nowadays the demand for fast and easy-to-make meals is ever increasing. This type of food is an essential dietary component of a large section of people in developed countries. Given the economic importance of ready-to-eat meals there is a need for a better understanding of the factors that determine their consumption. The aim of this research was to determine consumer attitudes towards the introduction of ready-to-eat meal (MRE) sets in the Latvian market. A survey was performed to determine the Latvian citizens’ attitudes towards the introduction of this type of quick-tomake, ready-to-eat products into the market of Latvia. The survey included a total of 800 respondents who answered 14 questions which were related to the interest in MRE sets that can be prepared (warmed up etc.) in less than 10 minutes and taste like home-cooked food, and the types of MRE sets these consumers would like to purchase. The demand forecast for MRE sets in the Latvian market is rather high as 67% of the respondents expressed a desire to purchase these products; the development and implementation of MRE sets is topical. The results show that the highest rated MRE set the respondents, a total of 77.1%, expressed a desire to purchase, was chicken fillet with vegetables. No significant differences in terms of liking were observed between chicken fillet with vegetables and chicken fillet with rice, the second highest rated MRE set by 73.9% of the respondents (p is greater than 0.05).