Le présent travail vise à étudier l'effet du report du pâturage sur la diversité floristique et les potentialités pastorales des parcours de Stipa tenacissima L., le long d'un transect allant d'une mise en défens vers un parcours à pâturage libre. Au printemps 2021, un échantillonnage a été effectué sur quatre transects croisés deux par deux d'une longueur moyenne de 8000 m selon la méthode des points quadrats. Les résultats obtenus révèlent des effets significatifs pour l'ensemble des attributs analysés en faveur du parcours de protection intégrale qui se caractérise par un recouvrement de la végétation ≥ 80 % et, où les espèces annuelles contribuent jusqu'à 40 % du couvert. Dans la zone en défens, les éléments de la surface du sol sont caractérisés par un taux de litière qui avoisine les 8 % et une faible présence de sol nu (<5%). La productivité pastorale est supérieure à 330 UF.ha-1.an-1et la capacité de charge potentielle est estimée à 0.84 eq.ov.ha-1.

International audience | The primary objective of this investigation was to examine the impact of postponed grazing on the floristic diversity and pastoral capacity of Stipa tenacissima L. rangelands, spanning from a reserved zone to an openly grazed rangeland along a transect. During the spring of 2021, field sampling was conducted along four transects intersecting in pairs, each approximately 8,000 meters in length, employing the quadrat point technique. The findings demonstrate notable impacts on all scrutinized characteristics, favoring the fully protected pathway distinguished by a vegetation cover of ≥ 80%, with annual species contributing up to 40% of the cover. Within the enclosed region, surface soil attributes exhibit a litter rate nearing 8% and minimal bare soil presence (<5%). Pastoral output surpasses 330 UF.ha-1.an-1, with an estimated potential stocking rate of 0.84 eq.ov.ha-1. | Le présent travail vise à étudier l'effet du report du pâturage sur la diversité floristique et les potentialités pastorales des parcours de Stipa tenacissima L., le long d’un transect allant d'une mise en défens vers un parcours à pâturage libre. Au printemps 2021, un échantillonnage a été effectué sur quatre transects croisés deux par deux d'une longueur moyenne de 8000 m selon la méthode des points quadrats. Les résultats obtenus révèlent des effets significatifs pour l’ensemble des attributs analysés en faveur du parcours de protection intégrale qui se caractérise par un recouvrement de la végétation ≥ 80 % et, où les espèces annuelles contribuent jusqu’à 40 % du couvert. Dans la zone en défens, les éléments de la surface du sol sont caractérisés par un taux de litière qui avoisine les 8 % et une faible présence de sol nu (&lt;5%). La productivité pastorale est supérieure à 330 UF.ha-1.an-1et la capacité de charge potentielle est estimée à 0.84 eq.ov.ha-1.

We are pleased to present the Proceedings of the 9th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2019: Research and Innovation for Bioeconomy”. The Conference took place in Academia, Kaunas district, Lithuania at the Vytautas Magnus University, 26–28 September, 2019. The 9th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2019” was the most effective bi-annual platform for the interdisciplinary scientific discussions and the presentations of new ideas for Sustainable Rural Development in the context of research and innovation for Bioeconomy. The Conference brings together scientists, practitioners, policy makers and actors from private sector around the world to share their experience helping countries to provide their citizens with a more competitive economy, more and better jobs and a better quality of life. The topic of the Conference has allowed for the exploration of different aspects of four main areas: Agro-innovations and Food Technologies Biosystems Engineering and Environment Integrity Multifunctional Approach for Sustainable Use of Bio-Resources Social Innovations for Rural Development The topic “Research and Innovation for Bioeconomy” chosen for the 9th International Scientific Conference sparked strong interest among the professional and scientific community and elicited great response to the call for papers. The Proceedings include 86 peer-reviewed papers and contributions from 283 authors. In total we received 106 submissions for the Conference. A selection of papers are available in this volume. The majority of the contributed papers are included as are selected papers from the discussions sessions.and have been peer reviewed by two experts. We want to thank Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture, and Research Council of Lithuania for the generous financial support that made the Conference possible. &nbsp; 2019, December 28

Despite the lapse of 30 years since the state system transformation in Poland was started, the rural areas in Poland that used to be occupied by state-owned farms continue to experience many complex economic and social problems. The state reforms, which for example led to the dissolution of all state-owned farms (in Polish, Państwowe Gospodarstwa Rolne, PGR), have had a significant effect on the formation of the institutional system in rural Poland. The existence and then liquidation of PGR affected not only the financial standing of large populations but also instilled in many a&nbsp;sense of entitlement, leading to the so-called learned hopelessness. An investigation into entrepreneurial attitudes shows that as many as 71.60% of the respondents equate ‘being entrepreneurial’ with ‘starting own business’. Despite the difficult situation on the labour market, only 12.35% of the interviewed persons have tried to start their own companies after state-farms were dissolved. The main determinant of such a low level of entrepreneurship among the respondents, in their opinion, was the lack of own funds, as this was indicated by 49.38% of the surveyed population. This attitude is also manifested in the answers concerning expectations towards public administration – 82.10% assumed that the state should be responsible for providing direct financial support. The results of this study into entrepreneurial attitudes as well as previous investigations among residents living in rural areas formely occupied by state farms confirm marginal interest in starting business activity among these populations.

With the advancement of technologies, there are attempts to automate the majority of processes for various reasons, for instance, to improve and optimize production or to perform actions that may cause risk to people’s health, etc. Therefore, the use of mobile autonomous robots is becoming increasingly important as the limits of the potential of the use of autonomous mobile robots in the industry have not yet been reached. The attempts have been made to achieve this by developing optimum trajectory calculation algorithms which enable the robot to move freely in both static and dynamic environments and use an optimum trajectory. Therefore, the subject of study in this article was movement of a mobile robot in an unknown environment using a multi-agent device system and fuzzy logics, and the goal of the study was to prepare the methods for development of intelligent systems for planning mobile robot movement in an unknown environment using multi-agent device and fuzzy logics ensuring the robot will accomplish the planned and adjusted on the go safe trajectory in the environment with unknown obstacles. Based on this, the robot arm model has been developed after calculating in the article the missing parameters of the experimental mobile robot in order to analyze the peculiarities of using the multi-agent device as well as the specifics and challenges of using fuzzy logics. As a result of the study performed in the article, significant data were obtained based on which a method was offered for an intelligent system for planning mobile robot movement in an unknown static environment using a multi-agent system, which was characterized by the use of fuzzy blocks corresponding each agent, and localization of each solution to the task of planning robot movement in each specific situation, which enables to improve the accuracy and efficiency of movement planning.

This study was performed to evaluate use of zeolite &nbsp;for water quality management in cold water recirculating aquaculture system. The system was reared Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and Hybrid char (Salvelinus fontinalis × Salvelinus alpinus) fry. Fish biomass in the reservoirs was distributed as follows: Arctic charr accounted for 7.32 kg at a density of 23.74 kg∙m-3, and hybrid charr accounted for 7.78 kg at a density of 26.91 kg∙m-3. &nbsp;After increasing the feed rate and documenting water quality studies, a vast increase of ammonium and nitrite concentration was noticed in the rearing tanks. Natural zeolite, known as clinoptilolite with a cation exchange capacity (CEC) of 1.20–1.50 mol.∙kg-1, was used to reduce the amounts of these hazardous substances in the rearing tanks. &nbsp;&nbsp;Zeolite was used to decrease the increased concentration of ammonia and nitrites, which were reduced by 22.7% and 16.7%, respectively, during the study period. These results suggest that zeolite is suitable for water quality management in cold water recirculating aquaculture system with as little of an investment as possible.

Today an impact of government on citizens’ daily life is bigger than ever before. The extent to which people support governmental actions is related with their support of the whole political system. The scope of government varies across different states as well as people’s attitudes towards it also vary considerably. The scope of government, according O. Borre and E. Scarbrough (1998), is referred to both the range of government activity and the degree to which governments engage in activities, such as spending on services, taxing, regulating citizens and regulating their behaviour, providing resources for defence, improving the environment and sometimes doing nothing what concerns societal problems. Depending on the role of government in economy and social sphere we can distinguish how small or big the government is. The ISSP Role of Government module data provides a wide range of variables indicating people’s attitudes towards different elements of governments’ actions. Recent research, e. g. a study of Pew Research – The Generation Gap in American Politics (March, 2018) – shows the important difference in generational attitudes towards the scope of government. According to this study two younger USA generations, Millennials and Gen Xers, stand apart from the two older cohorts, Baby Boomers and Silents – especially Millennials (those, who were born in 1981 and later) have increasingly liberal outlook. Thus, the main question of this article - does the same generational divide might be observed in other countries and what are the main differences in generational attitudes towards the scope of government from the cross-national perspective?

Biodegradable and compostable tableware is significantly more environment and nature friendly than disposable tableware and drinkware made of plastic. Tableware made of wheat bran, but also corn and rice bran is already commercially available. It is reasonable to use the by-products of the milling of also other cereals, like rye bran, barley bran and oat bran, for the production of tableware. The aim of this research was to explore the possibilities for the production of tableware and drinkware from the by-products of the milling of wheat and also other cereals like rye and oat bran. In order to achieve the aim, compacts were moulded from rye bran and oat bran and mixtures of bran (wheat bran and rye bran) using various work modes. The moulding of the compacts included different temperatures of the mould, moulding durations and compressive forces. The mechanical properties like density and flexural strength of the compacts were determined and the compostability of the compacts was studied. The test bodies were placed inside a compost bin to check their compostability and to determine the duration of composting.Biodegradable and compostable tableware is significantly more environment and nature friendly than disposable tableware and drinkware made of plastic. Tableware made of wheat bran, but also corn and rice bran is already commercially available. It is reasonable to use the by-products of the milling of also other cereals, like rye bran, barley bran and oat bran, for the production of tableware. The aim of this research was to explore the possibilities for the production of tableware and drinkware from the by-products of the milling of wheat and also other cereals like rye and oat bran. In order to achieve the aim, compacts were moulded from rye bran and oat bran and mixtures of bran (wheat bran and rye bran) using various work modes. The moulding of the compacts included different temperatures of the mould, moulding durations and compressive forces. The mechanical properties like density and flexural strength of the compacts were determined and the compostability of the compacts was studied. The test bodies were placed inside a compost bin to check their compostability and to determine the duration of composting.

Silage for animal feeding can be made from different plants. One of the most important feed crops from which silage is made is maize. Special choppers can be used for cutting and chopping these coarse-stem plants. The most widespread silage preparation is done in trenches, where good quality silage can last for several years, making it one of the best feeds in winter. Incorrect picking and unloading of silage from trenches may result in secondary fermentation and may cause forage losses. Various types of equipment are used for silo unloading from storage. This work researches maize plants, the quality of maize silage and the process of silage making and unloading. The research was carried out in the laboratories of Agriculture Academy of Vytautas Magnus University and in a farmer’s farm. Tests have been performed with three different silo unloaders and a mobile feed mixer. The established average corn plant yield in 2018 was 31.8&nbsp;t&nbsp;ha-1; for silage making, the plants were chopped with the drum chopper. After evaluation of the fractional composition of chopped mass, the chopped maize slices were found to meet the silage production requirements, as even 82.6% of the chopped particles were 3.15-16 mm long. Maize slice moisture was also found to be suitable for silage – 66.12±7.3%. The density of prepared silage was high enough and reached 699.89±19.04&nbsp;kg&nbsp;m-3 or 230.55±6.27 kg m-3 DM (dry matter). Silage unloaders test results showed that one sample of silage could be unloaded in 31–43&nbsp;s. The bucket type device could take the maximum weight sample – 567.8±77.0&nbsp;kg, but the maximum density of the silage sample (30.41±1.95 kg&nbsp;m-3) could be taken by a block-cutting unit. Also, this unloader left the smallest unevenness on the feed surface. Distribution of feed in the farm for the animal was fairly even and this indicated that the silage-unloading device had no significant impact on the quality of feed distribution.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Seasonality in the tourism sector is described as a change in tourism due to seasonal changes or a temporary change in tourist flows. In Lithuania, the tourism seasonality is recognized as a problem requiring a solution. This study has identified that every visitor/traveller who likes nature, prefers nature-based tourism or has plans to spend some time in nature is facing the tourism seasonality in Lithuania. The results of this survey support the idea that the most popular time for nature trips in Lithuania is summer time or the warm light season of the year. There are several reasons why visitors wish to go out to nature: many visitors hope to get good quality and exciting entertainment or educations, others are expecting for nature's aesthetic and other values, including beautiful landscapes and fresh air. Lithuanians usually choose nature trips with family or friends travelling by car for an average 3-7 days. The most of survey respondents plan trips in advance, search for information on the Internet, social networks, or use the recommendations of friends to visit one or another natural object, and almost do not use the services of tourism companies. Interest in one or another natural object and its attendance is primarily determined by weather conditions, activities and educations adapted to the exact season. This survey has shown that people wishing to choose non-seasonal natural tourism facing many problems. Depending on the season, tourism infrastructure could be more suited to all seasons, as well as respondents expect new educations adapted to different seasons or their indoor alternatives. In the recent years, more frequent extreme climate periods (heat, rainfall in summer, cold or wet periods in winter) have begun to change, most often reduce, visitor flows.