Apple production quite often occur periodically in Latvian apple orchards, i.e., a year with an abundant harvest is followed by a year with a small amount of harvest. Such a tendency is expressed in most, especially richly producing, varieties. In order to reduce periodicity and ensure the stability of production, thinning should be done already during flowering stage in order to encourage the emergence of flower buds for next year’s crop. Mechanical thinning serves as an alternative to chemical thinning. The assessment of the impact of mechanical thinning on rootstocks and flowers took place in an experiments conducted from 2016 to 2021. In the following years (2022–2023), mechanical thinning of flowers was no longer implemented. For this reason, observations were made of the after-effects of thinning carried out in the previous seasons. In the period from 2020 to 2021, the yield was significantly higher in all variants where mechanical thinning was not performed. The most productive varieties were ‘Gita’, ‘Ligol’ and ‘Antej’. Varieties on the rootstock B.396 provided a significantly higher yield compared to M.9. More stable production (production periodicity index – lower) as a result of thinning was observed on rootstock B.396 (as opposed to M.9) varieties ‘Kovalenkovskoje’, ‘Rubin’, ‘Antej’ and ‘Ligol’. Thinning has provided a beneficial effect on production stability for most of the cultivars studied.

Cloudberries in Latvia are harvested only in the wild, but recent studies have begun exploring the potential for cultivated cloudberry production. This study focused on the investigation of wild cloudberry growing sites in Latvia. The chemical analyses of peat and leaf samples were conducted to determine the mineral nutrition status of wild cloudberries. The collected data will serve as the basis for developing fertilization recommendations. Our study indicates that despite growing in nutrient-poor peat, cloudberry leaf nutrient levels are comparable to those of Vaccinium berry crops grown on acid peat soils, as well as more demanding Rubus crops grown in less acidic soil. Peat and leaf nutrient analysis suggests that N, P, Ca, S, B and Mo deficiencies might limit cloudberry growth. However, further experiments are required to determine the optimal nutrient levels for cloudberry cultivars in peat and plant material.

Rye plays an important role in crop rotation, and its extensive root system allows it to absorb and utilize nutrients that other crops cannot. One of the factors that might affect the amount of grain yield is the development of various diseases. Almost every year, leaf scald (caused by Rhynchosporium secalis) is observed. Brown rust (caused by Puccinia recondita) is another disease frequently seen in rye crops. As regards the ear diseases, the most important disease is the ergot (caused by Claviceps purpurea). The sclerotia formed by C. purpurea contaminates grains which then cannot be used for food or fodder because they contain alkaloids. The aim of the study is to find out the diseases of the rye crop in the Dienvidkurzemes County. More obvious development of leaf scald and brown rust was observed in the middle of the earing stage (50–55 GS). The development of leaf scald was significantly higher in Fields No. 9 and No. 10, exceeding 7%. The mentioned fields were located near of a forest and river, which could contribute to higher air humidity and thus influence faster spreading of the disease. In the vegetation season of 2024, the spread of ergot caused by C. purpurea was observed in rye close to the place of technological tracks. Flowering occurred later, after the peak of intensive pollen flight, which allowed the pathogen to infect plants more effectively.

As the descriptor for oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) states, according to the methodology of European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources, accessions’ yield should be preferably described during the second year after establishment to allow plants to fully express their characteristics. Unfortunately, for scientific observations, oregano productiveness can be explored every year, for younger or older plants. That is why research of cumulative (summary) biomass is important for the comparison of different oregano accessions. The detection of fresh biomass, g per plant, for 44 oregano accessions from the ex situ collection of aromatic and medicinal plants’ genetic resources was made during two periods: 2012–2015 (first) and 2016–2019 (second). Cumulative fresh biomass was counted per each period (the 1st–4th growing years). Accessions No. 3 and 43 can be defined as the most productive ones because of the cumulative biomass being higher than 1000 g per plant. For all growing years accessions No. 4, 11, 25 and 37 had minimum fresh biomass in both study periods. In this research it was observed that the influence of accession and the growing year on oregano fresh biomass were significant (p<0.05).

The Latvian Brown Old Type (BV) is one of two dairy cow breeds to be conserved in Latvia, and it is included in the local genetic resources conservation programme. The aim of the study was to study the origin and the blood percentage (%) of BV old type cows born in different years. The study used data on BV cows born between 2004 and the beginning of 2022. A total of 1023 dairy cows were included in the study. The origin and bloodlines of each animal were obtained from the LDC database. The dairy cows were grouped into four groups according to the year of birth and blood. According to the BV conservation programme, an animal must have a known pedigree of at least four ancestral generations from both parental sides. The animal genome must contain at least 50% of Latvian Brown breed origin. It is permissible for animal to have up to 50% admixture of blood from the related Danish Red (DS) and Angler (AN) breeds. The use of other breeds is not allowed in the selection of BV breed. The largest amount of BV breed blood (70.45%) was in cows born in 2019 and later. The percentage of the second and third study group varies by the birth period. The second group of the DS breed is stable in all analysed periods. The majority (546 animals or 53%) of the dairy cows came from the Potrimps line, and 283 daughters of the Ullors line had the highest Latvian brown old type breed percentage – 69.65%.

In addition to the basic resources of the bioeconomy, the soil and its sustainable use and management is a highly important precondition for the development of the national economy of Latvia. Land resource management policy in Latvia is closely related to international development trends, determined by land management policy and international cooperation projects. Therefore, it is very important to promote and strengthen the capacity of administrative, financial resources, infrastructure, academic and research capacity, as well as to identify the lack of data and the priority need for new knowledge with the aim to improve recommendations based on scientific knowledge for the creation of sustainable soil use policy both in Europe and at the regional level. This envisages several important further activities in Latvia: acquisition, transfer and dissemination of soil research knowledge; cooperation within and between interdisciplinary research involving stakeholders related to the use of soil and land resources in order to expand soil research activities and ensure the integration of research results in the sustainable use and management of soil resources (e.g. development of decision support tools); to support the implementation of fundamental and applied soil research by ensuring the sustainable use of soil resources; the integration of the topics of soil, its use and protection in the programs of educational institutions in Latvia.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of piglets per litter in commercial pig production, accompanied by an increase in the number of stillborn piglets per litter. In Latvia, pigs of the Landrace and Yorkshire breeds and crossbred pigs (M1) are used for the production of piglets. The aim of the study was to analyse the fertility traits of the sows of the producing pig farm based on the breed and parity of the sows. The data for 1–3 and 4–6 for parity of sows were analysed which farrow in the period from June 1st, 2023 to June 1st, 2024. The sows included in the study were an M1 cross, using LY (Landrace × Yorkshire, litters n=1965) and YL (Yorkshire × Landrace, litters n=3764). The data were analysed according to the following characteristics of LY and YL sows: the number of piglets born, live-born piglets, stillborn and mummified piglets per litter. The results showed, that the largest litters were obtained from older (4–6 parity) sows, LY 65.6% and YL 52.4%, of the total number of litters. The litter size for sows of parity 1–3 was on average 17.7 piglets, while parity 4 to 6 – on average 20.5 piglets. According to the obtained data, it was observed that the number of stillborn piglets and the number of mummified piglets increased as the number of piglets in the litter increased.

To enhance the economic viability of environmentally friendly farming, the genetic diversity of winter wheat should be more extensively utilized. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the grain yield, quality, and other economically important characteristics of five winter wheat varieties: ‘Brigens’, ‘Reinis’, ‘Talsis’, ‘Brencis’, and ‘Edvins’, two breeding lines, F-15176 (Produzent/06-60) and 18-94 (Ceylon/Brencis), two variety mixtures, Talsis:Brigens (M1) and Edvins:Reinis (M2) in an organic farming system. The variety ‘Skagen’ was used as a control variety. Preliminary results from one year of the study indicated that the breeding lines F-15-176 and 18–94 achieved significantly (p<0.05) higher grain yields and recorded the yield differences 1.6 and 1.1 t ha⁻¹, respectively. Grain quality traits varied considerably across all genotypes. While the variety mixtures demonstrated good winter hardiness and disease resistance, they exhibited lower yield levels compared to the standard variety.

The main problems of Ukrainian livestock production as a result of hostilities and the Russian occupation were and still are the destruction or failure of livestock premises, equipment, technical vehicles, farm infrastructure, destruction or loss of livestock. The death, departure from the combat zone of the service personnel, specialists and management of farms, problems with providing livestock enterprises with fuel and lubricants, electricity, natural gas, etc., also had a negative impact. Expropriation, confiscation, theft of animals, products, vehicles, fodder, consumables, equipment by the invaders led to the curtailment of production. It becomes impossible to carry out sowing, cultivation and purchase of fodder crops, to carry out normal sales of products and financial activities. All this led to a significant reduction in the number of farm animals and their productivity. Ukrainian livestock breeders are finding effective ways out of a critical situation or reducing negative consequences. Thus, Russia’s blockade of the sea transportation of Ukrainian grain led to the use of a larger amount of grain feed inside Ukraine for breeding pigs and birds. Therefore, the number of pigs has already been increasing and currently amounts to about 5.3 million heads. Scientists have suggested implementing measures to restore animal husbandry and the fodder base by involving in the production of agricultural lands that were affected by hostilities. It is proposed to use sheep and goats in the development of territories abandoned as a result of military operations. These animals are planned to graze on fields that are not cultivated.