Sour cherries become more popular due to their food value. Therefore sour cherries could be a profitable crop for fruit growers in Latvia. Information about sour cherry response to soil moisture adjustment is needed, because based on previous studies it is not possible to predict the influence of irrigation and mulch on sour cherry growing. The trial was carried out at the Latvia State Institute of Fruit Growing in 2007 to determine the effect of soil moisture adjustment on the growth of different sour cherry cultivars. Woodchip mulch and drip irrigation were used as main factors, cultivars 'Bulatnikovskaya', 'Desertnaya Morozovoi', 'Latvijas Zemais', 'Orlica', 'Shokoladnica', 'Tamaris', 'Zentenes' were used as a secondary factor. Vegetative growth, branching angles of lateral shoots, proportions of pruned shoots, spurs and twigs were determined to characterize the response of cultivars to mulching and irrigation. In general use of drip irrigation increased vegetative growth of sour cherries, but the use of woodchip mulch decreased this growth. Branching angles were wider in variant with woodchip mulch. Cultivar 'Zentenes' most positively responded to use of woodchip mulch and drip irrigation.

Precocity of fruit plants enables early obtaining of yield and income. But precocity can be influenced by drought. In some cases precocity is related to insufficient growth and insufficient yield in the succeeding years. The precocity of sour cherries was investigated in the trial established at the Latvia State Institute of Fruit Growing. Soil moisture treatments - woodchip mulch and drip irrigation as well as cultivars ‘Bulatnikovskaya’, ‘Desertnaya Morozovoi’, ‘Latvijas Zemais’, ‘Orlica’, ‘Shokoladnica’, ‘Tamaris’, and ‘Zentenes’ were used as trial factors. The flowering and yielding was observed in 2008 and 2009. Flowering, fruit set, fruit mass, and yield were characterized in order to evaluate precocity of cherries in different soil moisture treatment variants. The use of drip irrigation did not influence the yield of sour cherries, but the use of woodchip mulch decreased the yield in the third growing year. The cultivar ‘Tamaris’ was the most precocious, and the cultivar ‘Bulatnikovskaya’ was the most productive.

Short rotation forests (SRF) can be used for biomass production for energy applications in Latvia. Establishment of plantations could be one of possibilities how to reach targets of renewable energy resource (RES) consumption of 40% in 2020. In Latvia’s conditions, one of most suitable species that could be used for SRF is willow (Salix sp.). Abandoned agricultural lands are suitable for establishment of plantations. Productivity of 8 oven- dried tons (ODT) ha-1 year -1 can lead to Rate of Return (IRR) of 17.1% and Net Present Value (NPV) 1099 Latvian Lats (LVL) if the biomass price is 33 LVL ODT-1. Establishment, harvesting and transporting costs account for 88% of the total cost of production. Price of wood chip and fuel plays the most important role in economics of plantation.

The contents of soluble solids, acids and their ratio as well as phenol content are important indices for quality evaluating of sour cherry fruits. These parameters are influenced by the cultivar and growing conditions. The trial was carried out at the Latvian State Institute of Fruit-Growing to evaluate the effect of woodchip mulch and drip irrigation on fruit quality of sour cherry cultivars 'Bulatnikovskaya', 'Desertnaya Morozovoi', 'Latvijas Zemais', 'Orlica', 'Shokoladnica', 'Tamaris', and 'Zentenes'. The biochemical composition of the fruits was analyzed in 2009 and 2010. The content of soluble solids was determined with the method of refractometry; the content of total acids by titrating with 0.1N NaOH; the total content of phenols with the method of spectrometry. The content of total soluble solids in sour cherry fruits was decreased by use of woodchip mulch. The content of acids, the ratio of soluble solid content to the acid content and the content of the phenols was not significantly influenced by woodchip mulch and drip irrigation. The cultivar 'Desertnaya Morozovoi' showed the highest soluble solid content in the fruits, the cultivar 'Latvijas Zemais' - the highest acid content, and cultivar 'Tamaris' - the highest phenol content in the fruits.

The study represents results of productivity studies of mechanized ditch cleaning using Ponsse Fox harvester adapted to multi-tree handling H6 head in forest drainage systems managed by Joint stock company “Latvia state forests”. The aim of the study is to evaluate productivity of extraction of biomass from ditches depending on working method and to estimate factors affecting prime-cost of biofuel in mechanized harvesting. The study results demonstrate that the 2nd method (mechanized extraction of roundwood and following motor-manual cleaning of remaining vegetation) is the most efficient solution for mechanized cleaning of ditches. Benefits of the 2nd method are smaller costs of undergrowth removal and bigger output of solid biofuel. Ponsse Fox harvester demonstrated sufficient work quality and productivity in the trials; however, it would be wise to use heavier harvesters or caterpillar excavator based harvesters in ditch cleaning. Using the 2nd method, a harvester can extract about 227 ha of ditches (23,000 m3 ) annually.

The aim of this paper is to characterize and ascertain quality influencing factors of wood chips produced from forest residues in clear-cuts. The quality of food fuels varies according to the harvesting season, site characteristics and silvicultural treatment. For this study 89 piles of logging residues from clear-cuts located in Western part of Latvia were used. Piles were stored in different parts of clear-cut according to its direction against nearby stand. Piles of logging residues were pre dried and then chipped. A period of chipping and sample acquisition was from February to May of the year 2012. Results show that chips from forest residues can be successfully used for medium scale boilers. Chips with lower carbon content, calorific value, relative moisture and bulk density of wet chips can be produced in May. Location of the pile in centre and SE part of the clear cuts can decrease resulting ash content in wood chips.

Small diameter wood obtained from young stand tending, with average d1.3 is greater than 4 cm, is suitable for the production of biofuel. So far mainly hand motorized tools have been used in young stand tending, to gather the small -diameter wood is costly and unprofitable. As the technology evolves and labor costs rise studies are carried out on how to increase the profitability of the young stand tending, by applying mechanized tending and production of biofuel from small-diameter wood. The study analyzed indicators, which directly affect the profitability of biofuel production from small-diameter wood produced by harvester tending. The biofuel production costs are analyzed using average purchase price of wood chips production service paid by JSC ‘Latvijas valsts meži’ (further JSC LVM). Revenue related to sales of chips is analyzed on the basis of JSC LVM average sales price for wood chips. The price of the preparation of the small-diameter wood is high and the proportions of the full cost price of wood chips make up 38%. The price of forwarding service impact on the full cost price comprises up to 25% and depends on the forwarding distance. The profitability calculation shows, that production of wood chips from the harvester tended young stands has to be regarded as unprofitable.

In the 30ies of the 20th century stump extraction was identified as one of the most prospective technologies of forest sector to secure deliveries of solid biofuel. Now we are returning to the same challenges having the same targets – to secure energy independence and competitiveness of forest sector. MCR 500 is the prototype of combined stump extraction and mounding bucket for caterpillar excavator produced in Latvia by the LSFRI Silava and engineering company Orvi SIA. The device is made for extraction of stumps with diameter up to 50 cm. Additional benefit of the device is its ability to prepare soil for the forest regeneration by making mounds. The article summarizes results of productivity trials of stump extraction using the MCR 500 head and following forwarding of the material. Data from earlier studies are used to characterize comminution and road transport of stumps and chips. In total 3.5 ha were extracted during the studies. A harvested amount of stumps was estimated using biomass equations. It will be updated in further comminution studies. Average stock of extractable biomass (stumps and coarse roots) on the experimental sites was 28 tons ha-1. Productivity of stump extraction was 2.4...3.4 tons per efficient hour. Consumption of efficient time for scarification of soil was 3.4...4.3 hours per ha. Forwarding took 30 min per load (2.6 tons per efficient working hour). Prime cost of chips according to biomass equations is 9.78 Ls LV mE-3, according to expert judgement based harvested stock is 6.38 Ls LV mE-3.

Due to the ever increasing demand for energy resources, more and more attention is being paid to renewable energy resources. One such potential resource is lignocellulosic biomass that can be treated to acquire a carbohydrate rich substrate for further use in producing biofuels such as bioethanol or biobutanol. In this study, birch (Betula pendula) chips were used in fast pyrolysis to acquire bio-oil. This bio-oil was further hydrolyzed in pressurized reactor Parr 4554 to produce a carbohydrate rich feedstock. Hydrolysis conditions were optimized. Several conditions − three different temperatures (111, 121, 131 °C) and four different sulfuric acid concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 M) were tested. The optimal conditions were 121 °C with 0.2 M sulfuric acid as a catalyst that allowed to acquire a solution with the total glucose concentration being 6.6% that can be further used as a feedstock for biofuel acquiring.

Aim of the paper is to identify low productivity lands distribution in Vidzeme region, identify enterprises that could use wood chips from willow plantations established on these lands as the main resource in electricity and heat production and calculate produced wood ash amount from these enterprises that could be used as fertilizer and could be recycled in SRC plantations. For better soil fertility evaluation and economic turn predictions all agricultural lands are evaluated in quality units, where one quality unit in money is equal to 5.38 EUR or 70 kg of rye. According to studies, traditional farming in lands, which are below 38 quality units, could be unproductive. In Vidzeme region are 501,880 ha of agriculture lands from which 206,574 ha (52%) are lands with quality assessment under 38 units. According to local farmers’ opinion, the real quality unit, below which economically profitable farming is impossible, are 25 quality units. There are 87,900 ha of agricultural lands under 25 quality units, which represent 18% from all agricultural lands in region. These lands could be used by growing SRC plantations in 2013; the region has 48 enterprises that used wood chips, with total amount of 170,500 oven-dried tonnes per year. Wood chips from SRC plantation could be used in these enterprises. To fulfil the wood chip demand in the region, about 17,000 – 34,000 ha of agricultural land should be planted with SRC plantations. To increase the yields from these lands, fertilization is recommended. In this region are more than 300 enterprises, which use wood as the main resource for electricity or heat production leading to 14,000 oven-dried tons of wood ash production every year.