The four independent reviewers estimated each paper and recommended 81 articles for publishing at the proceedings consisted of 2 volumes, which started life as presentations at the Annual 23rd International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2017” held at the Latvia University of Agriculture, in Jelgava, on 17 to 19 May 2017. In the retrospect of four months later, we can count the Conference as a great success. The theme – Research for Rural Development - attracted participation more than 155 researchers with very different backgrounds. There were 124 presentations from different universities of Poland, Kazakhstan, France, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, India, Russia and Latvia. Thank you for your participation! We are sure that you have learned from the presentations and discussions during the conference and you can use the outcomes in the future. The cross disciplinary proceedings of the Annual 23rd International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2017” (two volumes since 2010) are intended for academics, students and professionals. The subjects covered by those issues are crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, landscape architecture, information and communication technologies. The papers are grouped according to the sessions in which they have been presented.

Liming soils make both direct and indirect effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If raising the pH of soil, the amount of N2 O emissions in the result of nitrification decreases; therefore, it is important to perform also maintenance liming if applying nitrogen fertilisers. Liming acidic soils contributes to the absorption of nutrients supplied by means of fertilisers by plants, limits the spread of plant diseases, forms better soil moisture and air regimes for plants, improves the structure of soil and activates microorganisms. The aim of this study was to assess liming effect on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions in crop farming. To achieve the aim, this study proceeds in two stages: 1) to analyse the scientific literature on the liming effect on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions in other countries, as a few such research studies are available in Latvia; 2) to calculate potential gains and losses from liming acid soils in order to examine the real situation concerning liming and its effects on the economy of farms. The research finds out that at the farm level in Latvia liming gives a positive economic effect (41.6 EUR haE-1) however, it is essential for maintaining soil fertility, increasing yields, and presumably for more efficient circulation of nitrogen, which decreases nitric oxide emissions.

The aim of this study was to investigate amino acid content, biological value and dietary fibre content of conventional and organic pea (Pisum sativum L.) and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum M.) flours. Results showed that pea flours contained high amounts of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine, lysine and arginine while glutamic acid, proline, methionine and tryptophan were found in similar or smaller amounts comparing with wheat flour. The differences of various amino acids between conventional and organic pea flours were insignificant. The content of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, valine, histidine, lysine and arginine was high in buckwheat flours in comparison with wheat flour. There were significant (p is less than 0.05) differences in the individual amino acid contents across buckwheat flours. Significant (p is less than 0.05) variation existed in the content of essential amino acids among samples, whereas the results concerning the proportion of essential amino acids in total amino acids showed insignificant (p is greater than 0.05) differences between pea flours and buckwheat flours (34.80 – 35.77% and 29.96 – 33.90% respectively). The highest content of lysine was found in pea flours, and it formed about 23% of essential amino acids content. For pea flours the total dietary fibre amount varied between 15.28 g 100 gE-1 for conventional and 27.24 g 100 gE-1 for organic pea flour. Pea and buckwheat flours could be characterised as a good source of dietary fibre with significantly (p is less than 0.05) higher content of total dietary fibre comparing to wheat flour.

The objective of the current research was to investigate effects of germination on chemical composition of hull-less barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.), hull-less oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale spp.), and wheat (Triticum spp.) grains for comparison. All the grains were cleaned, washed, steeped and germinated at temperature 35 ± 2 °C and relative humidity 95 ± 2% for 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. After germination grains were dried till moisture content 14 ± 2%. Main quality parameters such as starch, proteins, b-glucan (in hull-less barley) and individual sugars were determined in cereals during their steeping and germination. Non-germinated grains were used as a control sample. In the present experiments non-significant protein content increase was observed in the analysed hull-less barley, hull-less oat, rye, and wheat during their germination for 48 hours. Starch content in hull-less barley, wheat and rye grains decreased non-significantly during germination for 24 h; opposite results were obtained for hull-less oat grains, where content of starch decreased by 16.7% after steeping and by 26.4% after germination for 24 h. b-glucan content in hull-less barley grains after germination for 48 h decreased by 20.5%. Non-significant changes were obtained in fructose content in analysed cereal grains during germination for 48 h; it was significantly increased after germination for 24 h and in germination for 48 h. Non-significant sucrose content changes were observed in hull-less barley, rye and wheat grains during germination for 12 h and in hull-less oat grains – for 24 h significantly increasing in future germination for 48 h.

The diversity of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in raw, pasteurised milk and maturated Swiss type cheese was tested. The aim of the present study was to analyse the concentrations and representatives of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in raw milk and to evaluate the changes of their concentrations and representatives during pasteurisation of cheese milk and Swiss-type cheese production. The analysis carried out in the study showed a variation in the microbial composition and quantity of raw milk. The most frequently isolated lactobacilli were found at low level in raw milk (mean 27.5×104 CFU mLE-1) and the most frequently identified species were Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus paracasei. The microflora of raw and pasteurised milk is similar analysing lactic acid bacteria representatives in the samples. Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus paracasei were detected in the same samples in raw milk, pasteurised milk and maturated cheese. Our study showed that lactic acid bacteria concentration was quite low in pasteurised milk (1-12 CFU mLE-1), but they grow rapidly in cheese during ripening reaching 1.1-1.8*106 CFU gE-1. The present study has shown that NSLAB in Swiss-type cheese mainly derive from raw milk, and only a few strains survive the processing conditions and grow during ripening.

Iron deficiency is a common problem especially among children, women of reproductive age and sportsmen. Addition of highly bioavailable iron to foods could be one possibility to enrich daily diet and increase iron absorption. At present moment, there is a limited number of fortified products with iron in the market. Fortification of common food products is an effective strategy to prevent or overcome iron deficiency. The results show a significant increase of iron in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. Comparing fortified products with non‑fortified control samples of chocolate snacks the iron content increased from (1.17 – 2.61) to (10.15 − 11.53) mg 100 gE-1 in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. By developing a successful recipe of fortified food products, animal origin heme iron could be applicable component and satisfy sensory acceptability from consumers. The aim of this work was to create an alternative sweet product as healthy snack with incorporated highly bioavailable heme iron which may be an addition to daily diet with nutritional properties and accepted by consumers.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentrated cocktail of growth factors and inflammatory mediators, and has been considered to be potentially effective for cartilage repair. Animal clinical studies suggest that PRP is a promising treatment for cartilage injuries and relieving symptoms due to its three biological properties: an anabolic effect, enhancement of cartilage regeneration and inhibition of inflammation. The aim of this article is to analyse the available evidence on the clinical application of this biological approach to animals for the injective treatment of cartilage lesions and joint degeneration, and also to support the rationale for the use of platelet concentrates and to give indications on what to expect from intra-articular injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in animals. This article is a summary of analytical research papers about the use of platelet-rich plasma as a treatment for the osteoarthritis. The intra-articular injections do not just target cartilage; instead, platelet-rich plasma might influence the entire joint environment, leading to clinical improvement. Many biological variables might influence the clinical outcome and have to be studied to optimize PRP injective treatment of cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis.

The paper presents the comparative analysis of the Kaunas city landscape change during the period between 2010 and 2015. For this analysis, the land fund statistics of the Republic of Lithuania, which had been grouped into a relatively natural and anthropogenic landscape, were used. Landscape change is graphically shown in the figures. Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature and legal acts as well as planning documents were analysed for the fulfilment of the work. The Kaunas city landscape analysis of the current situation was done. During the analysis the Kaunas city statistics were compared with the data of Kaunas County and the Republic of Lithuania. The analysis showed that during the analysed period the Kaunas city natural landscape area relatively increased by 1115.34 ha or 20.42 percent. The largest part of relatively natural landscape consisted of forests – 51.12 percent. During the period between 2010 and 2015, the anthropogenic environmental area increased by 47.33 hectares (2.80 percent.). In the period between the years 2010 and 2015, the Kaunas city anthropogenic landscape decreased by 1.189.41 hectares or 12.23 percent. This phenomenon was affected by the decrease of built-up areas of 1,233.36 hectares, or 14.10 percent. Built-up areas cover the largest part of the Kaunas city anthropogenic landscape – 88.09 percent. The analysis of the planning documents showed that after their implementation the built-up areas would increase, the aesthetic image of recreational environment would improve, the environmental condition would become of a higher quality.

Aim of the paper is to explore the possibilities of application of orthophoto maps in determination of land degradation. One of the forms of remote sensing is aerial photography. Orthophoto maps are made from aerial photography with specialized software orthophoto maps were analysed in perspective for several years – from 2005 to 2011.The results are based on the expert. With each year possibilities of application of orthophoto maps are expanding. During the research, data of survey and SWOT analysis of determination of land degradation by orthophoto maps. The study results prove that based on orthophoto maps mainly, it can be detected the following land degradation processes – agricultural land overgrowing with bushes and abandonment of built-up areas.

This study is a part of an extensive research of creep development in softwood (Pinus sylvestris) timber beams under natural environmental conditions. Large size test data sample obtained during long-term (approximately one and half year) static loading of timber beams in a four-point bending simulating the real service conditions of roof structures for winter and non-snow period has been processed and results presented. The correlation between creep deformation and its affecting factors, such as span to height ratio of beam, percent of latewood and width of year ring (a growth ring formed during a single year), orientation of year ring segments against main axis of cross section, number of year rings in 1 cm of wood, and density of wood have been analysed and corresponding coefficients of correlation presented. It is concluded that the most significant creep development affecting factor is density of wood. Strong relationship between creep development and width of year ring, number of year rings in 1 cm of wood and density of wood was observed during test. Orientation of year ring segments against the main axis of cross section, amount of latewood and span/depth ratio do not have noteworthy direct influence on creep development in terms of this study. Temperature can be neglected as creep affecting factor in terms of this study but in the moments of sharp raise or fall of temperature, almost immediate effect on creep development was recorded.