Tracked forwarders is one of the solutions for the forest soils with poor bearing capacity providing ability to use well-known technology for reasonable cost to improve accessibility of forest resources. Tracked forwarders are not common in forest nowadays and only a few models are produced serially. The ProSilva F2/2 is a new middle-class forwarder, whose frontal tracks are replaced with big tires, ensuring large contact surface, increased mobility of the machine and significantly reduced mass without loosing the load capacity (15 tonnes). The aim of the study was to evaluate productivity, soil impact and cost of the roundwood forwarding using the ProSilva F2/2. The study was conducted in Finland. Productivity (time per crane cycle, split into operations and loads), load size, depth of ruts and soil compaction were estimated during the study. According to the study results, the average productivity is 16 m**3 per hour (driving distance to a landing site 200 m, driving speed 2.8 km hE-1, average load 9.7 m**3). The productivity can be significantly increased by more efficient utilization of the load capacity and by using gripper with the tilt function. The length of ruts on peat soil (56 m haE-1) does not exceed the permitted threshold values in Latvia. The compaction of soil took place mainly in topsoil, no changes in soil density were observed in deeper soil layers. The prime cost of forwarding according to the preliminary estimates is 2.5 € mE-3 if the annual production is at least 62000 m**3. Utilization rate is important to keep forwarding cost low.

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of the harvester cutting head feed roller type on the mechanical damages of processed roundwood timber in post manufacturing. The study presents the comparison of the gentle Moipu plate wheel rollers and conventional feed rollers having bigger spikes (hereinafter named - conventional feed rollers). The total amount of segments processed with the gentle Moipu plate wheel rollers was 2199, whereas the amount of segments processed using the conventional feed rollers was 5308. When processing roundwood with the gentle feed rollers, in the 1st flow 8.2% of timber was rejected as substandard due to defects. The corresponding figure in the 2nd flow was 5.2% of the material in which the damage in the form studs was caused by the feed rollers. When processing the timber with conventional feed rollers, the percentage of the damage – dents caused by these rollers in the 1st flow was 26.7%, in the 2nd flow – 43.7% and in the 3rd flow only 2.7%. Using the method of characteristics proportion comparison, significant differences have been observed between feed rollers (t = 17.8 is greater than t sub(0.05;∞) = 1.96).

The homogeneous and light wood of birch is suitable for different types of treatment processes and is highly valued for products where visual aspect is important, however, birch assortments are highly susceptible to damages caused by fungi during the storage. Such fungal damages cause discoloration of birch roundwood intended for further woodworking. Sapwood discoloration development and its influencing factors for birch roundwood were analyzed in the summer - autumn period of the year 2016 (August, September and October). Control cut for assessment of sapwood discoloration development was made in four birch roundwood stacks in the districts of Auce and Daugavpils. In order to evaluate the influence of harvesting type, side surface damages, placement in pile, storage duration, diameter, distance from the end plane, daily average temperatures, precipitation amount and relative humidity on development of sapwood discoloration, 616 discs from birch log end planes were prepared. After conducting multiple factor linear regression, it was concluded that a significant development of discoloration and its changes for birch roundwood are promoted by harvesting type, placement in pile, distance from the end plane, daily average temperatures and relative humidity (R2 = 0.450). For birch logs that are prepared by harvester with the daily average air temperature + 6 °C, the first signs of discoloration appear after 17 – 18 days, but on all logs stacked in pile they appear after 68 – 69 days. Whereas, with the daily average temperature of + 18 °C, the first signs of discoloration can occur after only six days, but on all logs stacked in pile they appear after 23 days.

The article presents the analysis of the current situation of the damaged land in Klaipeda County. The study found that the number of affected areas in the county – 266. Because the damaged areas consist of mineral quarries and territories occupied by dumps, the article contains the description and condition of these areas. It was found that mostly sand deposits (60) predominate in Klaipeda County, of which only 8 are used. The smallest number of the deposits – the salt deposits (2). The mainly used deposits in the county are sand and gravel deposits – 29, unused – sand deposits (52). The Klaipeda municipal waste management region comprises 7 municipalities, 39 old landfills and dumps were shut down. At present, 1 regional non-hazardous waste landfill has been arranged. In Klaipeda County, in 2015, damaged land occupied 2,391.06 hectares and amounted to 0.46 percent of the county’s area. During the period between the years 2005 and 2015 the damaged land area in Klaipeda County increased by 130.25 hectares. The analysis of the damaged land by type of ownership showed that the damaged land areas in private land increased by 75.54 hectares or 58.52 percent. In the state land, the damaged land area decreased by 442.35 hectares or 20.04 percent.

Enteral feeding also known as enteral nutrition is nutrient delivery into the stomach. Products for enteral nutrition are a specific group of products designed to provide nutrients to the human body in case of various diseases and after surgery, when the daily intake of the product is affected. Today market offers special dietetic products, which are supplemented with synthetic vitamins and minerals, which bioavailability in the body is lower than that of natural organic complexes. Therefore it is important to develop special dietetic products from natural raw materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vacuum cooking on the content of bioactive compounds, soluble solids, pH and shelf life of enteral food made from fresh and semi-finished (heated) fruit and vegetable juices. For this research enteral food was made using fresh or semi-finished fruit and vegetable juices. Products were vacuum cooked in 0.02 MPa pressure, with boiling point 67 °C, and 0.06 MPa pressure at 79 °C, withstander for 15 min. All samples were stored at room temperature and tested for their content of vitamin C, total carotenoids, anthocyanins, total phenols and antioxidant activity and microbiological safety, as control untreated enteral food samples were used. The obtained data showed that samples made from semi-finished juices have higher contents of vitamin C and total carotenoids and anthocyanins than samples prepared from fresh juices, but this wasn’t observed with content of total phenols and antiradical scavenging activity (DPPH), where the type of ingredients used for sample preparation had no significant effect.

This study was undertaken to assess the potential for sweet potato silage making business by estimating sweet potato vines and root wastage and assessing the economic feasibility of investing in sweet potato silage. Information was collected through key informant interviews, secondary data review, sweet potato root peeling and weighing, focus group discussions with pig and sweet potato producers covering a sample of 180 farmers. Semi-structured interviews with 240 respondents (120 sweet potato farmers, 60 pig farmers and 60 sweet potato traders) were also conducted. The results showed that sweet potato production is seasonal with substantial wastage of sweet potato components existing across the various nodes of the sweet potato value chain. The study concludes that there is an opportunity for investment in sweet potato silage business that has the potential to reduce wastage of sweet potato and bridge the feed scarcity gap faced by pig farmers.

High economic losses in agriculture can be caused by pig disease like Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS). Porcine circovirus-2 (PCV2) is the primary agent of PMWS. It is known that PMWS causes cellular and humoral immunity disorders, therefore it is considered a general immune deficiency disease in piglets. It is still unknown, why piglets with PMWS have severe loss of lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues and in the blood. Thus, the hypothesis of the study was that lymphocyte depletion occurs because of lymphocyte life-cycle delay in pigs infected by PCV2. The activity of cell life-cycle is attributed to protein Ki67. This protein is found in all active phases of the cell like interphase G1, S, G2 and mitoses. However, protein Ki67 is not observed at all in the cell’s “quiet” phase G0. The aim of our work was to investigate the lymph node cell proliferation activity of pigs infected by PCV2. In total, 42 pig carcasses were collected from 5 to 15 weeks old pigs with PMWS clinical manifestation. Lymph nodes were selected from each pig carcass for histological and immunohistochemical testing. We concluded that B lymphocyte population was reduced first in the lymph node with PCV2, but the number of T lymphocytes decreased later. PCV2 decreased B lymphocyte proliferation activity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of antibiotic resistance of Aeromonas spp. bacteria isolated from the sea trout (Salmo trutta) from the state fish hatcheries of the Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment ‘BIOR’, Latvia. Bacteriological investigations were performed at four state fish hatcheries located in the drainage basins of the main Latvian rivers – Daugava, Venta and Gauja, during the five-year period (2012 – 2016). In fish with visible clinical signs, bacteriological samples were collected from heart, liver, spleen, kidney and ulcer surfaces. Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas salmonicida were isolated from sea trouts. A total of 52 individual sea trouts were examined. Resistance to amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalexin, colistin, doxycycline, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, florfenicol, gentamycin, kanamycin, lincomycin, neomycin, oxytetracycline, spectinomycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was tested. The results of this study suggest a multi-drug resistance pattern among the A. hydrophila isolates. All the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin (100%), ampicillin (100%), cephalexin (100%) and erythromycin (100%). The lowest level of resistance was found against florfenicol (4.55%), gentamycin (4.55%), kanamycin (4.55%), but susceptibility was recorded to enrofloxacin, neomycin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. A. salmonicida isolates were resistant to oxytetracycline (9.38%) and tetracycline (9.38%). For other antibiotics A. salmonicida isolates were susceptible.

Organic farmers need varieties adapted to variable growing conditions, because in organic farms environmental conditions significantly vary in soil nutrient status, weed and disease pressure not only between years, but also among farms within a season. Modern varieties developed under high input agricultural systems do not always perform well under organic growing conditions. Therefore, farmers need such varieties of cereals that can adapt to variable growing conditions and maintain productivity. One of the ways to promote adaptation to environment is growing of variety mixtures. Field trials were conducted during 2014 – 2016 under organic and conventional farming systems in two locations with an aim to estimate the advantages of barley mixtures in respect of yield and its stability. The trial consisted of eight mixtures of barley varieties and breeding lines, components of mixtures in pure stand and three check varieties. The mixtures were combined by using two, three and five components. Three mixtures, each in one out of 11 environments significantly out–yielded, but one mixture had significantly lower yield than the average value of their components. Some mixtures showed a tendency to out–yield the average of components in both farming systems. All mixtures insignificantly out–yielded check varieties in 2015, but in 2016, yield was within the range between varieties with lowest and highest yield. The results of yield stability analysis showed that mixtures could be used as one of the approaches to stabilize yield – only one of eight mixtures had a lower yield than the average over all environments.

Environmental conditions and climate change on a global scale affect the overall agriculture and food supply. Edamame, also called vegetable soybean is an import vegetable in the world, especially in the East Asia. China is the world’s centre for vegetable soybean production. Edamame beans are harvested before full maturity when bean pods are green and just before turning to yellow colour. Most cultivated varieties in the world are of Japanese origin. The aim of this literature survey is to give a review on history and consumption facts of edamame, as well as on the yield and quality parameters of this fresh commodity. Monographic method has been used for this review. Edamame has a high nutritional and medical value. Composition of biologically active compounds in edamame plants is dependent on climate conditions, seasonal changes, cultivar properties and maturity stage. Vegetable soybean has a long cultivation history in the world. In Europe edamame is grown, but in Latvia edamame has not been grown until now, but there is some experience in soya grain growing. Pod colour is the main external quality factor of edamame. It can be influenced by light, moisture, fertilization, variety properties, planting density and harvesting procedures. Vegetation period for edamame in most cases is reported to be between 75 and 100 days. Environmental conditions and climate change on a global scale affect the overall agriculture and food supply. Edamame, also called vegetable soybean is an import vegetable in the world, especially in the East Asia. China is the world’s centre for vegetable soybean production. Edamame beans are harvested before full maturity when bean pods are green and just before turning to yellow colour. Most cultivated varieties in the world are of Japanese origin. The aim of this literature survey is to give a review on history and consumption facts of edamame, as well as on the yield and quality parameters of this fresh commodity. Monographic method has been used for this review. Edamame has a high nutritional and medical value. Composition of biologically active compounds in edamame plants is dependent on climate conditions, seasonal changes, cultivar properties and maturity stage. Vegetable soybean has a long cultivation history in the world. In Europe edamame is grown, but in Latvia edamame has not been grown until now, but there is some experience in soya grain growing. Pod colour is the main external quality factor of edamame. It can be influenced by light, moisture, fertilization, variety properties, planting density and harvesting procedures. Vegetation period for edamame in most cases is reported to be between 75 and 100 days.