Fast-growing hybrid aspen clones are recommended for establishment of plantation on abandoned agriculture land in Northern Europe. In this study we assessed the productivity, quality and assortment structure of hybrid aspen clones at final felling. Data were collected during the hybrid aspen clonal experiment conducted in the central part of Latvia. Large variation in the productivity level between different clones was affected by growth and survival. From the compared 5 most and least productive clones, based on the yield m**3 haE-1, the faster growing clones have about 17% better survival rate at age 10. Also, the mean annual increment (MAI) differed notably and significantly (p is less than 0.05, α = 0.05) between hybrid aspen clones at the age of 18 years ranging from 7 to 34 m**3 haE-1 yearE-1. Theoretical assortment structure of hybrid aspen at the age of 18 years was the following: 43 ± 4.86% of small dimension saw logs (SDS logs), 21 ± 4.86% high quality saw logs (HQS logs), 18 ± 4.33% pulpwood, 4 ± 0.77% firewood and 13 ± 0.08% of logging residues (tops). The outcome of HQS logs on average is more than 30% from the 5 best clones and further increase can be predicted with age. Stem volume (H2 = 0.32), height (H2 = 0.47) and quality parameters (stem straightness - H2 = 0.73, branch angle - H2 = 0.60) had a high heritability and large differences between clones, indicating notable possibilities to improve the productivity of plantations via selection of the best-growing genetic material.

Impact of a variety of forestry machine types on soil compaction is evaluated in this study according to the measurement of soil penetration resistance at 0 to 80 cm depth. It is concluded in the study that soils with poor bearing capacity (PBC), comparably small penetration resistance and organic layer thicker than 5 cm are less vulnerable to soil compaction. The use of small-size forwarder Vimek 610 allows to reduce soil compaction to an insignificant level in comparison to the control sites, and most or ruts disappear within a few days in PBC conditions. Whereas John Deere 810E, which belongs to the middle-size class of forwarders, significantly compacts soil through the whole measured depth in similar conditions. Rottne F10B and John Deere 810E forwarders represent the same weight category, and soil compaction due to the use of these machines on soils with moderate bearing capacity (MBC) is similar too; however, on soils with weak (WBC) and good (GBC) conditions results are different, mostly due to a different amount of extracted roundwood in both trials. Tracked forwarder was used only in GBC conditions and the results demonstrated significant compaction only down to 22 cm depth. The trials confirm that the depth of the intensity of impact depends on the weight of the machine and amount of material extracted; however, additional measurement data are necessary to characterize the impact quantitatively in different conditions.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate ecosystem services in riparian forests of Latvia using benefit transfer method. The core of benefit-transfer method is to transfer economic costs from one economic situation to another by using pilot indicators, thus saving time and monetary resources of the research. This method also is applicable for transfer of value of ecosystem services to research territories where such values have not been set. As to the evaluation of ecosystem services in riparian forests, data derived from these indicators are compared with the situation in riparian forest stands. Successful application of this method depends on the quality of existing research and their transferability. For example, the data on research of non-timber values can be used to set these values in riparian forests. Value of ecosystem services for 1 ha riparian forest stand in Latvia judging by 1) N and P removal (N - 8.14 euro haE-1 yE-1; P - 2.16 euro haE-1 yE-1); 2) Valuing carbon capture (478.6 euro haE-1 y-E1); 3) Valuing noise buffering (2.02 euro haE-1 yE-1); 4) Valuing air purification (NOx - 1332.5 euro haE-1 yE-1, NH3 - 216 euro haE-1 yE-1, particulate matter - 792 euro haE-1 yE-1); 5) Valuing pollination (timber - 15.25 euro haE-1 yE-1, non-timber - 4 euro haE-1 yE-1) total at 2850.67 euro haE-1 yE-1, which is significantly more than just the traditionally viewed timber value.

Turkish traditional food producers are mainly subsistence and semi-subsistence farmers who have a limited marketing knowledge. They thus encounter a significant number of problems during the supply chain due to the lack of capital, awareness and equipment, as well as underutilized resources and insufficient rural infrastructure. They are also not actively encouraged by the policies implemented at the regional level. The majority of the food reaches consumers either directly (the less common purchases from the farmer) or via a number of intermediaries. If the current volume of traditional food is compared with the past production volume, it can be clearly seen that there is a sharp decrease in the production in contrast to the rapidly increasing population. This study aims to find willingness of Turkish consumers to pay for a MarketMaker website – an electronic trading platform of traditional products in Turkey. The estimations rely on data collected from 157 persons covering all regions in Turkey through an online survey in August, 2015. The average willingness to pay (WTP) annually was found to be about 32 Turkish Liras (TRY) for all observations including zero bids and TRY 164 excluding zero bids. The results of the probit model show that age, marital status and shopping in traditional food markets were identified by the model to have a significant impact on the probability of WTP.

The paper presents theoretical and practical aspects of content marketing decision application for rural tourism development using a case of a farmstead ʻĮlankos sodybaʼ. The first part of the article deals with theoretical insights into content marketing ability to stimulate rural tourism development. Results of literature review reveal that there are connections between elements of the content marketing and rural tourism development, which means that the use of content marketing can be economically valuable for the wider range of the farmsteads. The second part of the paper focuses on the case analysis of the farmstead ‘Įlankos sodybaʼ. In order to explore how the application of content marketing decisions can impact rural tourism development, an experiment of content marketing usage in search advertisement of selected farmstead was carried out. Separate content marketing elements were involved in search advertisement and changes of advertisement effect upon the customers were measured. The given results show that content marketing elements can improve the chosen advertisement effect upon the customers. This leads to presumption that the wider use of content marketing can improve not only the effect of separate marketing tool, but also can contribute to the development of rural tourism. The paper concludes with findings and discussion; limitations and future research possibilities are given as well.

Increasing competition among health care service providers for pets and constantly growing requirements for the veterinary service quality, force veterinary service providers to search for some possibilities to remain competitive in the market in order to meet both customer needs and expectations, and animal needs best. The aim of the research is – having identified the choice motives for animal health care service, to enumerate the factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service. In order to find the pet keepers’ approach concerning the factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service, a pilot research was completed. According to the gained primary data results in the research, it was found that the key factors, influencing the choice of veterinary service are as follows: the service quality of health care, the recommendation of the person responsible for animal care and the price for the delivered service.

The evaluation of EU Member States’ co-founded programmes was assigned particular importance in recent years. The core question to be answered in programme evaluation is whether the stated objectives are accomplished by particular intervention. Until recently, the use of ‘naïve’ estimates was common in the evaluations of EU Member States Rural Development Programmes. The use of these estimates leads to potentially substantial selection bias resulting from using the outcomes of non-participants as a proxy for the possible outcomes of participants in the case of non-participation. The effectiveness of interventions on outcomes of interest can be better evaluated by propensity score matching (PSM). The objective of the study is to determine the net average effects from semi-subsistence farm support measure of the Latvian Rural Development Programme 2007 – 2013. To reach the research objective, propensity scores based on the most important characteristics were calculated for participants and non-participants of the measure and average treatment effects for gross value added were evaluated by matching methods. The research results show that the positive programme effects evaluated by ‘naïve’ estimators are overestimated in comparison with the results obtained by more rigorous PSM method.

The purpose of this article is to address the quality assurance challenges for local governments in long-term elderly care. The research is based on the qualitative approach. Theoretical approach is based on active aging ideas and quality assurance principles. Authors have started analysis on how to adapt the quality principles of European Quality Framework for Long-Term Care Services in the Latvian elderly long-term care institutions. The experts’ view on evaluation is one of the methods of how to assess the quality principles in long-term care for elderly. The research results show different approaches to quality assurance principles and evaluation at the level of local and central government and the necessity to move towards a unified understanding. Experts emphasised the necessity to discuss quality principles in long-term care institutions and the division of responsibility for elderly care between the local and central government. The main findings are that none of the experts would like to spend the rest of their life, when they reach an old age, in a long-term institution. Principle ranking was successfully used in semi-structured expert interviews. The results show a great extent of variety in evaluating the quality principles of European Quality Framework for Long-Term Care Services in Latvian elderly long-term care institutions.

Nowadays, when the general rate of unemployment in Latvia is not that high anymore, there are still a lot of people who are unemployed for many years and during all those years they are abusing the budget of municipality by receiving social benefits. The aim of the article was to examine the way how the long-term unemployed social benefit receivers assess the meaning of support in job searching. On the basis of The Theory of Planned Behaviour a questionnaire was developed by the authors, 37 long-term unemployed social benefit receivers registered in Riga Social Service were asked to take part in the survey and gave informed consent. The results show that the respondents who are longer unemployed receive more support from their families. Statistically significant correlations (p=0.03) were found between the duration of unemployment and person’s determination to search a job, the unemployed who are longer without a job are less active in job searching process. Direct support in the job searching process is deeply connected with the possibility to share individual’s thoughts and emotions with the family. There is no statistically significant correlation between men and women responses.