In the fish processing sector, the further exploitation of by-products and wastes left after industrial production promotes sustainability of raw materials, access to added value and increased profitability, as well as contributes to environmental protection by reducing the volume of dumped products. Besides obvious value-added features, it also addresses the clear market demand dictated by prospects of the population growth. Given the limitations for further expansion of the husbandry sector, fish-based items available for human consumption represent a major avenue for coping with the pressing demands of increased population and enable the development of innovative food items of high nutritional importance. Current research is focused on the analysis of fish processing by-product utilization possibilities available up to date and introduces empirical findings of innovative food product development made on the basis of by-products left after traditional canned “Sprats in oil” production. In Latvia, “Sprats in oil” production is an integral part of fish processing sector and the rural economy overall. The production accounts for at least 30% of raw material left as by-products (smoked heads and, in some cases, tails) after such technological stage as smoked sprats processing into cans. Efforts were made to prepare value-added and attractive to customer food product made out of this fish-processing by-products, which are typically processed to a fishmeal or just dumped as waste. The study demonstrates a strong potential for its utilization to a range of fish pâté with various flavours and of high nutritious value.

Potato sector is one of the competitive areas of the European Union (EU) agriculture. Although Eurostat declared that in 2015 Lithuanian share in the EU-28 harvested production was modest and composed only 0.7%, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOSTAT), this crop remained on the list of top 10 commodities by net production value in Lithuanian agriculture. However, over the past decades the Lithuanian potato sector survived undesired transformations. The aim of this paper is to analyse the changes of the main indicators, related to the potato sector, and vertical price transmission among the chain of potatoes in Lithuania. The conducted research indicates the most important development trends of the potato sector and applies econometric techniques to investigate if there is any long-run relationship between the farm and retail prices of potatoes for the period of 2010 to 2016. Although the statistics show the shrinking production and domestic consumption of potatoes in Lithuania, the analysis of the vertical price transmission does not provide evidence of market inefficiencies. The Johansen cointegration test confirms the existence of a long-run relationship between the farm and retail prices, while the Granger causality test shows that there is a bidirectional causality between the examined series. The M-TAR model does not provide evidence of the farm and retail price asymmetry in the long run.

Every day millions of new data records with spatial component are produced in the world, which provide valuable information to make decisions and solve business-related issues. However, a large part of this data is hardly analysed because of their different structures and schemas. The aim of the paper is to improve the integration, processing and analysis of unstructured spatial data. During the research, the author analysed geospatial data types and sources, explored NoSQL solutions for geospatial data processing and chose the open-source tools which are the most appropriate for the stated goals, as well as analysed the coverage of forest areas with protected zones using MongoDB database capabilities and visualized results in a map, using QGIS software. MongoDB is a useful tool for geospatial data analysis and has a large number of embedded topology analysis functions and has drivers for widespread programming languages like JavaScript, Python, PHP, Java, Scala, CNo., C, C + +, etc. QGIS has extensions that allow to make connections to databases, including a connection with MongoDB. Using these features, the developers can develop geographic information systems to analyse geospatial data – structured, semi-structured and unstructured. Generally MongoDB is used for real-time data analysis; however, complicated analysis of large data sets can take up to hours and even days, so it is still necessary to find the best solution to get results in an acceptable time for users. Using MongoDB together with Apache Hadoop – the framework to support big data applications – could be a possible solution for this problem.

This article presents theoretical and practical aspects of content marketing decisions for the customer value creation in social networks by using the case of the organic farm ʻIlzenberg manor’. Focus of this paper is to determine which content marketing decisions create the biggest value for the customer in social networks. The first part of the paper deals with theoretical insights into the content marketing decisions and their ability to create the customer value in social networks. Findings of theoretical analysis disclose that there are interfaces between content marketing, separate content marketing decisions and the customer value in the context of social networks. Respectively, it leads to an assumption that the usage of content marketing decisions can be valuable for the customer value creation in social networks. The second part of the paper focuses on the case analysis of the organic farm ‘Ilzenberg manor’. In order to determine which content marketing decisions create value for the customer in social networks, authors examine a correlation between separate content marketing decisions and consumer value indicators by using data from ʻIlzenberg manor’ Facebook page. The obtained results expose that not all content marketing decisions create value for the customer in social networks. Hence, it means that a selection of separate content marketing decisions in social networks can be made through the customer value perspective. The article ends with insights, conclusions, limitations and future research possibilities.

Fragmentation of private property (142 thousand private forest owners) cause the challenge for governing forests, because forests are part of wider forest ecosystems, but at the same time narrowly assigned by private borders. Land restitution put the new pressures on path dependent management and new possibilities and responsibilities (that were emergent features of private forest governance). This article is part of doctoral thesis about the common governance of private forests with particular aim to focus on describing knowledge and experience exchange in private forest owners’ networks in this paper. The research question for this article is to help to find out how the translation of experience and knowledge manifest itself in private forest owners’ networks? The best theoretical model to fit this situation is the concept of translation from actor-network theory and emergent norm theory. Case study approach was selected to follow actors in forest owners’ networks. The cases are forest owners’ cooperatives, forest owners NGO’s, as well as other forms, in particular, forest extension services and cases where an emergent process can be seen. The empirical material shows that translation of experience and knowledge manifest itself in few important ways, namely, at first, in a negotiation of needs and agreement on private forest owners’ needs; secondly, in stewardship role of multi-functional actors; thirdly, in emerging and evolving legislative norms. A multi-functional actor is a term offered in order to reveal a wide range of mediation forms in multicultural multi nature of forests as governed property and forests as integral part of ecosystems.

The paper covers analysis of pre-commercial thinning performed in private forests over the period of 2007–2017. Since 2007, permanent and considerable European Union subsidies for pre-commercial thinning have been available; resulting in a significant increase in area of thinned young stands in private forests. The aim of this research is ascertain pre-commercial thinning activity depending on the type of forest owner (individuals, legal persons or local municipality), forest stand type (forest stand or plantation) and origin (natural or artificial) as well as the forest owner’s intention to apply for European Union subsidies. Data analysed were obtained from Forest State Register – national data base, managed by state authority State Forest Service and continued analysis comprise two main topics – ascertain amount and type of young stands owned by different type of private forest owners and amount and type of conducted pre-commercial thinning. In comparison with other type of forest owners, legal persons have significantly higher amount (47%) of young plantation forest and forest stands from the total forest stands area. The highest intensity of thinning was conducted in plantation forests of artificial origin owned by legal and physical persons, also forest stands with artificial origin owned by physical persons. The current period for European Union Rural development programme will be over in 2020; therefore, it is important to analyse the existing approach of granting subsidies to forestry and find the improvement necessary for the planning period from the year 2021.

Precision of the forest inventory still is one of the most important problems in the forestry nowadays. The aim of this research was to estimate the results of the combined forest inventory (CFI), using high spatial resolution aerial images in the planned areas of clear-cuts, comparing the results with the calipering and production files of harvesters. Testing of algorithms showed considerable difference in results between the CFI, forest inventory data and harvester production data. CFI results and production data had a close correlation with R2 =0.83. Comparing CFI calculated growing stock with production data, the average relative error amounted to 10.7%, which means the possibility for integration of these results into the forest inventory system. Comparing to CFI, there is a weak correlation between forest inventory and production data with R2 =0.34. The results indicate that LiDAR CFI technology can be used in the forecasting of the forest management, offering precise information about potential amount and economic value of assortments.

The aim of the research is to find out changes in productivity depending on the diameter of the tree to be cut as well as the most important factor influencing the reduction of productivity using small size forest machines in thinning in Latvia. The equipment used in the study – both the harvester and the forwarder is Vimek. The results of the research confirm the appropriateness of the exact technique in thinning if diameter of the harvested trees is 3 to 30 cm. The average productivity of the harvester achieved with a harvester head Keto Forest Eco (option 2) in Norway spruce stands with 8 cm weighted average tree reached 9.59 m**3 hE-1, in deciduous tree stands with 9 cm weighted average was 10.17 m**3 hE-1, but in Scots pine stands with 12 cm average weighted tree diameter reached 10.19 m**3 hE-1. By using the Keto Forest Eco Harvester head according to the thinning productivity figures, no significant difference among the tree species was detected. For the forest owner to predict the theoretical productivity of the harvester, it is possible to apply the equation R = K + KD * D, that is statistically significant, R2 =0.85. This equation is applicable to thinnings when the diameter of thinned trees is between 4 and 25 cm. Forwarder’s average productivity in thinned stands is 8.63 m**3 hE-1.

Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is economically important tree species, vulnerable to impact of different biotic (cervids, bark beetle etc.) and abiotic (wind, wet snow etc.) factors and their combinations, expected to increase in frequency and/or magnitude in future due to climate changes. The aim of the study was to characterize occurrence damages in Norway spruce stands in Latvia. Data from 635 National forest inventory sample plots were used in the analysis, thus providing the information primarily on the non-lethal damages, since the dead trees in most of the cases would be removed from the stands in sanitary cuts. Damages were reported for 11.6 ± 1.1% of spruces from total basal area of spruces in the assessed pure and mixed stands. Admixture of other tree species or soil (group of forest types) had no significant effect on the proportion of damaged spruces. Also, no statistically significant differences in dimensions were observed between damaged and undamaged trees. The major cause of damages was browsing (three quarter of damaged spruces, in contrast to only one-quarter of the rest of the trees) and the highest proportion of damaged spruces were in stands in the age group 41 – 80 years, significantly differing from that in younger (up to 20 years) stands, demonstrating both the preferences of cervids to a certain dimensions of spruce as well as accumulation of damages over time.

In Latvia, P.abies (L.) H. Karst stands occupy about 18% of the total forest area (3.01 million) forming pure and mixed stands. Regardless of the main goals, productivity of the future forest stands must be preserved; therefore, it is very important for forest management to identify risk factors. P.abies often suffers from various risk factors. The aim of the research was – to assess the sanitary state of Picea abies (L.) H. Karst in Oxalidosa, where the area of forest stands has been restored both anthropogenically and naturally. Selected young stands are located in Limbazi district of Latvia. Empirical data was collected in 5 spruce stands with the total area of 9.2 ha in Oxalidosa. In total, 67 sample plots were installed with radius of 3.99 m, measuring 799 trees. Diameter was measured for all trees in the sample plot. For sanitary state of P.abies young stands characterization damage caused by biotic factors was assessed visually after four-point scale: health tree (0), minor damage to 25% (1), moderately damaged 26 – 50% (2), severely damaged or dried – from 51% (3). Damage caused by P.abietina and browsing was found in several stands, while damage produced by P.abietina larvae was detected only in one pure stand. Occurrence of browsing damage is 10 – 28%, while damage intensity – 7.7 – 21.8%. There are significant differences between occurrence of browsing damage (p=0.001) and also between damaged tree damage intensity (p=0.003). Nature of browsing damage depends on the size of pure and mixed stand area, the location in forest massif and adjoining territory.