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•Edemic isolated population of stone crayfish from Slovenia is latently infected with Aphanomyces astaci of As genotype.•This As isolate from these Slovenian stone crayfish kills ...Finnish noble crayfish efficiently.•The study shows variable resistance of native European crayfish to A. astaci.•The study highlights necessity to investigate health status of also native European crayfish before stockings.
Aphanomyces astaci infection is the cause of crayfish plague in European crayfish. Here the virulence of an A. astaci As strain isolated from apparently healthy stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) from Slovenia was compared to that of the Psl-Puujärvi A. astaci isolate in 3 crayfish species: noble crayfish (Astacus astacus), signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from Finland and stone crayfish from Slovenia. All 3 crayfish species were challenged with PsI-Puujärvi A. astaci and succumbed to crayfish plague, with both noble crayfish and stone crayfish showing 100% mortality, while 25% of the signal crayfish died during the challenge. In comparison, the As-Slovenia A. astaci isolate was pathogenic for noble crayfish but not for signal crayfish or stone crayfish. This finding suggests that A. astaci virulence could be species specific and a strain from latent A. astaci infection in one native European crayfish species could be detrimental to other native European crayfish species.
Agriculture is a complex system in which the economic principles of production are directly intertwined with its biological and ecological characteristics. The paper investigates synergetic ...potentials of multiple-criteria and multiple-perspective evaluation of agricultural activity through a study of the dairy sector in Slovenia. Socio-economic and emergy evaluation was performed on nine farm types, formulated to represent the diversity of the country's dairy sector. The results indicate larger discrepancies in the performance of the farm types when defined by socio-economic or emergy based indicators. Standard socio-economic evaluation favours larger conventional systems that are cost efficient and financially independent. Emergy analysis however, favours less productive organic farms, which show greater ability to exploit free local resources and produce less stress on the local environment. Socio-economic and emergy indicators show that small conventional farm types are the poorest performers overall. Analysis of emergy flows reveals for all farm types a high dependency on the wider socio-economic system, suggesting that within the current economic system agriculture itself has little ability to affect its sustainability. The paper suggests a complementarity in the evaluation approaches. Their joint application can improve the quality of the decision-making process in various stages of planning in agriculture and land use.
•Socio-economic and emergy performance was assessed for nine dairy farm types.•Larger and intensive farm types perform favourably in socio-economic terms.•Smaller and organic farm types show better biophysical performance.•Integrated approach provides valuable inputs for agricultural and land use planning.•Improvement potentials are limited within the current economic system.
The paper illustrates synergies between the socio-economic and emergy evaluation of
agricultural activity by studying the dairy sector in Slovenia. Evaluation was performed on
nine farm types, ...representing the diversity of the country's dairy sector. Results indicate that
socio-economic evaluation favours larger conventional systems. Emergy analysis however,
favours organic farms, which better exploit local resources and put less stress to the local
environment. Socio-economic and emergy indicators show that small conventional farms are
the poorest performers overall. Analysis of emergy flows reveals a high dependency of all
farm types from the wider socio-economic system, suggesting a limited scope to improve
their sustainability.
The paper is investigating the recent evolution of farm productivity in five EU New Member States (NMS): Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia. More precisely, the paper deals with ...determinants influencing farm productivity in a changing market and policy environment brought by their full integration to the CAP. With a combination of multivariate statistics and econometric techniques, it attempts to identify and explain the patterns of agricultural labour productivity change in the period 2003-2005. Results suggest that adjustment patterns are diverging and are region-specific, depending mainly on the initial farm structural conditions, and availability of non-farm jobs. Policy implications of the paper suggest that agricultural policy should move away from the concept of transfers to agriculture to more pro-active role in creating conditions for job creation in rural areas.
The paper is investigating the recent evolution of farm productivity in five EU New Member States (NMS): Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia. More precisely, the paper deals with ...determinants influencing farm productivity in a changing market and policy environment brought by their full integration to the CAP. With a combination of multivariate statistics and econometric techniques, it attempts to identify and explain the patterns of agricultural labour productivity change in the period 2003-2005. Results suggest that adjustment patterns are diverging and are region-specific, depending mainly on the initial farm structural conditions, and availability of non-farm jobs. Policy implications of the paper suggest that agricultural policy should move away from the concept of transfers to agriculture to more pro-active role in creating conditions for job creation in rural areas.
The paper illustrates synergies between the socio-economic and emergy evaluation of agricultural activity by studying the dairy sector in Slovenia. Evaluation was performed on nine farm types, ...representing the diversity of the country's dairy sector. Results indicate that socio-economic evaluation favours larger conventional systems. Emergy analysis however, favours organic farms, which better exploit local resources and put less stress to the local environment. Socio-economic and emergy indicators show that small conventional farms are the poorest performers overall. Analysis of emergy flows reveals a high dependency of all farm types from the wider socio-economic system, suggesting a limited scope to improve their sustainability.
The paper is investigating the recent evolution of farm productivity in five EU New Member States (NMS): Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia. More precisely, the paper deals with ...determinants influencing farm productivity in a changing market and policy environment brought by their full integration to the CAP. With a combination of multivariate statistics and econometric techniques, it attempts to identify and explain the patterns of agricultural labour productivity change in the period 2003-2005. Results suggest that adjustment patterns are diverging and are region-specific, depending mainly on the initial farm structural conditions, and availability of non-farm jobs. Policy implications of the paper suggest that agricultural policy should move away from the concept of transfers to agriculture to more pro-active role in creating conditions for job creation in rural areas.
The paper is investigating the recent evolution of farm productivity in five EU New Member States (NMS): Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovenia. More precisely, the paper deals with ...determinants influencing farm productivity in a changing market and policy environment brought by their full integration to the CAP. With a combination of multivariate statistics and econometric techniques, it attempts to identify and explain the patterns of agricultural labour productivity change in the period 2003-2005. Results suggest that adjustment patterns are diverging and are region-specific, depending mainly on the initial farm structural conditions, and availability of non-farm jobs. Policy implications of the paper suggest that agricultural policy should move away from the concept of transfers to agriculture to more pro-active role in creating conditions for job creation in rural areas.
