Changes In Agricultural Areas Research Articles

A multi-dimensional study on finger millet crop scenario in North Coastal Zone of Andhra Pradesh

Ragi is a staple millet crop due to its suitability for marginal soils and low input requirements. The study used simple random sampling with 150 farmers from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts. Ten farmers were selected from each of the 15 identified villages. The study observed significant changes in agricultural area: Srikakulam experienced an 87.8% increase, Vizianagaram witnessed a 69.49% decrease, and Visakhapatnam had a 1.26% increase. In terms of production, Srikakulam showed a remarkable increase of 126.14%, while Vizianagaram had a decrease of 65.49%. Visakhapatnam experienced a minor decrease of 1.84% in production. Productivity varied, with Srikakulam demonstrating a 20.33% increase, Vizianagaram experiencing a decrease of 13.51%, and Visakhapatnam showing no change. The varietal spread of the Vizianagaram finger millet variety was distributed as follows: 40% in Andhra Pradesh, 38% in West Bengal, and 25.33% in Telangana. Among the finger millet varieties, Sri Chaitanya was observed in 20.8% of the area, Bharathi in 7.5%, and Champavathi in 6%. Adoption rates of improved ragi varieties were as follows: Vegavathi (33.34%), Bharathi (32.67%), Sri Chaitanya (23.34%), and Indrâvati (10%). Sowing methods varied, with 34.67% of farmers using direct sowing, 18% opting for transplantation, and only 8% applying seed treatment. The preferred sowing seasons were Kharif (50%), summer (35.34%) and Rabi (14.67%). Regarding nursery transplantation, 61.34% of farmers transplanted at 21 days for short-duration varieties. Fertilizer management practices showed that 48.67% of farmers used 4 tonnes of FYM, while 24.67% applied the recommended NPK dose. Inter-cropping patterns included Ragi+ Redgram (54%) and Ragi+ Bhendi (30%). Pest management strategies revealed that 70.67% of farmers used tricyclozole through foliar application for blast management, 56% used pseudomonas foliar application and 54% employed tricyclozole seed treatment. Shoot borer management was practiced by 58.67%, and sucking pest management by 49.34% of ragi farmers. The primary constraints identified were poor economic conditions (85%), low remunerative prices for millets (80%), high fertilizer costs (75%), and unfertile soils (74%). These findings provide insights into the agricultural practices, outcomes, and challenges faced in different districts or regions.

What evidence exists on the use of pollinator tools in agricultural landscapes: A systematic map protocol

Abstract The widespread decline of insect pollinators poses a conservation concern and threatens both the pollination of wild plants and crops. Primary drivers of pollinator decline are habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, which to a large extent result from agricultural intensification. Numerous tools have been developed to aid decision‐making relating to insect pollinators and pollination in agricultural landscapes. These tools provide valuable information for understanding the drivers of insect population changes in agricultural areas and projecting future population trends in response to various actions. However, there is currently no comprehensive list of available tools, and their usability (ease of use and acceptability for conducting tasks) for decision‐making purposes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand what tools have been designed, their commonalities and their suitability for different decision context, to ensure the effectiveness of pollinator‐friendly management and conservation actions. In this study, we present a systematic map methodology that will collate and catalogue relevant tools relating to insect pollinators and/or pollination in agricultural landscapes. We will conduct searches in bibliographic databases such as ‘Web of Science Core Collection’ and ‘Scopus’ using a tested search string. Additionally, we will manually search grey literature using web‐based engines (Google Scholar and ProQuest) and websites. After removing duplicates, the search results will be screened sequentially based on predetermined eligibility criteria, including title, abstract, and full text. The extracted data will provide metadata for mapping the usability of the tools, utilising descriptive tables, statistics and figures. Usability will be assessed across three categories: the tool itself, the user and the user‐context. The results from this mapping exercise can support researchers in synthesising progress in terms of pollinator‐related tools, and direct research and development efforts to bridge the identified gaps and shortcomings. It will also have significant implications for managers, stakeholders and policymakers, by providing guidance on existing tools and supporting informed tool choices.

A guideline for spatio‐temporal consistency in water quality modelling in rural areas

A guideline for spatio‐temporal consistency in water quality modelling in rural areas

Organic farming positively affects the vitality of passerine birds in agricultural landscapes

Conventional farming has been implicated in global biodiversity loss, with many farmland birds in decline. Organic farming is often considered a more ecological alternative since it generally hosts greater faunal diversity. To date, the impact of conventional agriculture on the decline in avian species has mainly been assessed through the lens of biodiversity loss; few studies have examined the effects of conventional farming on individual life-history trait components. Behaviour represents the final integrated outcome of a range of biochemical and physiological pathways and can be considered a proxy of health as it is more sensitive than other life-history traits, potentially allowing environmental changes to be better tracked. The goal of this study was to understand how exposure to conventional versus organic farming affects the behaviour of passerine birds in real conditions. By sampling 6 species of passerine birds in 10 hedgerows in organic landscapes and 10 hedgerows in conventional landscapes during the breeding period, we found evidence that organic farming sharply increased the vitality of individuals, irrespective of species. This was measured through behaviour such as flee attempts, aggressivity, pecking and distress calls when captured, all of which were higher in birds caught in organic hedges than those caught in conventional landscapes. We posit that passerines living in organically farmed landscapes benefit from reduced pesticide exposure rather than a greater abundance of food, as body condition was identical in the two contexts. These findings suggest that the behaviour of passerines can be a useful indicator of the state of the environment and can thus serve as an early warning of specific environmental change in agricultural areas. Further studies assessing the life-history traits of farmland birds may be a valuable aid to understanding the impact of conventional agriculture on biodiversity.

Application of remote sensing and geographic information systems in irrigation water management under water scarcity conditions in Fayoum, Egypt

Egypt suffers from severe water scarcity, which affects the sustainability of agricultural production. Therefore, the sustainable use of available water resources under water scarcity requires the adoption of water allocation policies favoring conservative and efficient use. Water management with free satellite data and geographical information system modeling capabilities can be a valuable approach for optimizing the benefits from the available water resources to meet the requirements for agricultural lands. This study aims to (i) detect and evaluate changes in agricultural areas because of urbanization and reclamation activities using Landsat data in 1999, 2009, and 2019 and (ii) update the irrigation water demand by monitoring the seasonal changes of agricultural area based on normalized difference vegetation index. Water management of Fayoum Governorate in Egypt is characterized by a non-uniform distribution flow over its canals; thus, two pilot areas are selected. The first site is the Sinnuris canal, the served areas of which represents the urbanization problem. The other site is the Gharaq canal, the served areas of which represents the urbanization and agricultural expansion situations. The results reveal that changes in agricultural areas considerably affect the uniformity of water management. Urbanization activities reduce the agricultural area by ∼5.0% and 5.7% in Sinnuris and Gharaq served areas, respectively. However, the newly cultivated lands in Gharaq preserve an increase of 5.8% in the total agricultural area. The considerably changed water allocation strategies in these districts since Sinnuris has an excess of 1.5 m3/s of water supply, while the Gharaq area faced an irrigation shortage of 0.26 m3/s in 2019. As per the proposed approach, the decision-makers can readjust the water allocation plan to satisfy the water requirements for other demand areas.

Land use change in the Ecuadorian páramo: The impact of expanding agriculture on soil carbon storage

ABSTRACT The Andean páramo is notable for high soil carbon storage and its contribution to ecosystem services. However, the páramo’s ability to maintain high soil carbon levels is threatened by land use change from tussock grassland and shrublands to agricultural uses. A chronosequence study was conducted in the páramo around Quito, Ecuador, to determine the rate of soil carbon loss from traditional fallow agriculture. In parallel, a land use and land cover classification of Landsat images was used to measure the change in agricultural areas between 1991 and 2017. There was a significant negative relationship between the time since initial cultivation of a field and soil C: Older agricultural sites had significantly less C compared to natural ecosystems due to an average loss of 0.045 percent soil C per year. Undisturbed sites had significantly more soil C than cultivated sites but not pastures or fallow fields, indicating that cultivation is the most detrimental stage of the fallow agricultural cycle for soil C storage. There was an 838 percent increase in cultivated land between 1991 and 2017 but a 10 percent decrease in pastures, indicating a trend away from traditional regenerative agriculture toward land use types that lead to substantial losses in soil carbon.

Evaluation of Seasonal Groundwater Quality Changes Associated with Groundwater Pumping and Level Fluctuations in an Agricultural Area, Korea

This study was conducted to evaluate seasonal groundwater quality due to groundwater pumping and hydrochemical characteristics with groundwater level fluctuations in an agricultural area in Korea. Groundwater levels were observed for about one year using automatic monitoring sensors, and groundwater uses were estimated based on the monitoring data. Groundwater use in the area is closely related to irrigation for rice farming, and rising groundwater levels occur during the pumping, which may be caused by the irrigation water of rice paddies. Hydrochemical analysis results for two separate times (17 July and 1 October 2019) show that the dissolved components in groundwater decreased overall due to dilution, especially at wells in the alluvial aquifer and shallow depth. More than 50% of the samples were classified as CaHCO3 water type, and changes in water type occurred depending on the well location. Water quality changes were small at most wells, but changes at some wells were evident. In addition, the groundwater quality was confirmed to have the effect of saltwater supplied during the 2018 drought by comparison with seawater. According to principal component analysis (PCA), the water quality from July to October was confirmed to have changed due to dilution, and the effect was strong at shallow wells. In the study areas where rice paddy farming is active in summer, irrigation water may be one of the important factors changing the groundwater quality. These results provide a qualitative and quantitative basis for groundwater quality change in agricultural areas, particularly rice paddies areas, along with groundwater level and usage.

Agricultural Soil Phosphorus in Hungary: High Resolution Mapping and Assessment of Socioeconomic and Pedological Factors of Spatiotemporal Variability

Over-fertilization before 1989 resulted in high phosphorus levels in agricultural soils of Hungary, but the accumulated reserves seem to have been depleted in recent decades due to under-fertilization. The aims of this study were to map the spatial pattern of phosphorus level and its change in the last few decades in Hungary to document the effect of fertilization and underlying socio-economic conditions on P concentrations, to identify the role of soil properties in changing soil soluble P and to quantify the total amount of soluble phosphorus level change in agricultural areas in the last few decades in the country. Two soil datasets were analyzed (National Pedological and Crop Production Database of Hungary and the Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey, LUCAS, topsoil dataset), representing the status of soil nutrient contents in 1989 and in 2009. The measured phosphorus concentrations were compared to the reported phosphorus fertilization inputs. We also evaluated the effect of some important soil properties on soluble phosphorus content and on its change. We produced three maps by using kriging methods: soluble phosphorus levels in 1989, in 2009 and the change between 1989 and 2009. The results confirmed that phosphorus levels in agricultural areas depend mainly on agricultural use, while soil physical characteristics play a smaller role. Nevertheless, we demonstrated that the decrease in soil phosphorus levels was significantly influenced by soil chemistry (pH and CaCO3 content). The mean soluble phosphorus level was 108 mg/kg in 1989 and 28 mg/kg in 2009, and the median values were 100 and 22. The total loss (caused by harvesting, fixation and erosion) is ~1.5 million tons of soluble phosphorus, which is twice as much as the reported phosphorus balances indicated. In conclusion, our results show that approximately 50% of agricultural areas in Hungary are characterized by a very low supply of phosphorus (according to the latest data), posing a risk of nutrient depletion in these areas.

Monitoring Drought and its impact on Agriculture using Drought Indices and Geo-informatics Technology in Patan District, Gujarat

Remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) has played a major role in the study of different types of drought i.e. agricultural or hydrological drought. The present study on agricultural Drought assessment was carried out in the Patan District of North Gujarat, India. This study focuses on the assessment of climate change and its impact on Agriculture using Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS technology. The Landsat-7 TM and Landsat-8 OLI data of February-2002 and February-2018 covering Patan District was analysed for Land use/Land Cover mapping and monitoring changes in agricultural area over the period of 16-years. The Spectral vegetation index namely Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was computed using Landsat-7 TM and Landsat-8 OLI digital data for assessment of changes in agricultural vegetation during the drought and normal monsoon periods. Meteorological data like Minimum & maximum Temperatures and rainfall was collected from State Data Centre. Various Drought indices like Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Potential Evapo-Transpiration (PET) and Aridity Index (AI) were computed using meteorological data of past 16-years. The results indicate that total agricultural vegetation during drought season was only 21.9 per cent (2002) which has increased to 58.7 per cent during the normal monsoon season of 2018. The rainfall deviations were computed for various years and it was observed that high negative rainfall deviations (-40 to -70%) having low rainfall occurrence were associated with negative SPI values ranging from -0.5 to -1.1 in Patan district. These positive rainfall deviations were associated with positive SPI values of 1.08, 0.57 and 0.62 of respective years indicating moderately wet and mildly wet conditions. During drought year of 2002 total precipitation was very less resulting in Aridity Index of 0.09 which is classified as hyper arid for the Patan District.

Historical maps and landscape analysis

Abstract. Landscape is a result of natural assets and human work for a long period of time. During that time natural assets are changed by human activities. The most of our surrounding are cultural landscapes as a result of human presence. The main way to study the landscapes is spatial analysis within landscape analysis. Description and investigation of nowadays status of landscapes is not difficult. Understanding the way of landscape development is very difficult because of the lack of data, especially spatial data.Usage of historical maps is the appropriate method of understanding landscape development through past times. For that procedure historical maps should be georeferenced. In this work the examples of georeferencing historical maps from First and Second Military Mapping Survey of Austrian Empire are presented. The usage of georeferenced historical maps was used for the preparation of land use maps for different periods and land use changes analyses. Those changes were used in landscape analyses for the investigation of development of built up areas and hydrological features in the city of Zagreb as well as investigation of authenticity of the areas of the Park of Nature Lonjsko Polje.The aim of the project was to prove that the landscape in the area of Lonjsko polje has not changed significantly over the last 250 years. For the area of Lonjsko polje Nature Park, an analysis of landscape authenticity was carried out. As there were no methods for evaluating landscape authenticity, we decided to analyze the changes in land use by size and spatial distribution for the last 250 years. For this purpose, we used Austro-Hungarian military maps from 1765. The maps, covering the Nature Park were scanned and georeferenced. Digitalisation of 6 main land use classes (settlements, arable land, forests, seminatural areas, mostly grasslands, marshes and waters) was performed and the land use map in a scale 1 : 25.000 was produced.The land use map for 2005, with accuracy of the map in a scale 1 : 25.000, was made using CORINE methodology. Orthorectified satellite images (Aster) were vectorised on screen into the same 6 land use classes as the old map. To evaluate the changes between these two maps the union operation was made, and land use flow analysis was performed. The largest surface of the changes occurred in 9 types of changes, with the largest changes being made to the category of grass vegetation that is changed into forests, agricultural land or the swamp. The second largest change was experienced in forests that were changed into agricultural land, grass vegetation or water. The third category that has undergone major changes is the category of swamps that were changed into forests, grass vegetation or agricultural land. Other types of changes took part in the total area with less than 1% and are not significant any more than the difference in the changes that may have arisen due to cartographic inaccuracies created by georeferencing of the old map.The land use structure as a landscape element was analyzed on the macro level within squares of 10 km × 10 km and at a micro level within squares of 2 km × 2 km. Changes in the structure of the land use practice exists but are not significant either on macro level or at the micro level. Thus, changes on macro level are the result of human activities (changes in agricultural areas) and at the micro level changes are more a result of natural processes (succession / regression of vegetation).Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that changes in land use patterns over the last 250 years exist and are the result of human activities to a small extent or natural processes for the most part. When considering the significance of the changes, it should always have in mind that historical military maps could not be fully integrated into the valid cartographic system. Cartographic inaccuracies created by georeferencing the old map generate changes of small size that should not be considered.

Effect of watershed land use on water quality: a case study in Córrego da Olaria Basin, São Paulo State, Brazil.

The water quality is related to the hydrologic and limnologic properties of ground and surface water, and significant efforts have been made to monitor water sources to understand the effects of land use changes in agricultural areas, with significant socioeconomic activities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the qualitative aspects of surface water in subbasins related to land use. Samples were analyzed in terms of physical and chemical parameters on monthly discrete water quality sampling in four representative sites at first order subbasin streams, located at the Polo Regional Centro Norte, Pindorama County, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The land use classification was made by visual detection technique in a multispectral satellite data obtained from LandSat8- spectral bands of the OLI sensor. The watershed was classified into major land cover/use classes and overlay maps generated in ArcGIS 10 indicated a significant shift from natural vegetation to agriculture activities. Water quality monitoring was according to the brazilian protocol and the results were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The values obtained differ significantly at each sampling point - subbasins, reflecting the effects of land use on water quality. Soil conservation management is important to optimize soil use in order to contribute to the control of water pollution and the formulation of a public policy is necessary for the conservation of water and soil resources.

Trade-off relationship between modern agriculture and biodiversity: Heavy consolidation work has a long-term negative impact on plant species diversity

Human-driven land-use changes often cause a decline in biodiversity. Although traditional agricultural practices maintained biodiversity at high levels, recent land-use changes may have negative consequences on species composition. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that land consolidation, which is a major recent land-use change in agricultural areas, decreases plant species diversity over the long term (the so-called negative legacy). To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationships between consolidated areas and the occurrence of threatened plant species across Japan and at the prefecture scale. Twenty-three threatened plant species were selected, all of which were formerly common. Our results show that areas containing records of threatened plant species rarely experienced consolidation at whole-country and prefectural scales. Breakdown analysis showed that unconsolidated agricultural areas contained significantly more threatened species than consolidated agricultural areas. These results suggest that threatened plant species require unconsolidated agricultural areas (i.e., these species could not grow in consolidated areas). Thus, we propose that consolidation history could be used as an indicator of the potential for biodiversity recovery. We also suggest that consolidated agricultural areas should be used for food production rather than for the restoration of biodiversity, for reasons of cost efficiency.

Impact of Watersheds in Bringing Change in the Farming System in Bastpur of Morena District of Madhya Pradesh.

The study was carried out in Bastpur micro watershed in Morena block of the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh during 2010-11.To assess the impact of watershed development programme in farming system. It could be found that the overall watershed development practices in the study area have positive and effective changes in agricultural area of bajra, and arhar , cropping productivity of gram and arhar, land use, use of land resources, water resources, and livestock due to increase in availability of water and use to improved agricultural inputs like improved seeds, recommended doges of fertilizers, required irrigation, plant protection measures,etc in the study area. It was also found positive change in agricultural land, irrigated area, area under horticultural and vegetables crops. Similarly cattle population was also increased due to sufficient availability of water and fodder in watershed area.

How do urban dwellers react to potential landscape changes in recreation areas? A case study with particular focus on the introduction of dendromass in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region

Recently, many German regions have seen dramatic landscape changes in agricultural areas due to increasing cultivation of bioenergy crops. Especially in regions that are economically dependent on income from recreational use, this development faces opposition by tourist stakeholders, local inhabitants and recreationists. In the future tall bioenergy plants like maize could be replaced by even taller short rotation coppice plantations of willow and poplar. This development raises the question of how people perceive landscape changes and if perceptions are influenced by the landscape where they take place. We surveyed urban residents in the city of Hamburg (n= 400) to see how they perceive potential landscape changes in four recreation areas with different landscape structures in the vicinity of Hamburg (Lüneburg Heath, Harburg Hills, Elbe Marshes and Altes Land). The survey showed that people rated changes significantly different, depending on the specific landscape type of the recreation areas. The survey did not show a clear general preference for reducing or increasing forests. However, the landscape character of each recreation area had a strong influence on the acceptance of landscape changes by planting forests, hedges, and shrubs. People showed a significantly higher negative reaction towards more forests in open landscapes characterized by heath and meadows than in landscapes with a higher share of forests and fields. Interestingly, the introduction of hedges and shrubs was evaluated differently from the introduction of forests depending on the type of open landscape. People preferred the introduction of hedges and shrubs in the landscape rich in meadows and pastures while they rejected the introduction of hedges and shrubs in a historic cultural landscape rich in heathland. In view of these results we recommend that the landscape character and the cultivation system are considered in the assessment and determination of potential short rotation coppice production sites. This may considerably increase the acceptability of dendromass cultivation for energy purposes.

Exploratory Landscape Metrics for Agricultural Sustainability

Socioeconomic growth and urban change have been an increasing concern for decision makers in recent decades. The monitoring, mapping, and analysis of agricultural land use change, especially in areas where urban change has been high, is crucial. The collision between traditional economic activities related to agriculture in tourist areas such as the Algarve and current demand for tourism infrastructures in urban regions is also leading to loss of economic activity. This article uses a combined geographical information system approach with CORINE land cover datasets to perform a Shannon's diversity index quantifying changes in agricultural areas. The article then expands on the nature of the agricultural changes observed, and offers a multi-temporal assessment by means of landscape metrics in order to understand the shifting land use patterns for the Algarve in land use planning and regional economic equilibrium: a) forest regions become transformed into agricultural areas and agricultural areas become urban; b) areas that are initially agricultural become scattered residential regions created by economic investors; and c) agricultural land use changes have a cyclical nature in which—in the course of the economic recession—such dynamic effects brought about a decrease in tourism and focus on traditional sectors.

An Exploratory Landscape Metrics Approach to Agricultural Changes: Applications of Spatial Economic Consequences for the Algarve, Portugal

Socio-economic growth and urban change have been an increasing concern for decision makers in recent decades. Led by the creation of new infrastructures to support economic activity, peri-urban areas have mostly become adversely affected and the consequences for the ecological but also the rural landscape have become a lasting concern. The monitoring and mapping of land-use change, especially in areas where urban change has been high, is crucial. The collision between traditional economic activities related to agriculture in tourist areas such as the Algarve and current demand for tourism infrastructures in urban regions is also leading to loss of economic activity. This paper uses a combined Geographical Information System approach with remote- sensing imagery and land cover databases to perform a Markov analysis for the purpose of quantifying changes in agricultural areas. The paper then expands on the nature of the agricultural changes observed, and offers a mu lti-temporal assessment by means of landscape metrics in order to understand the shifting land-use patterns for the Algarve in land use planning and regional economic equilibrium: (1) forest regions become transformed into agricultural areas and agricultural areas become urban; (2) areas which are initially agricultural become scattered residential regions created by economic investors; and (3) changes in the land-use have a cyclical nature in which in the course of the economic recession we may witness a shift in this effect brought about a decrease in tourism and focus on traditional sectors.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes of West Tahta Region, Sohag Governorate, Upper Egypt

Due to the growing of population in Egypt during the last few decades, great changes in agricultural area, and urbanization of Egypt art occurred. In this study we utilized the available record of multitemporal Land sat Thematic Mapper (Tm) and Egyptsat image to produce land cover/land use map of the area between 1987 and 2009. Also we used the post-classification change detection analysis to detect the change in the agriculture, urban areas and the change in the River Nile during the period between 1987 and 2009. The post-classification change detection analysis shows that agriculture development increased by 1785.96 Hectare through the study period with average annual rate of land reclamation 81.18 Hectare/year. While the urban area increased by 2231.24 Hectare with average annual rate 101.42 Hectare/ year the increase of the urbanization and the growth occurring through encroachment into the farmer old cultivated lands. The change in the River Nile is not so much is reached to 138.32 hectare in the study period with average annual rate 6.29 Hectare/year. The result of this study show that, the accuracy are quantify with the land cover changes and also delineate their spatial patterns, which display the efficiency of land sat in evaluating landscape dynamics over a particular time span. This data are very useful for natural resources management.

Multi-scale assessment and spatial modelling of agricultural land abandonment in a European peripheral region: Galicia (Spain), 1956–2004

The environmental, cultural and economic consequences of land use change, including abandonment of agricultural use, have been recognized for a long time. It has often been assumed that the transformations of the agricultural systems in developed countries (and particularly in Europe) took place, for the main part, in the immediate years after the Second World War. In this paper we present a review of different statistical and cartographic sources available for a peripheral region in Europe (Galicia, Spain) characterized by small-scale farming and a very fragmented property system, that suggests otherwise: modernization of agriculture apparently took place without major changes in agricultural area until the country gained access to the European Economic Community, and the effect of Common Agricultural Policy reforms during the decade of 1990 is suggested as a major driver for the net decrease of agricultural area in the region between 1956 and 2004. On the other hand, this paper emphasizes the spatial complexity of agricultural abandonment with a case study, showing a large degree of variability at municipal scale and thus the need of future EU-level projects to work at least at municipal (Local Administrative Units 2, LAU 2) level. Finally, a multinomial logistic model for observed changes is included that shows how biophysical limitations were the main drivers behind abandonment of agriculture at parcel scale, while structural qualities related to property structure were strongly associated to the incorporation of former shrublands to agricultural use. Besides, Farm Structure Surveys were revealed as an unreliable source for the assessment of changes in total agricultural area in the studied region.

The land use changes in agricultural areas between 1980 and 2005 with particular emphasis on permanent grasslands - an example of the upper Raba River basin

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the agricultural land use with particular focus on pastures and meadows in relation to transformation in agriculture in selected communes located in mountain areas of the Raba River catchment. Changes in husbandry were described with production parameters such as animal stock (expressed in LU) and NPK load originating from all agricultural sources. The area of agricultural lands, particularly arable lands, decreased in the years 1980–2005 but meadow areas increased. A close relationship was shown between the reduction of agricultural production, expressed in animal stock, and changes in NPK loads. The conclusions from the paper will help shaping the functional space in mountain areas and sustainable development there.

EVALUATION OF INNOVATIVE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROJECTS USING NOVEL INVESTMENT TOOLS / INOVACINIŲ ŽEMĖS ŪKIO PLĖTROS PROJEKTŲ VERTINIMAS NAUJOMIS INVESTICINĖMIS PRIEMONĖMIS

This article extends the employment of novel investment evaluation tools into agricultural extension issues. In particular the concept of real options methodology has modulated, into an innovative agricultural project called “wema”, to model design flexibility in the realistically uncertain environment of information and communication technologies (ICT). Taking into account the great importance of ICTs, as the principal driver of change in agricultural areas, as well as the drastic increase in ICTs adoption over the last decade, a study evaluating the adoption parameters of ICTs can prove significantly valuable. Besides, any issue related to ICTs is extremely interesting and it belongs to the modern subject‐matters of the agricultural economics science. Empirical results revealed that, according to the traditional criterion (Net Present Value), the implementation plan of the “wema” project is feasible. However, assuming the presence of uncertainty, application of a real options approach demonstrates that the Net Present Value may lead stakeholders to faulty decisions, as the innovative plan is rejected. The results indicate that the options have a significant value and highlight the fact that ignoring options value process can lead to a significant error. This obviously indicates the importance of combining the Net Present Value criterion in agricultural extension investments with the real options approach. Santrauka Straipsnyje aprašomos naujos investavimo į žemes ūkio plėtrą vertinimo priemonės. Sukurta realių alternatyvų metodologija, kuri pritaikyta inovatyviame “Wema” žemes ūkio projekte. Empiriniai rezultatai atskleidė, kad pagal tradicinį kriterijų – grynąją dabartine verte – “Wema” projektą įgyvendinti įmanoma. Tačiau projekto dalyviai, šiuo metodu vertindami neapibrežtumus, gali priimti klaidingą sprendimą ir projektą atmesti. Tai akivaizdžiai rodo, kad vertinant žemes ūkio pletros projektus, grynosios dabartines vertės kriterijų reikia derinti su realių alternatyvų metodologija.