Zala County Research Articles

Virological survey of walk-in plastic tunnel grown pepper seedlings and forced pepper varieties in Western Hungary in 2023-2024

Peppers can be infected by approximately 50 plant viruses of which the most common species causing significant economic losses in Hungary are Potato virus Y (PVY) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in outdoor cultivation and Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and tobamoviruses in indoor cultivation. In addition to vectors’ activity, the infected propagating material also plays a very important role in the spread of pepper infecting viruses. Thus, besides the use of virus-free propagating material and effective protection against vectors, the cultivation of virus-resistant varieties and application of hygiene regulations are essential in the control of pepper viruses. Even with the most precise cultivation techniques, virus infections can occur during indoor cultivation, not only in plantations which are already producing but also in seedling nurseries, therefore monitoring these is crucial to achieve virus-free fruiting pepper stand. In 2023–2024, virological survey of pepper seedlings and fruiting plants collected from two horticultural farms in Zala county and grown in walk-in plastic tunnel was performed using RT-PCR technique to test leaf and fruit samples. During the analysis only the presence of TSWV was identified in 13 samples, while infection of CMV, PVY and tobamoviruses was not detected. It is interesting to highlight that TSWV was detected, despite the black necrosis that developed, in the fruits of the TSWV resistance gene carrying pepper cultivars Antal F1 and Zalkod F1.These results indicate that the use of TSWV resistant pepper varieties or hybrids does not provide complete protection against TSWV damage as symptoms may also appear on resistant individuals not only on susceptible ones due to the vectors’ activity. Therefore, monitoring the vectors that can transmit TSWV and timely control them are essential for indoor pepper cultivation. Without these even TSWV resistant plants will not be able to produce marketable crop.

Phytophthora pseudocryptogea Is Associated with Root and Crown Rot of Nursery-Grown Common Sage in Hungary.

In October 2009, necrotic bark lesions at the root collar and lower stem associated with root rot, reduced growth, and wilting were observed on container-grown 2-year-old common sage (Salvia officinalis L. 'Icterina') in two ornamental nurseries in Somogy and Zala counties in Hungary. The disease occurred at a frequency of 15-20% (100 to 150 symptomatic plants in each nursery). A P. cryptogea-like species was isolated consistently from necrotic root collars of many plants on carrot (CA) PARPB agar. Six isolates from the nursery in Zala county and three isolates from the nursery in Somogy county were deposited in the culture collection of Plant Protection Institute (Budapest, Hungary). All developed slightly petaloid colonies on CA agar. Chlamydospores and gametangia were not present in single and dual culture combinations of isolates. Radial colony growth was the fastest at 25°C (6.8 to 7.4 mm/day) and no growth occurred above 34°C. On mycelial discs floating in nonsterile stream water, persistent, nonpapillate, mostly ovoid to obpyriform sporangia (37.4±3.5 to 47.8±4.6 μm long and 22.3±2.6 to 29.2±3.7 μm wide) and hyphal swellings were produced abundantly. Pathogenicity of one selected isolate from each nursery was tested on 3-month-old seedlings of S. officinalis 'Icterina' in 2010. Isolates were grown for 4 weeks at 20°C on autoclaved millet grains moistened with CA broth. Infested and uninfested grains were mixed with autoclaved soil (30 cm3 grain/liter), and the mixes were used as potting media for transplanting five treated and five control plants per isolate, respectively. Plants were kept in a growth room (20-25°C, 16/8 h dark/light). Pots were flooded for 24 hours on the 1st day and every 2 weeks. All and only treated plants showed symptoms of wilt associated with basal stem and root necrosis within three weeks. The trial was repeated with the same result. The pathogen could be reisolated only from the treated plants. Identity of isolates from nurseries and inoculated plants was confirmed recently by amplification and sequence analysis of the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and gene regions of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (coxI) and β-tubulin (tub) according to Jung et al. (2017). BLASTn searches showed 100% identity and only 97.3-99.0% similarity to the corresponding sequences of authenthic P. pseudocryptogea and P. cryptogea strains, respectively (e.g., GenBank accession nos. KP288336-KP288342, KP288370-KP288372, KP288386-KP288392, MN872725, MN872776). Sequences of the 9 field isolates were deposited in GenBank under accession nos. OR771701-OR771709 (ITS), OR787508-OR787516 (coxI) and OR787517-OR787525 (tub). P. pseudocryptogea was delineated from P. cryptogea sensu lato (Safaiefarahani et al. 2015), which has been reported from S. officinalis in the United States (Koike 1997), and S. leucantha (Cacciola et al. 2002) and S. officinalis (Garibaldi et al. 2015) in Italy. The known natural hosts of P. pseudocryptogea includes plant species in families other than Lamiaceae (cf. Aloi et al. 2023), but it was pathogenic on the lamiaceous Plectranthus scutellarioides in artificial inoculations (Christova 2020). The pathogen is present in European nurseries (Antonelli et al. 2023). This is the first report of P. pseudocryptogea on S. officinalis in Hungary. The causal agent threatens the production of sages and other ornamentals, and its spread in Hungary should be prevented by proper disease management and phytosanitary actions.

A web‐based operational tool for the identification of best practices in European agricultural systems

AbstractUnder the same perspective of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3 aiming to restore degraded land and soil, one of the current priorities of the new Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is to overcome the serious environmental problems raised by intensive agriculture. Despite the steps forward guaranteed by new technologies and innovations (e.g., IoT, precision agriculture), the availability of real operational tools, which could help the member states fulfil the high requirements and expectations of the new CAP and SDGs, is still lacking. To fill this gap, in the H2020 LandSupport project, the web‐based best practice tool was developed to identify, on‐the‐fly, optimized agronomic solutions to help achieve land‐degradation neutrality. The tool's core is the ARMOSA process‐based model, which dynamically simulates the continuum soil–plant–atmosphere, combining several cropping systems, crops, nitrogen fertilization rates, tillage solutions, and crop residue management for specific regions of interest. It provides a synthetic “Best Practice index” to identify the optimized local solutions, which combines the production, nitrate leaching, and SOC_change, according to the end‐user dynamic requests. The tool was implemented for three case studies: Marchfeld Region in Austria, Zala County in Hungary, and Campania Region in Italy, which are representative of a variety of different pedoclimatic conditions. In the present work, we report three possible cases of use in supporting best practices aiming toward soil and water conservation: (i) crop production optimization; (ii) impact of management practices (i.e., cover crops) over soil carbon; (iii) lowering the impact of nitrate leaching.

Modeling Risk in Fusarium Head Blight and Yield Analysis in Five Winter Wheat Production Regions of Hungary

The five-year mean yield of five Hungarian wheat production counties was 5.59 t ha−1 with a 7.02% average coefficient of variation. There was a regional effect on yield when progressing from south to north with a 1–2 °C higher mean winter air temperature, meaning that the Ta in southern counties increased the five-season mean yield by 15.9% (p = 0.002) compared to the yield of northern counties. Logistic regression models developed to assess the FHB risk driven by a few meteorological variables (Ta; RH) provided proper predictive performance. The results in the regression model were validated against the measured infection rates (P%) provided by the NÉBIH 30 days before and after heading. The FHB pressure was comparatively higher in Zala County, probably due to its special topological and growing conditions, irrespective of the season. Across all areas studied, two of the five identified counties (Pest and Somogy) provided the best classification for FHB infection. In the remaining three counties, the seasonal mean prediction accuracy (differences) exceeded 10% in only 6 out of 30 model outputs. The modeled five-season P% values averaged 70.4% and 93.2% of the measured infection rates for models 1 and 2, respectively. The coincidence of wet and warm weather around the time of wheat flowering enhanced the risk of FHB.

Examination of Logistics Simulation Demand Related to Enterprises: Focusing on a Hungarian County

Background: Despite the fact that some results can be found for the logistics simulation in the literature, there is a lack of an experiment based on inner company data. Therefore, the study aimed to determine the potential need for this kind of solution by Zala County enterprises. Methods: As a first step, the paper presents the existing literature with the help of a literature review. Afterwards, questionnaire sampling was conducted among local enterprises. The paper applies several statistical methods (e.g., descriptive statistics, SPSS, exploratory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling) to the sample for the validation of the reorganization demand. Results: The study obtained a total of 147 complete responses from the 1022 invitations. An overwhelming majority of the respondents indicated regular and significant delays in their logistics processes, as well as the need for a new simulation method. Based on the SEM model, it has been observed that IT solutions are being utilized in an inefficient manner, resulting in logistical system issues and operational damages. Conclusion: The paper successfully identified a research gap, the research of which can have not only theoretical but also many practical benefits. Hopefully, the results will generate other academic research in this field.

Analysis of the social and economic role of spas- a time series analysis of the turnover data of Hungarian baths in the light of Covid

In this technical article, we deal with the role of Hungarian baths in tourism and recreation. In the grouping of baths, we analyzed their turnover (number of visitors) and financial indicators (specific sales revenue) based on the nature of their operation (independently or associated with accommodation services, or as part of another institution). We used a time series analysis to examine the development of the water surface of the baths, the data of the baths in Budapest and the Zala county between 2014- 2022, in order to get an idea of the change in turnover data caused by Covid. We analyzed the time series data by breaking down income from accommodation, spas and medical services. We studied the development of the number of guests and sales revenue of the baths using regression calculations. The analysis yielded the interesting result that although the largest income per guest was produced by baths with major accommodation services or wellness hotels, the reason for this is not only the ticket sales, but also the investment support sources of the tender funds. Independently operating baths realize a relatively low level of per capita sales, their operation is still important, as these baths satisfy the recreational needs of the local population, since baths are no longer only part of the annual vacation, but also the scene of well-being and reproduction of work ability, which is also intended to serve the quality of life of the local population.

Logistics IT support solutions in Zala County

Logistics IT support solutions in Zala County

Breeding and conservation status of the Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in Zala County, Hungary. An overview of 39 years of data

Abstract In this study, we analysed the occurrence, nesting, and ringing data spanning 39 years for the Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba) population in Zala County. Data on Barn Owl surveys originate from 166 out of the total of 258 settlements in the county. During the examined period, nesting was recorded in 74 settlements, while an additional 28 locations have confirmed Western Barn Owl presence (pellets, owl sightings). Furthermore, surveys were conducted at least once in an additional 64 locations without any sign of the species. Based on Barn Owl presence and nesting data, preferred locations for the species can be identified at the local and landscape level. Nesting may be occasional in some places, while a few traditional nesting sites, which show nearly continuous occupation over decades, can be considered stable. The results from Zala County are in line with other research, highlighting the continued importance of church buildings for the species’ nesting. Maintaining these buildings is essential for the conservation of a stable population. Given the decreasing number of accessible churches, there is a need for providing alternative nesting sites. In addition to building closures, the future doubling of the length of motorways in the county will pose another significant threat to the regional population.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUMPKINS AND OIL GOURDS IN ROMANIA

In my article, I chose one group of cucurbits, the oil pumpkin. The pumpkin can be considered an old cultivated plant dating back hundreds of years, but the importance of the oil pumpkin can be traced back to the last 10 years. My goal in writing this article is to point out the importance of pumpkin seed oil and to highlight its beneficial effects in addition to emphasizing a healthy lifestyle. In Hungary, pumpkin seed oil is more important in the western part of the country’s border (Vas and Zala counties), while in Romania it is in Cluj County and the surrounding areas, as well as the territorial units of Bucharest. In addition to its characteristic delicious taste, pumpkin seed oil is also considered healthy, as it is considered one of the best immune-boosting substances. Pumpkin seed oil is also beneficial for preserving masculinity, preventing prostate problems, and stomach and digestion problems. After presenting the cultivation conditions of pumpkin seed oil, I present the production possibilities of pumpkin seed oil and the market prospects of pumpkin seed oil from the perspective of Romania.

Bilateral cooperation - Fostering the ability of native European beech and sessile oak forests in the border region against the impacts of climate change

Adequate adaptions and actions to combat anthropogenic climate change (CC) are significant challenges of the 21st century. In Europe, according to the European Environmental Agency, warming of around 2°C is expected under the moderate climate scenario (RCP 4.5) by the end of the century, but the pessimistic RCP 8.5 scenario project an increase of up to 6°C. In addition to the rise in temperature, changes in precipitation and increased frequency of extreme weather events are predicted. New environmental conditions affect tree species and habitats differently; thus, forest biodiversity and local tree species compositions probably will be altered in many regions in the future. The effects may be manifold: some tree species may persist, locally adapt and migrate, while others may disappear from given regions and be replaced by native or non-native species. The native forests of the Austrian-Hungarian border region are particularly affected by the climate change. To mitigate the consequences of anthropogenic climate change to preserve forest biodiversity for future generations and to enable their use, deliberate and planned human interventions and actions are essential. These require transnational or even global efforts since nature and climate do not recognise man-made borders. The REIN-Forest project (Interreg V-A Austria-Hungary Programme - ATHU150), a bilateral project between Austria and Hungary, aimed to establish harmonised protection measures for the conservation of native forests in Northern, Central and Southern Burgenland, Vienna, Vienna Umland-South, Lower Austria South, Graz and Eastern Styria, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Vas and Zala counties (the so-called programme area). In the scope of this project, international cooperation between three project partners: the Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW, Austria), the Forest Research Institute – University of Sopron (SOE ERTI, Hungary) and the Vas County Government Office (VVÖH, Hungary) was established. Previous results and outputs of the SUSTREE project (Interreg Central Europe CE614), such as: a) Transnational delineation model of conservation and forest seed transfer zones in climate change, b) Report of intraspecific response function and derivation of climate transfer limits, SusSelect data, recommendations and c) Application of the species distribution models for the delineation of seed transfer zones/models in Central Europe, were put into practice during the project, focusing on two native deciduous forest tree species of the Austrian-Hungarian border region: European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). During the REIN-Forest project, the following joint documents were prepared and several activities were implemented: 1. Model-based document on the current state and future perspectives of European beech and sessile oak forests; 2. Bilateral strategy for the transfer of forest reproductive material (FRM) and its use in the Austrian-Hungarian border region; 3. Establishment of altogether six demonstration sites (three in each country) with local and climate-adapted FRM of European beech and sessile oak for long-term monitoring; 4. Management and monitoring plan of the demonstration sites; 5. Joint bilingual communication strategy, which included informative programmes and meetings with professionals, locals and schools and also education material for further use. REIN-Forest focused on using scientific results and outputs in the field of applied forestry and awareness-raising. Besides strategies, recommendations and reports that would facilitate forest managers' decisions for the future in the border region, events and workshops were offered for forestry practitioners, school pupils and the public and a short film and educational materials were published.

Re-evaluation of the Late Bronze Age “warrior equipment” from the collection of the Ministry of Defence, Military History Institute and Museum, Hungary

Re-evaluation of the Late Bronze Age “warrior equipment” from the collection of the Ministry of Defence, Military History Institute and Museum, Hungary

„Megbízottam szoborral hétfőn este indul…” Az egervári Straub-szobrok múzeumba kerülésének és másoltatásának története dokumentumok tükrében

The rococo wooden statues of St Sebastian and St Roch were purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts in 1916. Earlier they had adorned the high altar of the church of St Catherine of Alexandria in Egervár (Zala county) flanking the tabernacle. Their first researcher, Mária Aggházy attributed them to the Graz sculptor Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706–Graz 1774). The Egervár church of mediaeval origin belonged after the Ottoman era to the advowson of the Széchényi family who had trade and art relations with Styria, too; they had the church rebuilt and furnished in baroque style in the mid-18th century.As part of the contract of sale, the museum undertook and financed the making of exact copies of the statues to replace the original ones on the high altar, where they still are. It can be reconstructed from the correspondence of 1912–’22 preserved in and Museum of Fine Arts Archives and the Archives of the Diocesan Archives in Szombathely that probably little before 1912 the statues were transferred to the Szombathely episcopacy for conservation. Bishop János Mikes had them restored and maybe also exhibited. Their sale became necessary for the parish to be able to renovate the deteriorating Egervár church. The deal was concluded with an ordinary procedure, but World War I and the inflation it entailed greatly protracted the making of the copies and boosted the costs. Eventually, the replicas were completed in two phases by teachers of the National Royal Hungarian School of Applied Arts, sculptor Sándor Matéka (St Sebastian) and decorator and furniture designer Béla Kajdy (St Roch).

From Hungarian Major to Central American Entrepreneur? The Life of Louis Schlesinger in Exile

Louis Schlesinger was the son of Henrik Schlesinger and Sarolta Neumann (Erzberg), born in Nagykanizsa, Zala county, on 9 March 1825 (“Latin American Studies”). He joined the cause of the Hungarian War of Independence and was among thedefenders of the fortress of Komárom, led by György Klapka. After they surrendered, Schlesinger emigrated overseas, traveling from Liverpool to New York in December 1849. In the US, he met the Venezuelan General, Narciso López (1797-1851), andjoined his expedition, aimed at the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule. The essay discusses the career of Schlesinger as a rubber entrepreneur in El Salvador and as a railroad constructor in Guatemala.

Mogućnosti kratkih lanaca snabdevanja u održivoj logistici u Zalskom okrugu

Climate change has been a known problem for a long time, but nowadays its effects becoming more powerful and palpable in our everyday life. Therefore, one of the most important topics of the social sciences nowadays, the identification of the sustainable solutions. As the problem of the climate change is very complex, we have to examine it from different aspects/territories/industries. Logistics is one of these territories. Today logistics is more and more criticized as the average supply chains contribute in a highlighted way to the environmental pollution. In the past academic discussion, Short Supply Chains appeared as a potential solution but so far only in the field of agricultural sciences yet. One of our research aims is the definition of the basic shortened supply chain framework within a supply chain can be called 'shortened' in Zala County. For this, we will examine the implemented short supply chains on the ground of the literature review. We will seek the answer for the second important aim, which is the potential application of this technique, with qualitative methods among Zala County enterprises.

Examination of professionals' well-being working in health sector in two Zala county hospitals

Introduction: The living and working conditions of healthcare professionals are crucial to the quality and efficiency of patient care, therefore examining this issue is of highlighted importance. Objective: To explore the well-being of employees directly involved in the public health care system, through the characteristics of mental health and the workplace climate. Method: The cross-sectional, quantitative research was performed by using convenience sampling (n = 1048) between December 2019 and March 2020 in two hospitals in Zala county, Hungary. In addition to questions on sociodemographic and job characteristics, the measure tool included validated questionnaires developed to measure mental health as well as questions on workplace climate. Results: On the Diener Life Satisfaction Scale, a significant number of respondents (77.4%) indicated a scale value expressing satisfaction that was significantly higher among physicians (chi(2) = 28.36; df= 10; p = 0.01). Contrary to this, 61.5% of the sample show mild, 24.8% moderate, and 5.7% severe depressive symptoms according to the Beck Depression Scale. The appearance of depression mostly threatens professionals without a degree (chi(2) = 17.01; df= 6; p<0.01). Regarding burnout, the respondents were most affected by emotional exhaustion: 46.2% have moderate burnout and 16.4% have severe burnout, which is higher among male workers (t = 2.01, p = 0.04) and physicians (F = 4.14, p = 0.01). In terms of the institutional climate, respondents perceive partnerships in their work as unequal. In addition, health workers feel the social esteem of their work unfavorable, which fundamentally determines their professional identity and well-being. Conclusion: The results point out that promoting well-being at work is particularly important in jobs where burnout and depression are increased risks for workers exposed to mental strain.

Die Prädialisten (kirchlichen Edlen) des Kapitels Wesprim im 14. Jahrhundert

The nobles of the Church of the chapter of Veszprém in the fourteenth century&#x0D; The purpose of this article is the discussion of the nobles of the Church belonging to the chapter of Veszprém (in Veszprém, Somogy and Zala counties) in the 13th–14th centuries with regard to taxation, litigation and landholding. For most of time, these nobles of the Church initially came from the estates of the Church itself but later they arrived in large numbers from outside the institutional framework of the majority. Legal and economic differences can be detected among the nobles of the Church.

First wild capture of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in Hungary

The first wild caught Hungarian specimen of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) is reported from Zala county, close to the Croatian border. Another specimen is reported from the northwestern lowland region of Albania, constituting the second record from the country. The Hungarian specimen may either came as an escape from maggot farming insect factory, or as a natural immigrant due to climate change. A phoretic mite was found on the antenna of the Hungarian specimen.

The pesticide fate tool for groundwater vulnerability assessment within the geospatial decision support system LandSupport

The protection of groundwater resources from non-point-source pollutants, such as those coming from agricultural practices, is the focus of several European Directives, including the Water Framework Directive and the Pesticide Directive. Besides the environmental goals to be reached by the single EU member state, these directives clearly underline the role of experts in supporting planners and public authorities to fulfil these objectives. This work presents a new web-based, freely-available dynamical tool, named the pesticide fate tool, developed within the geospatial Decision Support system (DSS), LandSupport, for the assessment of groundwater vulnerability, specific for type of pollutant. The tool is based on the extended transfer function model, specifically expanded to consider the transport of reactive solutes, such as pesticides. The work describes the tool implementation for three case studies, with different spatial scales and pedo-climatic conditions: Valle Telesina, IT, Marchfeld, AT, and Zala County, HU. Principal inputs of the tool are: soil physical and hydrological properties, climate, groundwater table depth, type of crops and related pesticides. Results of the model are shown through the LandSupport GUI both as coloured maps, representing the relative concentration of pesticide at the arrival to the water table at the end of the simulation period, and as cumulative charts of the solute arrival at the depth of interest. The three case studies are shown as examples of application of the LandSupport DSS in supporting the Water and Pesticides directives, demonstrating that it represents a valuable instrument for public authorities, environmental planners, as well as agricultural extension services. For example, large differences are shown by soils in filtering the tetraconazole (99.9% vs 76%), a fungicide used in viticulture, or different percentage of arrival (0.32% and 0,01%) to the groundwater table are shown for two herbicides (Tribenuron and Florasulam) largely used to control annual dicotyledonous weeds.

Raising employment and quality of life among people with disadvantages \u2013 results of a Hungarian project

BackgroundPeople with disadvantages are a high-risk group of unemployment or underemployment. Disadvantages include disability, under-education, or being a member of a minority, etc. Effective labor market programs could be a key in raising employment and quality of life among this high-risk group of society. The TOP 6.8.2.-15-NA1 project is one of the main Hungarian labor market programs. The project’s primary aims are increasing the employability of disadvantaged unemployed and supporting the efficiency of job-seeking.MethodsOur goal was to analyze the effects and methodology of the TOP 6.8.2.-15-NA1 project in Hungary. The sample of our study contains participants of the project (n = 300), based in Zala County, Hungary.ResultsAfter 28 days, 53.3% of participants had a job. At the 180th day status, the rate of employed people was 47.3%. We could identify low-educated participants and older participants as higher-risk groups of long-term unemployment.ConclusionsWe emphasize the role of these services (job-seeking clubs, organization of job fairs, and mentorship) in the long-term individual success of participants. Improving the employment rate for people with disadvantages is a critical factor for enhancing the quality of life for individuals with disadvantages.

The region of the Zala and Mura Rivers (Zala County) in the Late Bronze Age

Abstract of PhD thesis submitted in 2020 to the Archaeology Doctoral Programme, Doctoral School of History, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest under the supervision of Gábor V. Szabó.