Methodical bases of family farm modernization

Described were IBMER (Institute for Buildings Mechanization and Electrificationof Agriculture (IBMER)) activities aimed at the development and verificationof research procedures used for the assessment of commercial family farmactivities and for evaluation of progress in their technological and ecological modernization.Current assessment of agricultural farm activities has been conducted usingan appropriate IBMER procedure [Wójcicki 2008], which comprises tables forparametric (numerical) description of commercial farm equipment and activitiesin 2008.Development family farm is modernized on the basis of the project of itsorganization and mechanization in the nearest 5-7 years (e.g. until 2015). Suchproject may be developed using new IBMER technological and balance sheet procedure(methods), which has been currently (2009) elaborated and verified.A comparison of the recent activities with the accepted organizational projectallows to determine the level of progress in the sphere of technical and ecologicalmodernization of the analysed farm and its infrastructure.Both research procedures contain a number of common methodical bases,the part of which was synthetically compiled in tables concerning the assessmentof modernization of a sample farm with farm area 40 ha AL, specializing in potato,milk and beef cattle production. ...

Agricultural use of rural areas located in environmentally valuable terrain

The primary function of rural areas is their use in agricultural production. Currently, according to the balanced development of rural areas, one needs to tend to make those areas more attractive, create new jobs, create new sources of income for the rural population and to improve rural spatial planning. The agricultural production is extremely important in the areas of outstanding natural beauty. The management on protected areas can contribute to the protection of valuable qualities from excessive investment process. It must be conducted in accordance with legal requirements for environmental protection. The purpose of the research was to analyze the changes in agriculture in the context of rural area development. The communities within the Barycz Valley Landscape Park boundaries were selected for analysis. The study was based on the statistical data, including the data from the agricultural censuses of 1996, 2002, 2010, data concerning planning works and planning documents to lay down the development directions of the analyzed communities. ...

PARAMETERIZATION OF DROUGHT VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT IN AGRICULTURE

The aim of the present study has been an attempt at the assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability. The paper presents the proposal of the methodology and the preliminary results. The assessment is performed for the voivodships and the regions in Poland and takes into account two factors: the crop water deficit in the growing season and the share of light and very light soil area in the overall arable soil area. The vulnerability is evaluated for five crops with the largest area of cultivation in Poland. A differentiation of vulnerability to drought between crops and a spatial differentiation for each crop are determined. A spatial differentiation is similar for all crops. The most vulnerable region is the central and central-western part of Poland. The results indicate that late potato is the most vulnerable crop to be damaged by drought among all studied crops, whereas winter rape is the least vulnerable crop. ...

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURE INFLUENCE ON HEAVY METAL CONTENT IN BOTTOM SEDIMENTS OF SMALL WATER RESERVOIRS AND IN RUSHES

The main purpose of the paper was to determine the influence of catchment management on the bottom sediments quality of small water reservoirs as well as to determine toxic metal content in rushes. Samples of bottom sediments were collected in winter 2013 year, form 4 sediment layers (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) at three points along the body of water. The 48 samples were collected. Soil material was prepared according to the procedures used in soil science, the analysis was performed for the fraction with a particle diameter of less than 1 mm. Plant samples from single species aggregations were randomly cut from 5 to 10 locations of 20-50 m2 area. From these samples the average composite sample was prepared. The total content of such elements as Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (using the Thermo Scientific iCE 3000 series spectrometer) after prior digestion in the mixture (5:1) of concentrated acids HNO3 (65%) and HClO4 (60%). Total Hg content was determined by the AMA 254 analyzer. Between the small water reservoirs adjacent to the areas where organic farming is used, and the reservoirs adjacent to the areas with mineral fertilization ...

ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN BOTTOM SEDIMENTS OF SMALL WATER RESERVOIRS WITH DIFFERENT CATCHEMENT MANAGEMENT

The main purpose of this work was to determine the degree of negative impact of heavy metals accumulated in the water sediments to aquatic organisms. Samples of sediments were collected in winter 2013, from 4 layers of sediment (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) at three points along the water reservoir. Sediments were prepared for analysis in accordance with the procedures applied in soil science. The analysis was carried out for the fraction with a particle diameter less than 1 mm. The total content of such elements as Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (using the Thermo Scientific iCE 3000 series spectrometer) after digestion in a mixture (5:1) of concentrated acid HNO3 (65 %) and HClO4 (60%). The total Hg content was obtained by using the AMA 254 analyzer. Only the lead content in the analyzed samples of bottom sediments exceeded the contamination value given by polish law (the Regulation of the Minister of Environment). According to the classification of PGI samples of sediments are classified mainly as medium polluted sediments (Class II), with the exception of zinc and lead concentrations (Class III). Due to the value of the indicator ...

STUDIES ON SUPERABSORBENTS MODIFIED WITH TREHALOSE

Recently, trehalose becomes more and more popular compound. Increasing interest in this disaccharide results from the role as it starts to play in water economy of plants. In conditions of water shortage mentioned organic substance prevents their dehydration. Therefore, application of such interesting additive can contribute to the preparation of materials that can be applied in such areas as agriculture or cultivation of plants. It is also worth mentioning that properties of trehalose make this substance interesting from the medical point of view. Presented additive can have an impact on maintaining organs for transplantation in good condition. In presented research series of polymer superabsorbents modified with described disaccharide have been prepared. Obtained by means of photopolymerization materials differed in an amount of the additive. In the further step, physicochemical properties of superabsorbents have been determined. Following studies have been carried out: swelling studies and incubation studies in simulated body fluids aimed at determination of behavior of prepared materials in solutions similar to those one occurring in human body. Additionally, chemical structure of the hydrogels have been defined using spectroscopic technique. Based on the research it can be concluded that proposed materials are characterized by low sorption capacity and did not ...

ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF POLLUTANTS IN SURFACE WATER IN THE COMMUNE OF OSTRZESZÓW

This paper presents the results of physical and chemical tests of surface water samples taken from the areas of the Ostrzeszów Commune, which is part of the Ostrzeszów County, located in the southern part of the Wielkopolska Province. The Ostrzeszów commune is included in the urban-rural areas. The physicochemical analysis of surface waters covered samples taken from seventeen measurement and control points from places as accessible as possible. The water quality was assessed in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Minister of the Environment. Surface waters were characterized by typical variability for agricultural areas, i.e. slightly alkaline, pH in the range of 7.5-8.45; specific conductivity in the range of 246-512 μS/cm; turbidity in the range of 1.7-10.5 NTU; total hardness in the range of 1.6-3.2 mmol∙dm-3 Ca2+, Mg2+; alkalinity in the range of 66-142 mg∙dm-3 CaCO3; chloride content in the range of 19-47 mg/dm3 Cl-; content of biogenic compounds, ie: nitrites in the range of 0.02-0.36 mg∙dm-3 N-NO2-; nitrates in the range of 0.05- 4,9 mg∙dm-3 N-NO3-; ammonium ion in the range of 0.04-0.94 mg∙dm-3 N-NH4+; the content of orthophosphate in the range of 0.11-1,56 mg∙dm-3 P-PO43-. The content of metals, i.e. manganese Mn, Fe iron, was characterized by ...