AGRO - KNOWLEDGE JOURNAL

Influence of the seeding rate, row spacing, and cultivar on alfalfa forage yield in the first production year

Biljana Ristakjovska Shirgovska — 2024-10-10

The cultivated lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) is the most widely grown forage legume, mainly due to its high nutritive quality and yield. The objective of this study was to provide information about the optimal seeding rate and row spacing for alfalfa cultivation under rainfed conditions in the Republic of North Macedonia. Alfalfa was sown in the fall of 2020 using randomized complete block design in a split-split plot arrangement with three replications. The effects of two seeding rates (8 and 16 kg ha-1) and two row spaces (20 and 40 cm) were examined on the fresh forage yield (FFY) and dry matter yield (DMY) of four alfalfa cultivars. Based on the evaluation, the sowing method (row spacing) and cultivar choice have shown a significant impact on the obtained forage yield. Higher average yield of fresh (73.7 t ha-1) and dry (20.3 t ha-1) forage was achieved at a sowing distance of 20 cm. Since the seeding rate did not significantly impact the FFY and DMY, in regions with a temperate climate, it is recommended that lower seeding rates than 16 kg ha-1 should be used in order to have sufficient and cost-effective alfalfa production. The inevitable issues for increasing alfalfa production are the selection of an appropriate cultivar with good adaptability to recent climate change within compatible establishment methods.

The intensity of regional food trade among the Western Balkan countries during periods of crisis

Nemanja Jalić — 2024-10-10

This study explores the intensity of food trade among the Western Balkan (WB) countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) during periods of crisis, emphasizing the impact of COVID-19 and the Ukrainian-Russian conflict on regional trade dynamics. The impact of this crisis was measured over three analyzed years: 2018, representing a reference year for comparison, then 2020 as the year affected by COVID-19, and 2022, being affected by the pandemic as well as the Ukrainian-Russian crisis. All data collected are from the “Trade Statistics for International Business Development Database”. Conclusions about the intensity of exchange of agricultural and food products within the WB region were obtained by calculating Regional Intensity of Trade of Export (RITE) and Regional Intensity of Trade of Import (RITI). Higher values than 1 indicate intensity in trade or dominance of trade in specific products with a particular region compared with the trade with the world. In the case of trade among the WB countries, the COVID-19 crisis did not affect the increase in trade volume. However, there was an increase in intra-regional trade by about 50% when compared with 2020 and 2022. The RITE coefficients for all countries except Albania were greater than 1, indicating intensified export of agricultural and food products to the WB region compared with their global export. The RITI index is very important in crisis, as it somewhat answers the question of who "feeds" the country during crises. All WB countries had the RITI indices greater than 1, indicating a higher intensity of food imports from the region compared with the world. According to this research, the RIT coefficients measured generally declined in the years of crises, meaning that the countries shifted their export focus to other regions but still the most significant foreign and intense trade partners in agricultural and food products were countries from the region.

The effect of the Fitostemin-WP® biostimulator on yield and quality characteristics of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Brankica Spaseva — 2024-10-10

In order to avoid yield and quality reduction of rice, it is essential to provide nutrition rice plants require. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at the research area of the Institute of Agriculture - Skopje, Department of Field Crops, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, in Kochani, a rice production region. The experiment was set up to determine the effects of the Fitostemin-WP® biostimulator on some yield and quality properties of an Italian rice variety Opale during the vegetative seasons in 2020 and 2021. Standard agrotechnical methods for crop production were applied. Fitostemin-WP® is an herbal product in the form of powder and it consists of herbal extracts and minerals. It is used for increasing crop yield. The field experiment was arranged in a Zade method with a Fitostemin-WP® treatment and a control one in 3 replications. Only basic fertilizers (350kg/ha NPK and 200kg/ha Urea (46% N)) were applied on the control plot, while the treatment plot, besides basic fertilization, was also treated with Fitostemin-WP® with 100 g/ha dosage once during the vegetation period (tillering stage). The following parameters were examined in this study, namely the biological, grain and straw yield, the number of productive tillers/m2, panicle weight, and milling fractions. Results were analyzed with the ANOVA and LSD test. According to the results from this study, statistically significant differences were not found in these two years of field experiments for the examined parameters. However, the values for the brokens have shown some significant differences between the years, but not between the treatment and the control. This can result from the environmental impact during the vegetative period. More frequent usage of Fitostemin-WP® during the vegetation period of the rice plant may show more significant results.

Websites as determinants of adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food

Milivoje Ćosić — 2024-10-10

The aim of this research is to identify the latent structure of the website quality construct in adolescents and its statistically significant predictive contribution to the variance in adolescent attitudes towards organic food. The research included a pertinent sample of high school students of both genders (N = 178). The average age of high school seniors was 18.04 ± 1.08 years. The Quality of Website and Attitudes towards Organic Food Scale (Kocić et al., 2022) was used in this research. Exploratory factor analysis – Principal Component Analysis (PCA), applied on the 12 manifest variables, was used to extract four hypothetical basic factors interpreted as: General external contributions (F1), Irrigation (F2), Finance (F3), and Material and human resources (F4). The research also discusses theoretical and practical implications of the empirical findings obtained for the operationalization of the isolated three-component model in the adolescent population. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that attitudes towards organic food were explained by the selected predictors with statistical significance (p ≤ 0.05) and more than half of the variance. It has also been determined that high school graduates who use the construct of a better designed, higher quality, and more informative website manifest more pronounced cognitive and affective attitudes towards organic food. This study provides more detailed explanations of these findings and implications for future research.

The analysis of vegetable and fruit export competitiveness of the Republic of Srpska

Vesna Mrdalj — 2024-10-10

The aim of this research is an analysis of the Republic of Srpska's export competitiveness in vegetables and fruit on international markets. Two main evaluation indices were used, namely the trade competitiveness (TC) index and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index to measure and analyze the international position of vegetables and fruit during 2015 – 2022. Both indicators were calculated based on statistical data on foreign trade in vegetables and fruit between the Republic of Srpska and the world, EU, and CEFTA countries, and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Vegetables and fruit participate with 7.17% and 15.41% in the total export of the Republic of Srpska’s agri–food sector. Analysis of the export structure of this sector showed an average share of vegetables and fruit of 12.04% and 9.43% in the EU market, i.e., 1.63% and 9.65% in the CEFTA market. The results indicate strong export competitiveness of the Republic of Srpska in vegetables concerning the world and EU markets, but weak export competitiveness in relation with the CEFTA countries. The Republic of Srpska recorded strong export competitiveness in fruit on the world and CEFTA market, while poor export competitiveness in the EU market. Within these two product groups on the world market, cucumbers, apples, pears, and plums achieved strong export competitiveness. Cucumbers and plums were two leading products regarding strong export competitiveness On the EU market, while apples and pears were on the CEFTA market. Considering the favourable agroecological conditions for the production of vegetables and fruit, the Republic of Srpska should continue to promote production and foreign trade in these traditional products and improve their competitiveness on international markets.