Re-written narrative: transformation of the image of Ivan-chaj in Eastern Europe

The aim of this study was to understand the role of viral narratives and the involvement of social media into the invention of tradition. We took as an example the recently highly promoted Ivan-chaj, a tea made from the fermented leaves of willowherb, a plant little known and used in Europe until a few years ago. Relying on a wide variety of sources circulating on the Internet (videos, various texts and visuals) and robust empirical field research results, we used mixed methods to analyze this specific case in order to understand if people adopt new teachings and if their acceptance leads to practical output. The results showed that the new teachings spread quickly, supported by narratives based on a wide variety of interaction points that viralized the message, also causing an economic impact. It is clear that the change of status and the economic success that Ivan-chaj now enjoys is due to the virality of the narrative, which has reshaped the image of Ivan-chaj from an "outcast" imitation and tea substitute into the national healthy drink. Having appeared in Russia, mostly as a Russian cultural marker, the narrative went viral and spread beyond its borders where neighbors have tried in turn to embrace Ivan-chaj as their own cultural marker by proclaiming it a local tradition. Indeed, narratives regarding Ivan-chaj spread easily in countries sharing some linguistic, historical and/or cultural elements with Russia (via the nexus of the Soviet Union)

Language of administration as a border: Wild food plants used by setos and russians in pechorsky district of pskov oblast, NW Russia

Socio-economic changes impact local ethnobotanical knowledge as much as the ecological ones. During an ethnobotanical field study in 2018–2019, we interviewed 25 Setos and 38 Russians in the Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast to document changes in wild plant use within the last 70 years according to the current and remembered practices. Of the 71 botanical taxa reported, the most popular were Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Vaccinium myrtillus, Betula spp., and Rumex acetosa. The obtained data was compared with that of 37 Setos and 35 Estonians interviewed at the same time on the other side of the border. Our data revealed a substantial level of homogeneity within the plants used by three or more people with 30 of 56 plants overlapping across all four groups. However, Seto groups are ethnobotanically closer to the dominant ethnic groups immediately surrounding them than they are to Setos across the border. Further study of minor ethnic groups in a post-Soviet context is needed, paying attention to knowledge transmission patterns

Assessment of crop yields in modern agriculture on the basis of GIS-Technologies

Information-analytical system of ensuring agricultural technologies was developed on the base of several GIS and models of crop yield.The system included creation of maps of potential yield (function of the natural factors) and possible (function of the real level of the fieldfertility) yield of various crops. These dateswere received in the mass field experiments with fertilizers and in available modern bases ofagrochemical, landscape, climatic parameters. The uneven distribution of natural properties- for example, soil quality, topography, microclimate - on the territory of any size determined a different degree of their suitability for growing different groups of crops. The methodology for calculating the yield of various cropswas based on independent objective assessment of different impact factors bythe methods of linear and nonlinear multiple regression.Modeling results were presented in the form of yield maps with using several GIS.Impact yield factors are divided into two big groups – natural (climate, topography, soils, etc.) and agrochemical (applicationof fertilizers, plant protection agents, intensity of cultivation technologies, etc.)

Effective organic matter stock management in agricultural practices: modeling and observation

Long-term fertilization experiments (LTFE), with the focus on analyzing soil fertility indicators and their interrelation with crop have fundamental importance for monitoring, modeling, and controlling the status of soils. Validation datasets from LTFE provide the basis for understanding cropland responses to key natural and management drivers such as climate and productivity, land use changes, soil fertility and greenhouse gas emissions. RothC model was used for simulation soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in several Russian LTFE with mineral and organic fertilization. RothC was able to adequately simulate long-term SOC stock changes in the arable layer of different treatments of fertilization experiments on Podzols, Albeluvisols and Chernozems. Annual C inputs sufficient for maintaining constant SOM stocks and additional C gain were estimated. Simulation of SOC dynamics for plots with no fertilization and the lowest SOC stock revealed that above ground NPP input is sufficient for maintaining constant SOM stocks after conversion to a grassland for forage production and returning FYM in the same plot. The changes in the observed trends for different fields with the same treatments are related to the initial level of soil fertility and different crop-climatic year combinations. This simulation has demonstrated the role of crop rotations and fallowing in SOC dynamics and revealed possible C sequestration in a short-term as it is highly yield-dependent. Agricultural soils are sensitive to small changes of extreme year’s pattern with more expressed loss of the initial C stock under intensive management systems

Monitoring of Soil Fertility (Agroecological Monitoring)

Monitoring the ecological status of agricultural land is a fundamental precondition for controlling its sustainable functions for human society and for maintaining the ecosystem's capacity. We analyze fundamentals, developments, and trends and present results of agroecological monitoring in Russia. This system has been developed and operated by the Pryanishnikov Institute of Agrochemistry in Moscow. Agroecological monitoring in Russia was installed in the 1970s and is based on a regular 5-year agrochemical survey of agricultural lands all over the country, more than 300 field experiments in all bioclimatic zones of the country, and more than 1000 reference monitoring plots. In trials with different inputs of fertilizers, the focus is on analyzing soil fertility indicators and their impact on productivity. Some of these experiments are long-term experiments and part of international networks. Their results are of fundamental importance for monitoring, modeling, and controlling the status of soils in future despite climate change. In a regular survey, we found tendencies toward decreasing soil fertility in some regions, for example with decreased contents of humus and plant-available minerals, and topsoil acidification. Nutrient withdrawals must be compensated for by regular fertilization regimes, nutrient mining must be avoided. We detected some gaps in knowledge on the topic of balancing elements and modeling the agroecosystem's response to climate and land use changes. We conclude that there is a need to implement modern measurement and modeling systems in some key long-term trials. The Pryanishnikov Institute has taken responsibility for coordinating running programs in different regions and administrative units of the Russian Federation, and for elaborating methodical guidelines and highly advanced monitoring technologies. National and international cooperation, research programs and networks are key for agroecological monitoring systems of the twenty-first century in addressing challenges for a highly productive, stable, sustainable, and environmentally safe food production

International experience of legal regulation of freedom of speech in the global information society

The article presents the results of the analysis of international legal regulation of the protection of freedom of speech, the right to freedom of expression within the UN and the Council of Europe. A comparative analysis of the definition of the right to express views and beliefs in various international legal acts was made. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases related to the exercise of the right to express one's views and beliefs on the Internet was considered. The analysis of the legislation of foreign countries regulating the right to express views and beliefs online was carried out. The materials of the article are of practical value for scientists and practitioners dealing with the issues of legal regulation of freedom of speech, the right to express views and beliefs, for forecasting and planning scientific research, improving legislation, for higher education teachers in educational activities, as well as for all interested persons

Multifarious trajectories in plant-based ethnoveterinary knowledge in northern and southern Eastern Europe

Over the last century in the European context, animal production has been transformed by the dynamics of centralization and decentralization due to political and economic factors. These processes have influenced knowledge related to healing and ensuring the welfare of domestic animals. Therefore, our study aimed to document and compare current and past ethnoveterinary practices, and to identify trajectories in ethnoveterinary knowledge in study regions from both northern and southern Eastern Europe. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, we conducted 476 interviews, recording the use of 94 plant taxa, 67 of which were wild and 24 were cultivated. We documented 452 use reports, 24 of which were related to the improvement of the quality or quantity of meat and milk, while the other 428 involved ethnoveterinary practices for treating 10 domestic animal taxa. Cattle were the most mentioned target of ethnoveterinary treatments across all the study areas, representing about 70% of all use reports. Only four plant species were reported in five or more countries (Artemisia absinthium, Hypericum spp., Linum usitatissimum, Quercus robur). The four study regions located in Northern and Southern Eastern Europe did not present similar ethnoveterinary knowledge trajectories. Bukovinian mountain areas appeared to hold a living reservoir of ethnoveterinary knowledge, unlike the other regions. Setomaa (especially Estonian Setomaa) and Dzukija showed an erosion of ethnoveterinary knowledge with many uses reported in the past but no longer in use. The current richness of ethnoveterinary knowledge reported in Bukovina could have been developed and maintained through its peculiar geographical location in the Carpathian Mountains and fostered by the intrinsic relationship between the mountains and local pastoralists and by its unbroken continuity of management even during the Soviet era. Finally, our results show some patterns common to several countries and to the veterinary medicine promoted during the time of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union and its centralized animal breeding system, resulted in a decline of ethnoveterinary knowledge as highly specialized veterinary doctors worked in almost every village. Future research should examine the complex networks of sources from where farmers derive their ethnoveterinary knowledge

Von J. v. Liebig bis E. A. Mitscherlich. Die Grundlage ressourceneffizienter Pflanzenernährung

Mitscherlichs bedeutendste wissenschaftliche Leistung ist ein von ihm formuliertes Ertragsgesetz, das Wirkungsgesetz der Wachstumsfaktoren. Seine erste Veröffentlichung darüber erschien 1909 unter dem Titel Das Gesetz des Minimums und das Gesetz des abnehmenden Bodenertrages in der Zeitschrift Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher. Im Gegensatz zu dem von Carl Sprengel und Justus von Liebig aufgestellten Minimumgesetz, wonach von allen mineralischen Nährstoffen derjenige, der in geringster Menge im Boden vorhanden ist, den Pflanzenertrag maßgebend bestimmt, wies Mitscherlich nach, dass die Ertragshöhe von sämtlichen Wachstumsfaktoren abhängig ist. Nach seinen Forschungsergebnissen kann jeder einzelne Wachstumsfaktor mit einer ihm spezifischen Intensität (Wirkungsfaktor) die Ertragshöhe steigern. Mit zunehmender Annäherung an den Höchstertrag wird jedoch durch eine weitere Steigerung eines bestimmten Wachstumsfaktors im Vergleich zum Aufwand der Mehrertrag deutlich geringer. Die von Mitscherlich aus diesen Erkenntnissen abgeleitete Darstellung der Ertragssteigerungskurve als Logarithmische Verteilung fand in der Landbauwissenschaft weltweites Interesse. Sie gab der dynamisch-quantitativen Ertragsforschung neue Einsichten und führte zu einer kaum zu überblickenden Anzahl experimenteller Untersuchungen, aber auch zu kontroversen wissenschaftlichen Diskussionen. Mitscherlich hat umfangreichere Beiträge mit Forschungsergebnissen über sein Ertragsgesetz vor allem in der Zeitschrift Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher publiziert. Von mehreren Übersichtsarbeiten ist die 1956, kurz nach seinem Tode erschienene Schrift Ertragsgesetze hervorzuheben. Obgleich neuere Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass Mitscherlichs Ertragsgesetz uneingeschränkt nur für spezielle Versuchsbedingungen gilt, hat sein mathematisch orientiertes Forschungskonzept das Wissen um die Zusammenhänge von Wachstumsfaktoren und Ertragsbildung beträchtlich erweitert

Dynamik des Humusgehaltes in Dauerdüngungsversuchen auf Podsolböden aus lehmigem Sand

In einem 46 jährigen Dauerdüngungsversuch mit der Fruchtfolge: einjährige Lupine – Winterweizen – Kartoffel – Sommergerste wurde festgestellt, dass Corg - Gehalt im Boden ohne Düngung auf 0,093% sanken, was 15% vom ursprünglichen Zustand entspricht. Beim Einsatz der mineralischen Dünger sank der Humusgehalt auch, aber weniger im Vergleich zu Varianten ohne zusätzlicher Düngung. Der Einsatz von organischen Düngemittel ermöglichte die Stabilisierung und Zunahme des Humusgehaltes. Die größte Steigerung des Humusgehaltes in leichten Podsolböden erfolgten durch die Versorgung mit organischer Substanz in Form von Ernterückständen und organischen Düngemitteln