ECONOMICAL EVALUATION OF REDUCED INTENSITY TILLAGE SYSTEMS, STRAW AND GREEN MANURE COMBINATIONS

Since 1999, a long-term field experiment has been done at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University (former Aleksandras Stulginskis University) at 54º52′50 N latitude and 23º49′41 E longitude. The soil of the experiment site is Epieutric Endocalcaric Endogleyic Planosol (Endoclayic, Aric, Drainic, Humic, Episiltic) according to WRB (2014). The objective of our investigations was to assess the long-term impact of reduced intensity tillage systems, straw and green manure combinations on productivity and economical evaluation. A short crop rotation was introduced: winter wheat, spring barley, spring rape. The results were obtained in 2000-2017. Sustainable agroecosystems are able to maintain their condition, productivity and biodiversity, as well as their integrity over time and in the context of human activity and use. The sustainability of agroecosystems is inseparable from the stability of their productivity. In order to illustrate this, we estimated crop productivity differences % from the year 2000 to 2017. In terms of crop productivity, all the tested long-term complex measures of different intensities were similar, both when comparing with average productivity that year and when estimating cumulative differences com-pared with deep ploughing. &nbsp

Countercyclical capital buffer formation research in European developing countries

Baigiamajame magistro darbe analizuojamas anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimas besivystančiose Europos šalyse, remiantis naujomis Bazelis III kapitalo pakankamumo gairėmis. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti šios atsargos formavimo galimybes besivystančiose Europos šalyse, remiantis Bazelio Komiteto rekomendacijomis bei pritaikyti šioms šalims alternatyvią anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimo metodiką. Darbas susideda iš trijų pagrindinių dalių, pirmojoje iš jų nagrinėjamas procikliškumo problemų bankiniame sektoriuje mažinimas panaudojant anticiklinę kapitalo atsargą ir atliekama empirinių tyrimų, kurie nagrinėja anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos įgyvendinimą ir su tuo susijusias problemas, analizė. Antrojoje dalyje pateikiama ir pagrindžiama tyrimo metodologija. Trečiojoje – pateikiami rezultatai, kurie atskleidžia, kad anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos įgyvendinimas pagal Bazelio Komiteto rekomenduojamą tvarką nėra tinkamas visoms besivystančioms Europos šalims.This dissertation analyses countercyclical capital buffer formation in developing European countries, based on the proposal of Basel Committee. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to evaluate possibility of capital buffer appliance in developing European countries. It is done by using the Basel Committee’s recommendations and by adapting an alternative method of countercyclical capital buffer formation. The dissertation consists of three main parts. The first part of dissertation analyses the use of countercyclical capital buffer in reducing of cyclical problems in banking sector. Also in this part of thesis there is presented survey of empirical studies. The second part describes the research methodology and the last part present the results of empirical study. They reveal that formation process of countercyclical capital buffer proposed by Basel Committee isn’t suitable tool in every developing European country.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta

The impact of the EU biofuel policy on the prices of agricultural commodities in the European Union

Vytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Long-term drivers of wheat and maize commodities prices

ISSN 1822-3230 (ankstesnių spausdintų leidinių)In the last decades prices of agro-food commodities have a tendency of explosive growth. This increase quite usually is related with biofuels development. However, the prices of commodities are influenced by the set of different variables, i.e. supply and demand factors. In order to provide appropriate policy recommendations for agro-culture there is a need to evaluate the factors and their impact on agro-food commodities. This paper uses the multi regression model in order to analyze long-term drivers of annual world wheat and maize commodities prices. Analysis involves both demand (direct: biofuels production, commodities stock in the end of the period; indirect: the exchange rate, the interest rate, gross domestic product) and supply (price of crude oil) factors. The empirical results indicate that the main price drivers of wheat are crude oil prices, exchange rate and stock of wheat lagged one period. While the main maize price drivers are crude oil price and stock of maize lagged one periodVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimas besivystančiose Europos šalyse

Šiame straipsnyje yra analizuojamas bankų kapitalo pakankamumo reguliavimo gairėmis Bazelis III priimamas naujas kapitalo pakankamumo lygio valdymo įrankio – anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos – formavimas besivystančiose Europos šalyse. Ši priemonė sukurta tam, kad užtikrintų, jog bankų priežiūros reikalavimai apimtų ir makro–finansinę aplinką, kurioje bankas veikia. Šią atsargą yra reikalaujama sukaupti perviršinio kreditų privačiam sektoriui augimo laikotarpiais, ir ši kapitalo pakankamumo lygio atsarga turėtų būti naudojama ekonomikos nuosmukio metu padengti susidarančius nuostolius ir apsaugoti nuo gilesnės finansinės krizės. Anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimas remsis kreditų ir BVP santykio nukrypimo nuo ilgalaikių tendencijų dydžiu. Ilgalaikės kreditų ir BVP santykio tendencijos, remiantis Bazelio Komiteto rekomendacijomis, bus įvertinamos naudojant Hodrick-Prescott filtru. Šis dydis turėtų leisti vertinti tvarų kreditų išduodamų privačiam sektoriui augimą. Tačiau, kyla klausimas, ar ilgo laikotarpio kreditų ir BVP santykio trendas, skaičiuojamas remiantis Bazelis III gairėse siūloma anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos skaičiavimo metodika, yra tinkama besivystančių šalių atveju. Mokslinės literatūros apžvalga rodo, kad Bazelio Komiteto siūlomas Hodrick-Prescott filtras ne visais atvejais yra tinkamas instrumentas anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimui besivystančiose šalyse dėl vykstančio prisivijimo efekto ir sąlyginai trumpos duomenų eilutės šiose šalyse. Šiame tyrime anticiklinės kapitalo atsargos formavimui yra naudojami du skirtingi tvaraus kreditų privačiam sektoriui augimo skaičiavimo metodai. Pirmasis iš jų yra pasiūlytas Bazelio Komiteto – Hodrick- Prescott filtras. Tai matematinis įrankis, dažai naudojamas makroekonominėse analizėse išskiriant iš duomenų eilutės ciklo komponentą. [...]The purpose of this paper is to analyse countercyclical capital buffer formation peculiarities in the European developing countries. The question arises, whether long term credit-to-GDP trend for sustainable credit to private sector growth, calculated using HP filter and proposed by Basel III capital regulation requirements is suitable for the developing countries? Results of the research are compared with the results obtained using OOS method, proposed by recent research studies. Research results showed that neither of the two methods is suitable for all the developing European countries and that Basel Committee should discuss implementation of other alternative countercyclical capital buffer formation methodsEkonomikos katedraFinansų katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Theoretical analysis of biofuels and agricultural support effect on food prices

Tyrimo tikslas yra teoriškai išanalizuoti biodegalų gamybos skatinimo poveikį žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų kainoms. ES ir JAV politikai per pastaruosius 10 metų vykdo intensyvią biodegalų gamybos apimčių plėtros skatinimo politiką. Ja visų pirma siekiama aplinkosauginių ir energetinių tikslų, tačiau biodegalų gamyba remiasi ribotų žemės ūkio išteklių naudojimu. Kyla klausimas, kokį poveikį žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų kainoms turi žemės ūkio gamybos krypties perkėlimas nuo maistui naudojamų žaliavų auginimo mažinimo prie žaliavų, skirtų biodegalams gaminti, didinimo. Atliktų empirinių tyrimų analizė atskleidė, kad mokslininkai pateikia kontraversiškas išvadas dėl biodegalų įtakos žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų kainoms: nuo vertinimo, kad biodegalų skatinimo politikos įtaka sudaro 70–75 proc. žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų kainų augimo, iki visiškai priešingų pastebėjimų, kad energijos gavybos iš atsinaujinančių energijos šaltinių skatinimas joms neturi ženklios įtakosA theoretical analysis of biofuels mandates impact on agricultural products and food prices is presented in this paper. In the last 10 years EU and USA have introduced intensive biofuel production promotion policies. However, biofuel production is based on the limited resources of land. This raises a question about how strong the impact on agricultural products and food prices by the transfer of raw materials used for food cultivation toward biofuels raw materials? Examined empirical studies investigating the impact of biofuels on agricultural products and food prices have controversial outcomes, from assessment of biofuel promotion policy with a weight of 70-75 percent rising food prices, to completely contrary observations that energy from renewable energy sources does not have a significant impact on the rise of agricultural products and food pricesEkonomikos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Using a Soil Bioregeneration Approach to Reduce Soil Compaction and Financial Costs of Planting Winter Wheat and Rapeseed

Achieving a positive balance between energy use and environmental protection requirements has shown that soil bioregeneration could reduce the main disadvantages of tillage, that lead to increased costs and reduced profits. The aim was to assess the impact of soil bioregeneration on tillage consumption, yield, financial costs, and farmers income. For three consecutive years in the spring, after the resumption of winter wheat and rapeseed vegetation, the soil was bioregenerated under seven different scenarios. The best results were obtained using a scenario where soil was bioregenerated with a solution consisting of plant essential oils, 40 species of various herbs, marine algae extracts, mineral oils, Azotobacter vinelandii bacteria, humic acids, gibberellic acid, copper, zinc, manganese, iron, calcium, and sodium molybdate. Soil bioregeneration research has identified that fuel consumption could decrease to 23%, financial costs could decrease to 40%, and yield and farmers income from crop production could increase to 28% compared with the scenario where the soil was not bioregenerated. By applying the discovered soil bioregeneration method, the savings could reach up to EUR 3 per ha−1

Using a Soil Bioregeneration Approach to Reduce Soil Compaction and Financial Costs of Planting Winter Wheat and Rapeseed

Achieving a positive balance between energy use and environmental protection requirements has shown that soil bioregeneration could reduce the main disadvantages of tillage, that lead to increased costs and reduced profits. The aim was to assess the impact of soil bioregeneration on tillage consumption, yield, financial costs, and farmers income. For three consecutive years in the spring, after the resumption of winter wheat and rapeseed vegetation, the soil was bioregenerated under seven different scenarios. The best results were obtained using a scenario where soil was bioregenerated with a solution consisting of plant essential oils, 40 species of various herbs, marine algae extracts, mineral oils, Azotobacter vinelandii bacteria, humic acids, gibberellic acid, copper, zinc, manganese, iron, calcium, and sodium molybdate. Soil bioregeneration research has identified that fuel consumption could decrease to 23%, financial costs could decrease to 40%, and yield and farmers income from crop production could increase to 28% compared with the scenario where the soil was not bioregenerated. By applying the discovered soil bioregeneration method, the savings could reach up to EUR 3 per ha−1

Representing the interests of small farms in the market through cooperatives: effect on producers' price

The study addresses the problem of to what extent and in what way the interests of small farms are represented by cooperatives in the market of agricultural products. The empirical analysis aims to determine the extent of small farms' involvement in formal cooperation and the impact of cooperatives on the prices of their products in Lithuania. The analysis is based on the theory of competitive yardstick, where a cooperative can be considered as a regulator of prices in the market. This theory argues that the existence of a cooperative will force the profit-maximizing companies to behave more competitively in an oligopsony market. When a cooperative offers more favourable prices to farmers because of its classic practice of providing services at cost price, profit-maximizing processing companies try to match the price paid by the cooperative in order to not lose raw material suppliers. The data obtained from the survey carried out in small farms reveal that a small part of small farms in Lithuania sell their agricultural and food products to cooperatives and that even a smaller part of those farms is offered a higher price. The analysis of ZUIKVC PAIS data on the price paid by buyers per kilogram of raw milk, reveals that most cooperatives pay a higher price for small milk producers than the minimum price set by the five largest milk processing companies in Lithuania. About one-fifth of cooperatives (during the winter season) and up to a third of cooperatives (during the summer season) pay a higher price than the maximum price set by the same joint stock companies

Small farms in Lithuania

Agriculture and rural areas are important components of the Lithuanian economy, but the agricultural sector is facing important structural challenges in relation to small farms. Although there is a decreasing number of small farms in Lithuania, the number is still relatively high. Small farms contribute to economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspects of Lithuania’s economy and sustainable development, but they are unable to compete with large farms. For this reason, namely the importance of small farms, stopping their eradication requires public support. It is visible from agricultural policy that ways of helping small farms to stay on the market are being sought out, which results in the implementation of new instruments to support their viability. The following chapter is devoted to a general picture of small farms in Lithuania, taking into account their place in the agricultural sector, their economic performance, and being the recipient of agricultural policyBioekonomikos plėtros fakultetasVilniaus universitetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta