RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES IN FRAMEWORK OF EU STRATEGY FOR DANUBE REGION

Within EU enlargement process and welcoming Western Balkans countries into full membership, regional cooperation is seen as cornerstone for its successful implementation and essential for future development of enlarged European Union. Transition period from communism towards democracy has indicated correlation and similarity of problems and challenges turning them into joint regional issues which may be addressed by regional cooperation supported by experienced member states of European Union. In addition, strong historical, geographical and cultural ties among Western Balkan countries indicate the coherence of the Region and imply once again the necessity of regional cooperation. With regards to regional cooperation, The EU Strategy for the Danube Region, endorsed in June 2011 by the European Council, is the second EU macro-regional strategy (following the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region adopted in 2009) addressing a wide range of issues divided among 4 pillars (Connecting the Danube Region, Protecting the environment of the Danube Region, Building prosperity in the Danube Region and Strengthening the Danube Region) and providing the framework for intensified regional cooperation and interdisciplinary approach for problem solving in the Region. With exception of Albania and FYR Macedonia, Western Balkan Region is integrated in Danube Region and perspectives of rural development of all Balkan countries are outlined with future cooperation and partnership in light of this newly established macro region and policy for rural development of EU for new programming period. Taking into consideration that Western Balkan countries are dominantly rural, agriculture plays an important in the Western Balkans and its regional economy. Agriculture that suffered great changes in transition period from agricultural value chains dominated by large, vertically, output driven integrated structures within national economies toward more competitive rural economy capable of absorbing surplus of agricultural labor into alternative economic opportunities of non-agricultural rural businesses. Main aim of this paper is to identify the potentials and key drivers of rural development of the Western Balkan countries in scope of EU Strategy for the Danube Region and EU rural development policy for new 2014-2012 programming period

Rezerve semena korovskih biljaka u konvencionalnom sistemu gajenja kukuruza

Crop rotation and tillage systems are the most important agrotechical measures that interaction with the suppression of weeds and affect the size and composition of the weed seed bank and are in direct correlation with their content in the soil. Knowing seed bank, as well as monitoring the dynamics of the appearance of weed species, constitute the basis for planning and implementation of measures for their effective suppression. The paper presents the evaluation of weed infestation of maize grown in monoculture, 2-year crop rotation (maize, wheat) and 3-year crop rotation (maize, soybeans, wheat) on long-term experiment "Crop Rotation" of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. Soil samples, taken after the harvest of corn from a depth of 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm and 30–40 cm, were used for the analysis of weed seed bank. By applying the methods of physical extraction, soil samples were irrigated through a system of sieves of different sizes, and by using binoculars and a guide for the determination, a separate determination of seeds was made. The data obtained made it possible to view the number of seeds present in the soil, as well as the vertical distribution of weed species in both arable and subsoil layer.Plodored i sistemi obrade zemljišta spadaju u najvažnije agrotehničke mere koje u interakciji sa suzbijanjem korova utiču na veličinu i sastav rezervi semena korovskih biljaka i u direktnoj su korelaciji sa njihovim sadržajem u zemljištu. Poznavanje rezervi semena, kao i praćenje dinamike pojave korovskih vrsta predstavljaju osnovu u planiranju i sprovođenju mera za njihovo efikasno suzbijanje. U radu je prikazana procena zakorovljenosti kukuruza gajenog u monokulturi, dvopoljnom (kukuruz, pšenica) i tropoljnom plodoredu (kukuruz, soja, pšenica) na višegodišnjem stacionarnom ogledu „Plodoredi“ Instituta za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo u Novom Sadu. Uzorci zemljišta uzeti nakon žetve kukuruza sa dubine 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm i 30–40 cm poslužili su za analizu rezervi semena korovskih biljaka. Primenom metode fizičke ekstrakcije, zemljišni uzorci su ispirani kroz sistem sita različite finoće, a korišćenjem binokulara i priručnika za determinaciju izvršena je determinacija odvojenog semena. Dobijeni podaci su omogućili da se prikaže brojnost prisutnog semena u zemljištu, kao i vertikalna distribucija semena korovskih vrsta kako u oraničinom, tako i podoraničnom sloju

Population variability of weedy sunflower as invasive species

Three populations of weedy sunflower were investigated with the aim to assess its population variability. The following parameters were evaluated: vegetative parameters - plant height (cm), leaf lenght (cm), leaf width (cm), number of ray flowers, number of bract; generative parameters - head diametar (cm), mass of achene per head (g), number of achene per head; and achene parameters - achene lenght (µm), achene width (µm), mass of 100 achenes (g). Except that, achene morphology as indicator of population variability was studied. The studied populations significantly differed regarding to most measured parameters, while only plant height and number of ray flowers were similar in all three populations

How Do Long Term Crop Rotations Influence Weed Populations: Exploring the Impacts of More than 50 Years of Crop Management in Serbia

Crop rotation is known as an eco-friendlier approach, as provides diversification in crop management systems, modifies intensive pressure on the agricultural ecosystem, utilizes various soil horizons, and prevents the establishment of specific pests and weeds. We set out here a study on the farms that have been managed over 50 years of specific continuous crop management programs. The experimental treatments were in a different management system: monoculture of maize, winter wheat, and soybean, 2-year crop rotation (winter wheat–maize) with and without chemical fertilizer, and 3-year crop rotation (winter wheat–soybean–maize) with and without chemical fertilizer and manure. We took soil samples six times from 2014 to 2017 prior to sowing and after harvesting each year. Weed seeds were extracted from soils and identified and counted by species. We, upon the data of a long term experiment of crop rotation, could conclude that crop rotations with more crops in the sequence are significantly effective in maintaining weed populations, a low-input crop production could reach a constant low population below an important damaging density, and therefore will be a more sustainable crop production while chemical fertilizers would change the soil’s chemical and structure and imbalance the plant population diversity and manures with high weed seed infestations have the potential to totally eradicate crop rotation effects, Therefore, clean manures or compost are highly recommended