Research on Consumers’ Self-Protection through a Healthy Diet

The article analyzes consumers’ concern for healthy food, emphasizing the role of the vegetarian diet. Studies on the topic are available world-wide; however, none of these focuses on the role of vegetarian diet within the concern for healthy food, in Romania. In answering this question, a qualitative research was carried out on the customers of a store that sells natural food products and products certified as organic. The results indicate that vegetarian diet has a central role within the wider concern for healthy food, endorsing arguments to support the assertion. Hence, propensities in the consumer concerns to turn to healthier diets were identified, based on a system that diminishes or eliminates meat based diets. The conclusion of the qualitative research is a premise for future development of quantitative research, assessing the dimensions of this phenomenon.healthy food, consumer behaviour, market research, vegetarian diet, eating patterns, organic agro-food products, market strategy

THE DIFFICULTYS IN OBTAINING OROBANCHE CUMANA SUNFLOWER RESISTANCE HYBRIDS

One of the biggest issues when developing performant sunflower hybrids is broomrape, representing up to 80% of yield losses for the susceptible hybrids. The best way to eliminate the threat of Orobanche cumana in the field is to include in the breading programs the  introgression of  resistance genes in to the sunflower lines but lately it has become more and more difficult because the interaction of the female line with the genes form the restore line must fit perfectly in order to have a complete resistance to the paraziste, this aspect is couse by the very fast development of this parasite and a rapid appearance of new and more virulent races. The gene-for-gene model and different other authors agreed with monogenic and dominant inheritance of resistance to sunflower broomrape, but there are also reported  two dominant genes, one recessive gene, double dominant epistasis and dominant-recessive epistasis, coming with a concludent conclusion that resistance  must be incorporated into both parental lines for developing resistant hybrid. Since the year 2013 when we began our breading program where we develop sunflower lines and tested them to 0robanche.cumana in 5 different location in Romania  and also 1 location in Bulgaria and 1 in Spain. The purpose of the scientific paper is to to present some strategic conclusion from our testing along this 5 year of our sunflower breeding program. Â

Education and Training Needs in the Field of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Lower Danube Region

Given the conditions of European Strategy for Labour which was ratified also by Romania, that states an intensifying implementation at national level of labour policies and especially those regarding young person labour market integration, and taking into consideration the great human and agricultural potential of Lower Danube Region, we consider the implementation of national and regional programmes in order to train agriculture and rural development specialists to be very necessary. This article inquires the necessity of training agriculture and rural development specialists within Lower Danube Region in the context of cross-border cooperation between Romania and Bulgaria. This research starts by analysing the European and national legal framework of adult training in those two fields. Subsequently, the main premises and advantages of those activities were emphasized. It is good to mention that the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania, and the D. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov, Bulgaria, proposed themselves to cooperate in the field of “human resources development – common development of skills and knowledge”. The legal base exists as the Romania-Bulgaria Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 is enforced. Furthermore, a four years comparative study of the number of persons trained for the main jobs in rural area, including farmer, in Lower Danube Region was conducted. All these led to the idea that it is necessary to continue and to stress adult training of farmers and rural specialists as a solution for rural economy development and social welfare. Also, comparative analysis of supply and demand of professionals in the field of agriculture was elaborated. The main educational programs in training agriculture and rural development specialists were identified and some problems and perspectives were worked out. This research can be considered as a first step of future deeper and profound collaboration of Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov and the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest in terms of creation of common Romanian-Bulgarian Research Area, as a part of European Research Area (ERA). It includes joint knowledge and skills development through cross-border linkages and exchanges between the universities, in accordance with Romania – Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013.rural development, agriculture, training, cross-border cooperation, Lower Danube Region

SOME ASPECTS OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS WITH THE DECORATIVE VALUE AT Tagetes sp.

The objective of this work was to characterize Tagetes sp. for the following morphologic characteristics: plant height, number of stems and inflorescences / plant, stem and inflorescence diameters, flowering cycles and other caracters.The work has been carried out in a greenhouse at the  U.S.A.M.V.B.T from Timisioara. The results revealed higher plants  thicker stems and  bigger inflorescences.

EVALUATION OF THE CYTOGENETIC EFFECTS PRODUCED BY BOTRYTIS ALLII FUNGUS TO ALLIUM CEPA

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the cytological effects produced by Botrytis allii fungus (gray rottenness) on the meristematic cells of onion (Allium cepa). In case of the samples studied (onion bulbs affected by the disease, together with a healthy control), the following cytogenetic characteristics were analysed: the mitotic index, the frequency of mitosis phases in the roots apex, the frequency and types of chromosomal aberrations and nuclear abnormalities.After analysing results were found large differences between samples; thus, the mitotic index decreased from 11.88% for the control to 2.24-4.01% for samples affected by Botrytis allii. Also, it has been found the following main types of chromosome aberrations and nuclear abnormalities: sticky and laggard type chromosomes, fragments of chromosomes, as well as cells with nuclear erosion. From this point of view, the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and nuclear abnormalities was significantly higher in the case of variants affected by Botrytis allii, compared to the control variant (1.41% for control variant and 10.43-14.74% for variants affected by Botrytis allii).The results show that Botrytis allii (gray rottenness) has the ability to cause a large number of mitotic abnormalities to Allium cepa, affecting the growth and development of plants. In addition, the cytogenetic effects of infection with Botrytis allii can probably be similar to those produced by the action of a mutagenic agent

STUDIES ON SOME QUALITY COMPONENTS IN A LANDRACE COLLECTION OF CLIMBING BEANS (PHASEOLUS VULGARIS VAR. COMMUNIS)

The study aimed at evaluating a landraces collection of climbing beans regarding some characters that contribute to quality of grains or green pods. The biological material was formed of 56 landraces and 2 varieties of climbing beans from which the grains or green pods can be used in food. The landraces were collected from western and southwestern Romania. The experimentation was performed over three years in a collection-type experience, arranged in three repetitions. As elements of quality we determined: the percentage of husks from beans, boiling coefficient, the percentage of bean total protein, 1000 grain weight, the percentage of sugar in green pods. The experimental data were processed by analysis of variance and applying the t-test for determination of differences from the variety ‘Aurie de Bacau’ used as a control. The collection includes precious populations for all studied characters, but their number is reduced. For the percentage of grain husks and the protein content of grain, the most populations are below the control variety. For sugar percentage in green pod and the coefficient of boiling, the landraces are similar to control variety. In the collection, there are populations that can be processed by selection or can be used as parents in hybridization programs

Influence of the Total Consumption of Households on Municipal Waste Quantity in Romania

Sustainable development is a worldwide concern. This paper presents an analysis of the influence of the final consumption expenditure on the total consumption of households in Romania. The regression function of the association between “the amount of municipal waste” and “the total consumption of households” has a direct linear relationship. The regression variable “total household consumption” (X) has a regression coefficient of −0.03031, which indicates that the amount of municipal waste decreases by one unit as household consumption increases by 30.31 units. Therefore, this regression coefficient indicates that the volume of municipal waste decreases by 30.31 tons to an increase in the final consumption expenditure of households of EUR 1 million. The influence of the final consumption expenditure of households by consumption purpose on the quantity of municipal waste is in the following order: health; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; clothing and footwear; miscellaneous goods and services; recreation and culture; food and non-alcoholic goods; restaurants and hotels; furnishing and household equipment and routine household maintenance; alcoholic and tobacco goods; communications; and education. The value of the Significance F must be less than 0.05. In the case of the model, it is found that this value exceeds the threshold of 0.05 in the case of consumption generated by health services, recreation and culture, restaurants and hotels, alcohol and tobacco goods, and communications. Regarding the high value of Significance F in relation to consumption, we find the sectors that generate the least amount of waste (services). In the case of all of the independent variables, we can note that the relationship is a negative one, which proves that an increase in the quantity of any expenditure of the households generates a decrease of the municipal waste quantity