Effect of various LED lighting on the growth and development of garden strawberry Fragariaxananassa Duch. and groundcover rose Rosa hybrida L. at greenhouse conditions

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of various LED (light-emitting diode) light units in ensuring high-quality growth and development of plants, as well as to obtain high-quality seedlings of strawberries and ground cover rose. We studied the physiological reactions of garden strawberry (“Melga” variety) and ground cover rose (“Fairy” variety) plants under controlled conditions and obtained the data on the effect of light quality on plant biological productivity, dynamics of growth processes, photosynthesis rate and transpiration. Regardless of the type of studied crops, the tallest plants were obtained under conditions of supplementary lighting by the lamp with blue/green/red ratio in the spectrum 17/29/54 % (option 1) and the lamp with ratio 18/45/37 % (option 2). At the same time, the dry weight of leaves and roots, as well as the biological productivity of strawberry plants in experimental options 1 and 2 exceeded by 41% than in the control plants (under high pressure sodium lamp). For garden strawberry we recommend the LED in the option 2, for the ground cover rose optimal is the option 1.

Sectoral Heterogeneity, Income Inequality and Productivity Dynamics

An intricate dynamic pattern has been commonly observed in many developed countries during the past decades. This pattern contains a simultaneous rise in the following economic variables: (i) total factor productivity, (ii) educated labor supply, (iii) wage-gap between high- and low-skilled workers, and (iv) income inequality. Typical explanations for the different elements of this pattern assume a skill-biased technical change (SBTC) or capital-skill complementarity. In this study we offer a complementing explanation for these phenomena, which is based on sectoral heterogeneity and endogenous factor mobility, rather than on an SBTC. We show that sectoral heterogeneity can amplify the effects of a technical change, whether skill-biased or general, in a manner that generates the four elements of the above described dynamic pattern. Furthermore, inequality can perform also a Kuznets-curve pattern, as was observed in several countries, in contrast to the inequality dynamics in typical SBTC models.

Dynamic of migration and labor productivity in the rural area of PATANAS villages

The agricultural sector still becomes a source of household income in rural areas, although its role tends to decrease. In the period 2011‒2015, the number of agricultural workers decreased about 1% per year and is inversely proportional to the increasing Indonesian labor, which reached an average of 1.2% per year. Several leading causes of labor decreases are migration and productivity issues in the agricultural sector. This paper aims to determine migration and labor productivity dynamics in three-time points in villages on Panel Petani Nasional Program (PATANAS) located at three agroecosystems: plantation, secondary crop, and vegetable. Amount of respondents in each agroecosystem were 312, 232, and 121 farmers. Data analysis was presented descriptively. The results of the study indicated that labor productivity varies between agroecosystems. The highest increase in productivity occurred in vegetable, then secondary crop, and plantation. Labor productivity in the agricultural sector is inversely proportional to the migration on an agroecosystem. There is not excessive migration in the vegetable agroecosystems since labor productivity is highest than the others. There is a phenomenon of increasing working family members followed by an increase in the number of migrations. This phenomenon negatively impacts the agricultural sector because there is no increase in the number of workers in the agricultural sector. There is a trend for young people in PATANAS villages to undertake permanent migration. Increasing labor productivity in rural areas predicted could reduce labor migration. Efforts that can be created are gradually encouraging off-farm and non-farm activities, including small-scale agro-industries.

Drivers of Productivity Change in the Italian Tomato Food Value Chain

This study evaluated productivity dynamics and identified sources of productivity growth in Italian tomato production and processing. We used a stochastic frontier input distance function with four error components—heterogeneity, statistical noise, persistent and transient inefficiency—and a four-step estimation procedure with a system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator in the first step to address the endogeneity problem. The results reveal significant differences in the productivity and efficiency of tomato production and processing. Moreover, there are considerable differences among the different sizes of tomato producers, with the main variations observed for scale efficiency. While tomato processors operate at an optimal production size, tomato producers are characterized by considerable economies of scale, especially small producers. These results thus suggest that there is significant opportunity for technical efficiency improvements at both stages of the value chain. Finally, due to improvements made to scale efficiency, extensive productivity growth was observed for the group of small tomato producers.

Productivity and Efficiency of Precision Farming: The Case of Czech Cereal Production

The paper deals with the sources of competitiveness of Czech cereal production by considering precision farming technology and employing micro-level data collected in the FADN database for the period 2005–2018. The analysis is based on the stochastic frontier modelling of an input distance function in the specification of the four-component model, which currently represents the most advanced approach to technical efficiency analysis. To provide a robust estimate of the model, the paper employs methods which control for the potential endogeneity of netputs in the four-step estimation procedure. Furthermore, the total factor productivity change is calculated using the Törnqvist-Theil index. The results reveal that Czech cereal producers took great advantage of their production possibilities and experienced technological progress, which contributed considerably to productivity dynamics and consequently to an increase in their competitiveness. Precision farming, which is associated with a large number of innovations reflected in technological change and optimal resource use, contributed to higher technical efficiency connected with cost savings in Czech cereal production.