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In view of the strengthening demographic trend of ageing of the population and the pension reform underway in the Czech Republic, the problem of Age Management, which focuses on the management taking into account the age of employees, has become very current from the perspective of securing manpower. The agricultural sector has also long been facing problems in the area of manpower. Therefore, the aim of the article is to analyse and evaluate the costs for supporting the Age Management in agricultural businesses and to propose measures leading to the effective utilization of these analysed financial means. The data were acquired on the basis of a quantitative survey with the aid of a questionnaire survey in agricultural businesses in the Czech Republic (the number of businesses: n = 436, the number of agricultural businesses: n_z = 103). One of the conclusions of the article is that 24.3% of the approached agricultural businesses are implementing the Age Management. These are primarily small and medium agricultural businesses with up to 50 employees, which incur in average 6 to 10% of operational costs in relation to the gained profits on the application of the Age Management principles.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relative technical efficiency of the agricultural sector in the European Union (EU) using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) during the period 2007-2011. The authors investigated efficiency using both the input and output-oriented models with the assumption of a variable return to scale. They looked for causes of inefficiency and made recommendations for inefficient agricultural sectors. The results show that, in average, the EU agricultural sectors performed efficiently, as evidenced by the relatively high value of the average input and output efficiency. The efficiency of the EU agricultural sectors had changed over the past few years, and in both models the efficiency has generally decreased over time. As the main source of inefficiency was labelled the input "total utilised agricultural area" and as the strength with a positive impact on efficiency, there was labelled the "crop output." By calculating the optimal values for the input and output variables for inefficient agricultural sectors, it has been found that for the efficient production of a given quantity of outputs, it was necessary to reduce the value of the input "total labour" in average by 6.18%, the "total utilised agricultural area" in average by 14.45% and the "total assets" in average by 5.93%. In case of the output-oriented model for efficient use of a given quantity of inputs, the agricultural sectors should produce up to 111.85% of their crop output and 113.41% of their animal output.

The paper provides insights into the price transmission of dairy sector in Slovakia and examined the nature of price adjustments and market efficiency along the vertical chain. The results were based on monthly prices covering the time period 2004-2012. The farm gate prices of raw cow milk Q class and I. class were distinguished and the comparison was made also between the prices of semi-fat milk and durable semi-fat milk. The methodological approach called the Vector Error Correction model (VECM) was applied in the paper due to the fact that the Johansen co-integration test revealed that the time series were co-integrated, meaning that the long run relationship existed between them. The obtained results were in line with the recent empirical findings that have shown that the market power on the demand side, the imperfect market structure existence and also the fact that milk is a highly perishable commodity might be the explanations for the revealed asymmetric price adjustments.

The paper provides insights into the price transmission of dairy sector in Slovakia and examined the nature of price adjustments and market efficiency along the vertical chain. The results were based on monthly prices covering the time period 2004-2012. The farm gate prices of raw cow milk Q class and I. class were distinguished and the comparison was made also between the prices of semi-fat milk and durable semi-fat milk. The methodological approach called the Vector Error Correction model (VECM) was applied in the paper due to the fact that the Johansen co-integration test revealed that the time series were co-integrated, meaning that the long run relationship existed between them. The obtained results were in line with the recent empirical findings that have shown that the market power on the demand side, the imperfect market structure existence and also the fact that milk is a highly perishable commodity might be the explanations for the revealed asymmetric price adjustments.

The study concerns the measurement of the technical efficiency of agriculture in the 27 European Union (EU) countries in 2010. The studies were conducted based on the result-oriented DEA method assuming variable advantages of scale. Moreover, in the study, the factors affecting technical efficiency were identified, and the econometric modelling of their impact was performed with the use of the Tobit model. The studies indicate that across the 27 EU Member States, the level of the technical efficiency of agriculture is diverse, and the difference between the states with the highest and the lowest efficiencies is 40%. Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Malta were identified as the countries with the thoroughly technically efficient agriculture. In turn, the least technically efficient agriculture is observed for the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia and Slovakia. Taking into account the factors determining the technical agriculture efficiency, it should be noted that the stimulants have proven to be such factors as: the soil quality, the age of the head of the household and the surcharges for investments. In turn, the size of the farm appeared to be irrelevant from the viewpoint of the technical efficiency of the agricultural sector.

The objective of the study is to analyze the economics of the bio-energy production for Taiwan in terms of the bio-energy production, social welfare and crop yield increase under the conventional bio-power, ethanol and pyrolysis. The effects on rice production patterns are also examined for the fast and slow pyrolysis plus the biochar application. In addition to adopting the mathematical programming model (Modified Taiwan Agricultural Sector Model) in the analysis of the bio-energy production and the crop cultivation patterns, the study further employs a nonparametric kernel regression model to forecast the increased benefits of rice from using biochar under various scenarios. With the biochar application, Taiwan's rice production could increase ranging from 6308 to 38 118 tons annually, depending on the pyrolysis type and the plant location. The results indicate that the biochar utilization can potentially increase social benefits if rice is planted. The net increase of farmer>s and the environmental revenues can achieve up to NT$ 419 400. Moreover, we find that farmers should give priority to the improvement of nutrient saving to make higher benefits. Second, the total benefits could be improved if the seed use is efficient and harvesting and transporting costs for the energy crop and processing and the hauling cost of biochar are lower. Simulation results indicate that Taiwan benefits from the bio-energy production in terms of energy security, farmers revenue, social welfare and rice supply. The results show that, in general, pyrolysis plus the biochar application not only increase the domestic renewable energy supply but also enhance the farmers' and environmental revenues significantly.

Hunger and poverty are main critical issues in less developed countries (LDCs) and can be attributed to the fact that almost 70% of the LDC populations are employed in the agricultural sector. Although the international trade can reduce food insecurity in LDCs, for example, facilitating the access to larger markets, the volatility in food prices since the late 2000s has negatively affected the food availability. This study examines the effects of trade on the food security and traces a U-shaped relationship between two variables, using 2000-2010 panel data for the LDCs. The results are robust across different methods and show that the food security decreases in the initial stages of the trade expansion but increases beyond a given threshold. The key finding of this study is the U-shaped relationship between trade and food security, which suggests that the policy makers should pay more attention to expanding investments in the agricultural productivity, particularly from the viewpoints of the self-sufficiency and self-reliance.

The paper deals with an analysis of the factors determining changes in the total factor productivity (TFP) in Czech agriculture. The study focuses on three important sectors - cereals, dairy and pork - and assesses the period after the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU (2004-2011). Firstly, the multiple output distance function models were estimated. Secondly, the TFP was calculated and decomposed into scale efficiency (SE), management component (MAN), technological change (TCH) and technical efficiency (TE). The results show that the TFP development was significantly determined by the TCH in each sector.

The paper is a part of solution of the grant awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture (NAZV) No. QF 3276 and analyzes the influence of the price level of imported bottled wine on the competition in the wine-production sector in the Czech Republic. The comparison of the industrial producers' prices in the Czech Republic with the average import prices of bottled wine in particular years brings us to conclusion that a threat for Czech producers is first the price of the imported table wine (white and red) at present. The average import prices of this wine category varied under the minimal average industrial producers' prices in 1998-2003. The average import price of the white table wine in containers up to 2 liters was 19 CZK per liter in 2003 and the minimal average industrial producers' price was 26.90 CZK per liter in the same year. The price level is higher in case of the red table wine in general, but the average annual import prices (in 2003, 23 CZK per liter) also varied under the minimal average industrial producers' prices in all analyzed years (in 2003, 29.70 CZK per liter). The situation is more positive for the Czech wine producers in case of the quality wine. There is a space for an increase in price. The average import prices were by 25 CZK per liter per year higher in average than the maximal industrial producers' prices in the Czech Republic in all analyzed years. However, while the average annual import price of the white quality wine increases (50 CZK per liter in 1998; 93 CZK per liter in 2003) and creates a bigger space for the Czech wine producers in the price policy, the average annual import prices of the red quality wine varied around 80 CZK per liter in all analyzed years.

The article is focused on food problem in the least developed countries, on the chosen areas where the overall situation is the most problematic. It deals with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, belonging to the low income food deficit countries with one of the world's lowest rates of the gross domestic product per capita. The paper defines the food security situation in a global connection, representing a wide complex of economic, social, demographic, technologic and political aspects of production, distribution, shift and consumption of foodstuffs. Despite some progresses in the political situation, the effects of the economic crisis and the widespread food insecurity are expected to persist. Te humanitarian assistance is now needed to support the needs of the most vulnerable. In the longer term, the countries have the significant goal of consolidating peace and security and strengthening the overall governance, while at the same time reconstructing and rehabilitating their economy.

Green finance is a core part of the low carbon green growth, because it connects the financial industry, environmental improvement and economic growth. The objective of this paper is to study the green finance and to validate the concept as feasible in the Indian industries for balancing the ecological depreciation due to the assimilation of carbon gases in atmosphere. Green Finance is a market-based investing or lending program that factors environmental impact into risk assessment, or utilizing environmental incentives to drive business decisions. Therefore, the paper also discusses the recent trends and the future opportunities and challenges in green finance in the emerging India. Green investing recognizes the value of the environment and its natural capital and also seeks to improve the human well-being and social equity while reducing environmental risks and improving the ecological integrity.

Excise duties are an important source of the government revenue and their rates change relatively often in the Czech Republic. Reforms of excise duties change the prices of goods, a change to which the households respond by adjusting their expenditures. In the contribution, there are used detailed Czech Statistical Office data and the estimates of own- and cross-price and income elasticities for the individual households to create a microeconomic simulation model that enables to simulate the impact of changes in excise duties on the households' demands. There is shown the distributional impact of the current excise duties and then the impact of the hypothetical increases of 10 per cent in each of them is simulated. Further, there is simulated the impact of certain approved or proposed changes in the excise duties including the unsuccessful 2012 proposal to introduce an excise duty on wine.

New requirements regarding agriculture production together with the increased pressure on environmentally friendly practices leave almost no space for the routine agriculture production. Innovations that include environmental changes are therefore essential. Agricultural research faces various challenges associated with the quality and effectiveness of agriculture production and recently also with the environmental and sustainability issues. The paper provides a case study focused on the environmental and social evaluation of a biological asset that constitutes an agricultural innovation. This paper also shows a concrete example of how the social and environmental reporting can be constructed and implemented by providing an evaluation of a Bumblebee Nest. As a result, the total value consisting of the market, ecosystem and aesthetic value is provided. Although the market value comprises the largest proportion of the total value, it does not exceed 64%.

Weather affects the economies worldwide and all economic sectors are to some extent weather sensitive. Agriculture is traditionally highly weather sensitive. While the catastrophic impact of weather has been long recognized, studied and managed the non-catastrophic weather risk gains in importance as the climate change becomes more pronounced. Weather derivatives provide a flexible management solution for the non-catastrophic weather risk. The paper presents weather derivatives as a new weather risk management tool and reviews and discusses the effectiveness of their application in agriculture

The paper examines the relationship between the use of specific knowledge and economic success among Hungarian grape growers and wine makers. In the last decade, Hungary has been left behind by world trends as represented by the increasing share of the premium and super-premium wines (which utilise higher knowledge) in the export development. According to our survey, one cause of this might be the inappropriate use and management of knowledge and skills which is 'conditio sine qua non' for wine making. The Hungarian wine regions (usually with resource-based, fordist type resource endowment) are rather knowledge users. We have found (based on the PCA estimation) that two principal components cover 77% of the total variance: 'Size' and 'Innovation capabilities'. However, although the use and spread of skills is a basic component in explaining the differences of variation among the companies, it is not unambiguous in formulating the business success measured in different indicators. Because the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have limited resources in capital accumulation and knowledge creation, they need to maintain living network connections in order to expand their constrained innovation capabilities. Instead of the 'closed' type of innovation and knowledge accumulation, they utilise the 'open' way of acquiring knowledge, where they necessarily share their specific information with their partners, but at the same time, they are supplied with new knowledge which might be vital for their own progress. The majority of the Hungarian vine- and wine makers are not open enough in the different phases of the innovation process. However, our analysis proves that if they showed up mutuality especially in knowledge sharing with their competitors, they could improve their positions significantly. We conclude that the Hungarian wine enterprises - keeping the idea generation as well as its further development, elaboration and the adequate use within the frame of the company - can achieve market success.

The articleanalyses the agricultural HUF and FX loans and trends between 1995 and 2012. The authors use the linear and exponential analysis in trends of loans for agriculture in Hungary. During the period of 1995-2012, the bank loan for agriculture in percentage of the total bank loan in Hungary was at the highest level, namely 9.76%, when the total loan amount was 192.1 billion HUF in 1998, and this was at the lowest level, namely 3.69%, when the total loan amount was 265.6 billion HUF in 2010. The authors draw a growing linear trend of loans until 2005, namely the loan amount was 358.8 HUF billion, after that little decreasing occurred until 2008, and the loan amount has considerably decreased since 2008, when the economic and financial crisis started; while a decreasing trend of the loan ratio was going on. The average yearly credit increase is 24.486 billion HUF. The Hungarian agricultural sector is in a better position than other sectors of the economy.

The paper provides an analysis of the last two decades Russian agricultural sector development. The main objective of the paper is to highlight the main changes which occurred. The paper is also identifying the role of agriculture in the Russian economy and society development. On the basis of the results coming from the paper, it is possible to characterize the Russian agriculture as follows. After a significant decline in the early 90s and the long process of transformation, the Russian economy including agricultural sector is starting to recover and it is stabilizing. The slowdown of the Russian agricultural performance was stopped (the millstone is the year 2000). At present, the Russian agrarian sector is under the process of recovery especially because of the massive state support (market protection and subsidies coming into agriculture). Agriculture is an important part of the Russian economy. Russia is characterized by large areas of agricultural land, one third of its population lives in the rural areas. The Russian Federation produces many of agricultural products and foodstuffs. However, the country is not self-sufficient in many products. The highest level of the import dependence is observed for meat, vegetables and fruits. Primary products dominate in the structure of Russian exports. Food and agricultural products amount for about only 2% of the Russian total export. The share of agricultural products in the Russian import is more significant and it amounts to 14%. However, in 2000s, there is a significant growth of the foreign trade turnover due to the expansion of both imports and exports. Currently, Russia is seeking not only to achieve a high level of self-sufficiency in basic agricultural products, but also it is trying to be a significant driver in the area of the international trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs.

There is a significant attention paid to food analysis in the context of authenticity monitoring in the food industry. Although this has focussed increasingly on food safety and authenticity, the agro-food sector has also instituted requirements for the product identification, differentiation and historical monitoring. For the design and evaluation of the control mechanism, here is used the common approach for the design of experiments (DOE), specifically the "full factorial" design. The uniqueness of the solution lays in a geometric interpretation of the large variability the impedance, due to the samples provided by different producers. The presented solution consisted of the linearization variable zone by the Taylor polynomial. In the next step, there was conducted fuzzification of the electric impedance to determine the mechanism for identifying of juice concentrations.

Agriculture, more than any other sector, is a provider of temporary jobs. The main aim of the paper is to analyze the impact of the temporary contract in agriculture on the probability of remaining employed in this sector. There is used a discrete-time competing risks duration model with two sub-samples, consisting of seasonal contracts and fixed-term contracts. The results show that while the probability of a worker finding a job increases with the number of temporary jobs already amassed in his or her career, this probability decreases with the number of interruptions in employment. There is also shown the effect of time dependence on the transition probabilities. Whether the temporary contract is seasonal or not, the risks of exiting towards non-employment are greatest for the shortest contracts, but the prospects for finding a job do improve thereafter. In the specific case of the fixed-term contract, the chances of converting this to a permanent contract are greater at the legal limit. Finally, the most highly qualified workers are those who leave the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, the risks of exiting are relatively low: agricultural jobs require a specific capital which is difficult to transfer to other sectors.

The paper deals with the institutional problems in the pig meat sector in the Czech Republic. The information was obtained in the frame of Project PHARE-ACE P97-8098-R "Institutional Economics in the Agri-Food Business: How can Structural Policy Help to Integrate EU?" The research was performed in year 2000 by means of a questionnaire method and a method of interviews with managers of individual entities in the food chain of pig meat sector. Problems of the execution of property rights in supplier-customer relations in the Czech pig meat sector are the following (institutional view): poor enforceability of property rights, sale for cash, refraining from long-term contracts, decrease of trust between business partners and trust in legal institutions, increase of transaction costs, lack of business ethics etc.

The fact that the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a key factor of development of individuals, regions, sectors and whole countries is well known at the beginning of the 21st century. The real situation of ICT utilization is very different in particular sections and it fails to reach standards that we would expect. The sphere of the agrarian sector of the Czech Republic is a very good example. The Information and Consulting Centre FEM at the University of Agriculture in Prague (IPC) has been participating on research of the utilization ICT in agriculture for three years. According to the latest data from July 2002, 55% of agrarian enterprises are connected to the Internet, which is much less than in other sectors.

For more than a century, and almost everywhere in the world, rural areas suffered a steady decline, due to the decrease of the real income from the agricultural activities, the lack of serious economic alternatives, and demographic issues. Rural tourism could contribute to the rural sustainable development through small local businesses valorising the natural, cultural and ethnographic resources. However, most of them need the financial support from private creditors (banks). The survey-based research conducted among banks' representatives has identified several strengths of small rural ventures, such as the small scale and the associated risks, the endurance to external shocks, the openness to market opportunities, as well as some of their weaknesses: e.g. a poor management experience, seasonality etc. We have also identified the actions necessary to be performed by these firms to attract financial resources from the banks' side, i.e. the diversification of income sources, the association and the adherence to recognized brands and maintaining a reasonable leverage ratio. It was found that the bank's size does not matter, but the nature of the bank's capital does: the private domestic banks are more willing to finance such businesses. The banks' involvement in co-financing the EU projects could be a way to foster and strengthen the rural businesses.

The present study covers empirical research on the selected Agri-Biotech firms of Punjab. The sample has been chosen from the state of Punjab covering the sectors Food Processing Industry, Fertilizer and Pesticides Industry. On the basis of factor analysis, the study has also identified key factors influencing competitiveness. These are Threat of new competition; Threat of substitute products or services; Bargaining power of suppliers; Intensity of competitive rivalry; Bargaining power of customers; Rivalry among existing firms. The study also tries to evaluate the findings on the basis of the author-factor matrix. The aim is to identify the key factors influencing competiveness. It analyses the difference in competitive factors on the basis of the nature of the industry and on the basis of scale of the firms. Then finally it tries to determine the key competitive factors influencing the market share. The results indicate that the Threat of new competition and Threat of substitutes/services emerge as the important predictors. Intensity of competitive rivalry; Preparedness for Competition; and Bargaining power of suppliers also emerge as significant predictors. These variables explain 79.6% of variation in the model.

The cooperative movement in Poland has a long but difficult history, which has caused farmers to have an aversion to cooperatives. Nonetheless, in the early 1990s, the first farmers' cooperative marketing organizations, which were called agricultural producer groups, appeared in the market. These groups are bottom-up, voluntary organizations the primary purpose of which is to jointly sell their members' output. In this paper, it is investigated why the new forms of governance, namely cooperative arrangements, were chosen, and we evaluate the implications of these choices on the market success of these groups. Empirical data were collected from 62 producer groups in one Polish province. We found that the groups were typically functioning as associations, unions, and limited liability companies. The factors that had an impact on the choices made were the number of members and the specific investment per member. Additionally, if the initial investment level was low, not only set-up and operational costs but also tax considerations played a role in the decision. Therefore, we argue that the new bottom-up cooperatives, which are theoretically suitable when the start-up capital is high or the number of members is large, will gradually be recognized and accepted in the market despite the fact that these cooperatives have a "bad reputation" caused by the socialist legacy. The new cooperative development trend confirms this argument.

Because of the Greek economic crisis, almost all businesses are facing difficult times with severe consequences for employment and the whole economy. Responding to the economic crisis, the companies cut off investments, wages and reduced personnel. However, the companies have to adapt their business strategies to cope with the crisis. This paper conducts a strategic assessment of the Greek agricultural cooperatives during the first half of 2013 using in-depth interviews with cooperative executives in order to illustrate how they have responded to the crisis and also to investigate their strategic options for the upcoming period. The results of the analysis show that agricultural cooperatives have chosen the retrenchment and cost-cutting strategies by restraining their activities while they appear eager to export their production. In addition, the cash shortage forced them to count exclusively on their members to finance any new economic activity. According to the cooperatives' executives, their adaption strategies exclude abandoning the activities and selling the equipment and their real estate properties, while they involve exports, the experienced personnel and marketing investments. These results could provide helpful directions not only for the agricultural cooperatives' management boards but also for the food industry businesses operating under a severe economic situation such as the present Greek economic crisis.

The paper analyses the relationships between the profitability of viticulture on the one hand and the sugar content and grapes yield in viticulture in the Czech Republic between 1995 and 2014 on the other hand. The paper aims to find out which of these has had a greater impact on the viticulture profitability in the Czech Republic over the last twenty years. One of the frequently debated questions is whether a higher yield of grapes may also bring a high or moderately above average sugar content, and also whether the production for sale is profitable. The answer can be achieved either via the micro-appraisal (repeatable and many times conducted experiments) or via the macro-appraisal - collecting average data for the appraised region. For this paper, the macro-appraisal was chosen, i.e. the statistical survey for the Czech Republic between 1995 and 2014. The period of 20 years comes from an annual examination conducted by the Association of Winemakers of the Czech Republic on the grapes yields in their members. In the Czech Republic, the price in the grapes market is set depending on the variety of vine and sugar content. It follows from the 20-year statistics of the Association of Winemakers CR, that the profitability of grapes production for sale is not achieved by the sugar content but by the per hectare yield. The yield per hectare should vary between 5.5 and 7 t/ha (tonne per hectare) at the average sugar content of 18.5 to 21 ^oNM (between 11.0 and 12.5% volume of the potential alcohol). The grapes yield of more than 6 t/ha does not increase the profitability because the price offered by the purchasing companies decreases.

At present, the fundamental development way of agricultural production lies in science and technology to achieve the agricultural sustainable and stable development and ensure the effective supply of agricultural products for a long time. Many Chinese scholars had done many researches about the agricultural science and technology innovation. Numerous scholars got much valuable research conclusions for improving the construction of agricultural science and technology innovation system. However, there were still some problems existing in the current agricultural science research system, such as that the agricultural science and technology studies were divorced from the agricultural production, the mechanism of the market was still imperfect, there was an unreasonable layout in the agricultural science and technology. Therefore, we wanted to know the dynamic and the evolution path of the international agricultural science and technology innovation. What is more, we wanted to know whether there was a significant difference between the domestic and overseas agricultural science and technology innovation and if the international experience was good for the development of the Chinese agricultural science and technology innovation. So, there was analysed the research theme, the hot-spots and frontiers of international agricultural science and technology innovation based on the Citespace III to get the situation and character of the relevant international research.

The aim of the paper is to describe the land ownership relations in the area of the current Czech Republic since the foundation of Czechoslovakia. The description of the history of changes of land ownership in the Czech Republic is important for the perception of the current nature of the land use and land market. Land use and ownership was always related to the historical context and political regime. The time periods are divided by the important historical events: after 1918 (foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic), 2nd World War period, after 1948 (takeover of the power by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the centrally planned economy period) and after 1989 (foundation of the market economy). During this era, three land reforms took place. The main role was played by the political apparatus the aim of which was to enhance its economic and political influence, and international interests. It can be concluded that the ownership of land in the Czech lands was always uneven. During the period, the state expropriated land from different society spheres and reallocated it to others. No other property in private ownership underwent so many ownership changes in the legal organization of the state.

Rice is the main food in China's home consumption and plays an important role in its food security. But, how is the status of food safety and environmental efficiency in China's agriculture? Obviously, an incorrect manner of pesticide application will hold negative effects on human health and environment. In this article, we develop an analytical framework based on the Luenberger DEA method to calculate the output technical efficiency and input environmental efficiency simultaneously. In the second-stage analysis, the stochastic frontier model is used to estimate the impact of explanatory variables and managerial efficiency on efficiency. We apply the methodology in the empirical case study of China's rice production for measuring the food safety performance of China's rice sector.