Energetic and Economic Analyses for Agricultural Management Models: The Calabria PGI Clementine Case Study

In Vitro Evaluation of Acute Toxicity of Five Citrus spp. Essential Oils towards the Parasitic Mite Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor is the most important ectoparasitic mite of honey bees that has a negative impact on bee health and honey production. The control programs are mainly based on the use of synthetic acaricides that are often administered indiscriminately. All this has led to drug resistance that now represent a great concern for honey bee farming. The research for alternative products/methods for mites’ control is now mandatory. The aim of this study was to test whether Citrus spp. essential oils could diminish the growth of the V. destructor mite. In Calabria (southern Italy), plants of the Citrus genus are very common and grow both spontaneously and cultured. The essential oils used in this study were extracted from bergamot (Citrus bergamia), grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), lemon (Citrus limon), orange (Citrus sinensis), and mandarin (Citrus reticulata) by hydrodistillation. Every EO was in vitro tested against V. destructor. Each experimental replicate was performed using 35 viable adult female mites (5 for each EO) collected the same day from the same apiary and included negative controls (5 individuals exposed to acetone only) and positive controls (5 individuals exposed to Amitraz diluted in acetone). The essential oils (Eos) were diluted (0.5 mg/mL, 1 mg/mL, and 2 mg/mL) in HPLC grade acetone to obtain the working solution to be tested (50 µL/tube). Mite mortality was manually assessed after 1 h exposure under controlled conditions. The essential oils that showed the best effectiveness at 0.5 mg/mL were bergamot, which neutralized (dead + inactivated) 80% (p ≤ 0.001) of the parasites; grapefruit, which neutralized 70% (p ≤ 0.001); and lemon, which neutralized 69% of them. Interestingly, the positive control (Amitraz) at the same concentration neutralized 60% of the parasites. These results demonstrate that Calabrian bergamot, grapefruit, and lemon Eos consistently reduced V. destructor viability and open the possibility for their utilization to control this parasite in honey bee farming.

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

Climate change and negative environmental effects are results of a simplified understanding of management processes, i.e., assuming economic effects as the basis for development, without taking into account external costs. Economically efficient facilities are not always environmentally efficient. Due to the existing conflict of economic and environmental goals, it seems necessary to look for measures that would include both economic and environmental elements in their structure. The above doubts were the main reasons for undertaking this research. One of the important sectors of the economy accepted for research, where energy is an essential factor of production, is agriculture. Agricultural production is very diversified both in terms of inputs and final products. Depending on the production direction, the processes of conversion of energy accumulated in inputs into energy accumulated in commodity products have different natures and relationships. Taking into account the importance of agriculture in the national economy and the current environmental needs of the world, the types of farms generating energy surplus and those in which the surplus is the least cost-consuming were indicated. The research used the economic and energy efficiency index, which makes it possible to jointly assess technical and economic efficiency. Assuming the need to produce food with low energy consumption and a positive energy balance, it is reasonable to develop a support system for those farms showing the highest economic and energy efficiency indicators.

Energy Consumption and Its Structures in Food Production Systems of the Visegrad Group Countries Compared with EU-15 Countries

While joining the European Union (EU) in 2004, the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) had to face a major challenge in the context of adapting to the EU standards in the field of energy use and energy efficiency. One of the sectors that heavily depends on the use of energy (mainly from fossil fuels) is the food production system, whose energy transformation is essential for future food security. The study aimed to measure the use of energy and its structures in the food production systems of the V4 countries and the EU-15 countries in relation to the implementation of the EU energy targets. The targets assumed, among other things, a reduction in overall energy use and an increase in the share of renewables in the energy mix. The proprietary method based on the assumptions of lifecycle assessment was applied to measure energy consumption in the food production systems with the use of input–output tables and energy accounts, which are part of the World Input–Output Database. The research shows a decreasing share of the food production systems in energy use of the V4 countries, while in the EU-15 countries, it remains on average at a stable, low level (around 4.4%). The discussed share for Poland averaged 8.8% in the period considered, for Hungary 7.6%, for the Czech Republic 3.8%, and for Slovakia 3.3%. The share of renewables in energy use of the food production systems is growing. However, in some countries of the EU-15, it increases at a slower pace than the assumed strategic goals, mainly in the countries that are the largest food producers in the EU. For Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, the average deviation of the share of renewables use in the food production system from the 2020 target for the entire economy is around 12 percentage points. In the case of V4 countries, the share of renewable energy use in food production systems is close to the assumed strategic targets.

Energy Use and Economic Analysis of Fertilizer Use in Wheat and Sugar Beet Production in Serbia

Increased demand for food production, influenced by the constant growth of population, resulted in the agricultural production systems that are more energy and economy intensive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the energetic and economic efficiency of sugar beet and wheat production. Attention was given to the fertilizer usage and its share in energy consumption since it can amount to 50%. Data show that energy input in wheat production was 5.84 MJ·kg−1 and in sugar beet it was 0.93 MJ·kg−1. The highest share of energy input both in wheat and sugar beet was observed for fertilizers, 52.45% and 46.70%, respectively. Economic analysis has shown that wheat production is a low profitable production with a net return of only 20.69 USD·ha−1, in comparison with sugar beet production with a net return of 513.53 USD·ha−1. Costs related to the fertilizer use prevailed in total variable and total production costs. Economic analysis has also shown that the benefit-to-cost ratio was higher in sugar beet production (1.33) compared to wheat production (1.03). Furthermore, it was determined that these economic indicators were less sensitive in sugar beet production than in wheat production regarding the variation of fertilizer.

Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Table Grape Production in Italy

In recent years, the environmental sustainability of agri-food systems has become a crucial issue. Agri-food firms are increasingly concerned with the implementation of viable environmentally friendly production processes. The environmental impacts of the table grape sector, as well as other fresh and not transformed food products, involve mainly the farming phase rather than the subsequent conditioning, transportation, packaging, and distribution phases. The purpose of this study was to assess the environmental impacts and the economic viability of three table grapes production models (i.e., early harvesting, normal harvesting, and delayed harvesting), based on the Italian tendone system, during the entire life cycle. The environmental impact analysis was performed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, while the economic analysis was performed using the life cycle costing (LCC) approach. The results show that the early and the delayed production models generated the highest environmental burdens, but also the highest economic returns, compared to the normal harvesting production model. The main determinants of the environmental impacts and economic returns are discussed and some practical recommendations are given to improve the sustainability of all the surveyed production models, so to converge public and private interests.