During the past decade, the general attitude of the population towards health, nutrition, quality and environment has remarkably changed. Consequently, organic farming is increasing, especially in economically developed countries. Due to the growing demand, government subsidies and other economic advantages, the cropping area has increased. In Hungary, organic farming principally...

Organic milk production in the UK increased from 16 million litres in 1997/98 to 218 million litres in 2001/02 (MDC, 2002). Consumers often cite health benefits of organic food as a reason for purchase (Hill and Lynchehaun, 2002; MDC, 2002). To date, only minor differences in composition between organic and...

The nutritive value of forages for ruminants highly depends on the ratio between cell content and cell walls and on the ability of the rumen microorganisms to degrade the plant cell walls (Waldo, 1986). The primary function of the NDF fraction in ruminant diets is to provide energy for microbial...

One of the characteristics of organic farming is the conservation of domestic, endogenous livestock breeds and strains. For a successful development of the organic pig sector in Southern Europe, the animals must be well adapted domestic breeds, as they are exposed to extreme weather conditions in the free range systems...

Maintaining high welfare status and allowing birds access to natural behaviour and outdoors are particular challenges in organic egg production. Feather pecking, foot problems, external parasites and poor utilisation of outdoor areas have been recognised as problems in organic layer systems (Lampkin 1997, Berg 2001, Kjilstra et al. 2003). Inexperience...

All stakeholders in the organic livestock food chain have different priorities with respect to food quality. Stakeholders include producers, wholesalers, retailers, advisory bodies, certification groups, regulatory and inspection groups (such as environmental health officers & food microbiologists) and the consumer. Due to the wide range in requirements by these different...

While the level of consumption of organic food is markedly lower in Hungary than in many other European countries, there is an increasing trend among consumers to look for functional and ethically and environmentally sustainable food. This potentially opens up new perspectives for the organic food producers who currently are...

Nearly 1,600 organic farming enterprises are inspected by the Hungarian organic inspection authority, Biokontroll Hungária Kht.. Only 160 of these farms keep livestock. Cattle are the most common species, but the percentage of sheep is also significant (Biokontroll Hungária Kht., 2004). The sheep are generally kept in extensive circumstances, on...

Economic reforms launched in the early 1990s have significantly affected Czech agriculture for more than a decade. First was the reform of property rights to land, which was considered an underlying condition for the effective functioning of a market economy. The reform was built upon three principals: restitution of land...

This paper presents an historical account of the significance of wine production in a region of south-central Hungary, with a particular focus on the transformations accomplished under socialism and the problems faced by this branch of the rural economy in the post socialist years. Drawing on his own and other...

Building on existing models for the role of agriculture in industrialized and developing countries, this chapter examines a number of critical aspects of agriculture’s role in Central and Eastern European (CEE) rural development. By reviewing the contributions of this proceedings volume, we focus on the perspectives of small farms, rural...

This study targets social capital development possibilities in the rural territories of Latvia, and focuses on its inhabitants' public activities. Private property was restored more than 10 years ago, and since then the number of public organisations has sharply increased. These organisations offer the chance to solve several problems. The...

The paper analyses the impact of institutional factors on the agricultural sales of the individual farmers in Romania. The analysis relies on the Agricultural Household Survey conducted in 15 villages in 2003 in Romania and on interviews with the agricultural engineers at the village level. The study uses the social...

The paper discusses the impact of industrialized countries' agricultural policy on the development of rural areas, with special reference to the CAP. Against the background of the principles of rural development policy it analyses effects on employment and environmental objectives in rural areas. The impact of agricultural market policies is...

This paper aim is to examine various assumptions referring to the increase of subsistence farming in Slovakia during the transformation period. Based on statistical data from small landholdings and individual, non-registered farms in various regions of the country (districts with high and low unemployment, eastern and northern versus western and...

The objective of the paper is to analyse the evolution and strategies of Albanian farms in order to understand the process of adapting to the market economy, to outline the role of agriculture in the country's socio-economic development and to identify future strategies of public policies in rural areas. The...

For Poland, the last decade of the 20th century was a time of intensive social, political and economic change. Poland was confronted with the necessity of quick but deep changes in the economy, as well as in state administration and the functioning of newly-established self-government structures. As a result of...

During the past decade and a half considerable effort has been put into agricultural restructuring in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that are undergoing transition to a market economy. The last decade has also coincided with considerable increase in inequality in all transition economies. The fall in...

In this paper, the processes of adapting to the market economy, which the agricultural credit market in Poland underwent during the 1990-2003 period, is examined. Under conditions of low agricultural income and the necessity of broad and deep restructuring in Polish agriculture, the credit market, as an external source of...

During the 1990’s transition period for Eastern Europe, the European Association for Animal production (EAAP) carried out numerous activities in support of restructuring the animal production sector in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). This resulted in a large number of publications on animal production system and issues related...