Faba beans are highly nutritious because of their high protein content: they are a good source of mineral nutrients, vitamins, and numerous bioactive compounds. Equally important is the contribution of faba bean in maintaining the sustainability of agricultural systems, as it is highly efficient in the symbiotic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. This article provides an overview of factors influencing faba bean yield and quality, and addresses the main biotic and abiotic constraints. It also reviews the factors relating to the availability of genetic material and the agronomic features of faba bean production that contribute to high yield and the improvement of European cropping systems. Emphasis is to the importance of using new high-yielding cultivars that are characterized by a high protein content, low antinutritional compound content, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. New cultivars should combine several of these characteristics if an increased and more stable production of faba bean in specific agroecological zones is to be achieved. Considering that climate change is also gradually affecting many European regions, it is imperative to breed elite cultivars that feature a higher abiotic–biotic stress resistance and nutritional value than currently used cultivars. Improved agronomical practices for faba bean crops, such as crop establishment and plant density, fertilization and irrigation regime, weed, pest and disease management, harvesting time, and harvesting practices are also addressed, since they play a crucial role in both the production and quality of faba bean.

Environmental conditions and climate change on a global scale affect the overall agriculture and food supply. Edamame, also called vegetable soybean is an import vegetable in the world, especially in the East Asia. China is the world's centre for vegetable soybean production. Edamame beans are harvested before full maturity when bean pods are green and just before turning to yellow colour. Most cultivated varieties in the world are of Japanese origin. The aim of this literature survey is to give a review on history and consumption facts of edamame, as well as on the yield and quality parameters of this fresh commodity. Monographic method has been used for this review. Edamame has a high nutritional and medical value. Composition of biologically active compounds in edamame plants is dependent on climate conditions, seasonal changes, cultivar properties and maturity stage. Vegetable soybean has a long cultivation history in the world. In Europe edamame is grown, but in Latvia edamame has not been grown until now, but there is some experience in soya grain growing. Pod colour is the main external quality factor of edamame. It can be influenced by light, moisture, fertilization, variety properties, planting density and harvesting procedures. Vegetation period for edamame in most cases is reported to be between 75 and 100 days.

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Agroecological service crops are introduced into the vegetable crop rotation to provide agroecosystem services, and are a key strategy for weed management in organic systems. Organic farmers across Europe usually terminate these crops before cultivation of the subsequent cash crop, using them as green manure. Recently, the in-line tillage-roller crimper has attracted interest across Europe. It allows flattening the agroecological service crops and creates a narrow furrow that facilitates the fertilization and transplantation of organic vegetables. In Europe, most of the research on this technology has been carried out in Italy, and no studies are available analyzing its effect on weed density, weed species richness, and community composition in different vegetable crops, soils, and climatic conditions across Europe. We compared the effects of the usage of in-line tillage-roller crimper versus green manure on the weed abundance, species richness, and community composition in fourteen original datasets from five countries over 2 years. The support for a common effect of in-line tillage-roller crimper across trials was tested by means of a meta-analytic approach based on a weighted version of Stouffer's method. Our results indicate that in-line tillageroller crimper management reduced weed density by 35.1% on average in comparison with green manure, and this trend was significant across trials. Moreover, we document a significant reduction of weed species richness under this technique and significant but, in general, minor changes in the weed community composition across the trials. Therefore, this study provides for the first time a solid evidence of the effectiveness of this management technique to reduce weed density at the early stages of crop growth across a wide range of vegetable systems and production conditions in Europe. Nonetheless, it is important to note that the effect of this technology can be strongly affected by variations in cropping conditions.

Straipsnyje yra analizuojamos aplinkos apsaugos politikos ištakos ir jos raida įvairiais Lietuvos istoriniais laikotarpiais. Darbe yra aptariamos Pirmosios Lietuvos Respublikos aplinkos apsaugos politikos užuomazgos, diskutuojami įvairūs požiūriai ar tai buvo politikos pradžia, ar tik klasikinė aplinkosauga. Taip pat yra vertinamas sovietinio valdymo laikotarpis, kai buvo priimtas Gamtos apsaugos įstatymas, kuris pradėjo teisiškai reglamentuoti aplinkosaugą ir nustatė pirmus svarbiausius aplinkos apsaugos valdymo principus. Remiantis aplinkosaugos specialistų nuomone yra aptariami pirmieji atkurtos Lietuvos Respublikos nepriklausomybės metai, kai teisiškai buvo nustatyti svarbiausi aplinkos apsaugos valdymo politikos principai. Vėlesniais metais aplinkos apsaugos politika buvo formuojama ne tik teisės aktų pagalba, bet patvirtinus Valstybinę aplinkos apsaugos strategiją bei Nacionalinę aplinkos apsaugos strategiją. Šios strategijos suformavo svarbiausius Lietuvos aplinkos apsaugos politikos principus. Straipsnyje taip pat yra aptariama aplinkos apsaugos politikos samprata, pateikiami skirtingi į ją požiūriai.