The main aim of the work described here was to investigate knowledge transfer to farms, as well as to analyse the levels of knowledge present as this relates to farm performance. Possible inefficiency of knowledge utilisation was investigated at the levels of the individual farm, the gmina (commune -unit of local government administration in Poland) and the region. It emerged from this that the performance of farms was closely related to level of knowledge, with results offering a basis for the elaboration of different models for knowledge transfer in agriculture. Specifically, the three models distinguished in relation to the path of information flow are peer to peer, global information or direct from supplier.

The sustainability transition of rural areas is a must due to rapid climate changes and biodiversity loss. Given the limited resources of rural communities, policy should facilitate a just sustainability transition of the EU rural areas. The analysis of EU development policies, past performance and the envisaged scope of reform, presented in this study point to a serious inconsistency between the declaration and implementation of relevant policies. Namely, the marginal role rural areas perform in common agricultural policy and cohesion policy; a result of the lack of a complex approach to rural development. The analysis was based on the concept of good governance and took a multi-level perspective. It advocates territorial justice as an approach that should be at the core of creating a comprehensive policy for rural areas in the EU, including their diversity and empowering local communities to choose the transition pathway that is most in line with their current situation and development capacity. This analysis fills a gap in research on the evolution of the rural development policy in the EU. This research can inform the reprioritization and intensification of efforts to create equitable policies for EU rural development.

The copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) and butadiene (BD) in the presence of zinc chloride was studied in further detail. The reaction yields as 1 : 1 copolymer of AN and BD together with varying amounts of the AN/BD cyclodimer 4-cyanocyclohexene. The effects of varying monomer feed composition and molar proportion of ZnClZ/AN on the yield of the copolymer were determined. Further, it was observed, that the addition of free radical initiators and inhibitors markedly influence the course of the reaction. Initiators significantly reduce the polymerization induction period, characteristic of this copolymerization and enhance the yield of copolymer. Inhibitors conversely reduce the formation of copolymer but enhance formation of the cyclocodimer AN/BD. Addition of styrene (ST) t o the system BD/AN/ZnC12 significantly increases the polymerization rate and results in the formation of a terpolymer AN/BD/ST containing 50 mole-% AN. Based on these results, various aspects of the copolymerization mechanism of AN with BD catalyzed by ZnClz are discussed. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Die Copolymerisation von Acrylnitril (AN) mit Butadien (BN) in Gegenwart von Zinkchlorid wurde eingehend untersucht. Neben verschiedenen Mengen des AN/BD Cyclocodimeren 4-Cyanocyclohexen bildete sich das 1 : l Copolymere von AN und BD. Die Copolymerenausbeute wurde in Abhangigkeit von dem Ausgangsverhaltnis der eingesetzten Monomeren zueinander und der ZnClz/AN-Konzentration bestimmt. Ferner wurde beobachtet, daS der Zusatz von radikalischen Initiatoren ebenso wie der von radikalischen Inhibitoren den Reaktionslauf merklich beeinflufit. Die fur diese Copolymerisation so charakteristische Induktionsperiode wird durch den Zusatz von Initiatoren signifikant verkurzt und die Ausbeute des Copolymeren erhoht. Inhibitoren verringern andererseits die Bildung des Copolymeren und begiinstigen die Bildung des Cyclocodimeren AN/BD. Der Zusatz von Styrol (ST) zu dem System BD/AN/ZnC12 erhoht die Polymerisationsgeschwindigkeit erheblich und fuhrt zur Bildung des AN/BD/ST-Terpolymeren mit einem Gehalt von 50 M01-y~ an AN.Auf diesen Ergebnissen aufbauend werden verschiedene Aspekte des Mechanismus der Copolymerisation von AN und BD unter katalytischer Wirkung von ZnC12 diskutiert. *) This investigation was supported by the POLISII ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

The negative socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are widely discussed. However, relatively less attention is paid to its impact on the world commodity price formation including energy and food prices. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on world energy commodity prices and their interactions with world food commodity prices. Using the World Bank data on commodity prices we look for evidence of changes in energy and food prices caused by occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was assumed to be a negative shock to the global economy in terms of both supply and demand. Based on data series analysis of indices of world energy and food commodity prices, it is evident that after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic the energy prices, especially oil prices, plummeted. Food prices followed the same direction; however, their plunge was much less extreme. In general, it can be concluded that the pandemic caused a severe energy price shock which clearly had a negative impact on global economic growth, but the scale of this impact differs depending on the type of economic sector and countries’ net export positions in energy and food trade.

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