Search Results (40)

The purpose of this research was twofold. Firstly, it aimed to indicate factors hindering and accelerating the development of organic food as a niche innovation in Poland. Secondly, to depict a phase and a pathway of sustainability transition in the Polish agri-food sector. The analysis was performed taking advantage of the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions, which has not been used to analyze the sustainability transition in Poland so far. Data were collected through a systemic literature review. Organic food production is a slow-growing niche in Poland, and the sustainability transition from the current dual agri-food regime consisting of small family farms and intensive food production is at a take-off phase. Organic food production struggles to become a regime with short food supply chains and agroecology, and the number of barriers it faces outweighs the number of enablers for its development. A de-alignment and re-alignment transition pathway can be observed. Which niche innovation becomes dominant depends on changes in regulations and on the development of both local marketplaces and online sales channels. The major conclusion is that in order for the transition in the Polish agri-food sector to happen, it should be better governed. Specifically, we need new policy instruments and governance mechanisms, new financing schemes, alternative and hybrid organizational and ownership structures, and institutional and transformative change approaches. Full article

Yellow lupin seeds are a rich source of protein, which is why they are grown for animal feed and human consumption. At the same time, there is growing interest in organic farming. However, this type of cultivation is more susceptible to diseases, including viral ones. Yellow lupin is most commonly affected by the bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). We have therefore determined the occurrence of these two pathogens in six new Polish yellow lupin cultivars (Goldeneye, Salut, Diament, Puma, Mister and Bursztyn) grown in accordance with organic farming rules. Field experiments were conducted over three years, from 2022 to 2024, in three locations in eastern Poland. The Goldeneye cultivar was the most susceptible to BYMV, with an average infection rate of 59.17% of plants. In contrast, the Puma cultivar was the least susceptible to BYMV infection, with an average infection rate of 23.34%. However, even within this cultivar, most plants were infected under conditions of strong pathogen pressure (up to 90% in one of the locations in 2024). CMV infections were less frequent, with no statistical differences being found between cultivars in terms of the number of infected plants. Full article

Background: The current food system is unsustainable, making it essential to address the issue globally through adequate policies and sustainable development goals. The European Union aims to dedicate 25% of farmland to organic farming by 2030 to promote sustainable practices. Warsaw is the first Polish city working on an urban sustainable food policy; however, there is limited data on the sustainable food system (SFS) and organic sector available. Objectives: This research examines whether consumers in Warsaw who prefer organic food also display other sustainable characteristics and awareness, reflected in their food choices, dietary habits, and other food-related behaviors. Methods: A household survey (HHS) was conducted as part of the SysOrg project, focusing on evaluating the sustainability of food systems in Warsaw in the areas of diet and organic food. The clusters of respondents, grouped by the self-declared proportion of organic foods in their diets, were analyzed and compared, and in addition, correlation analyses of the share of organic food in diets and other sustainability parameters were performed. Results: The study of 449 respondents indicates that Warsaw is at an early stage of the organic transformation, with the largest group of respondents declaring a 1–10% share of organic products in their diet. There were significant differences in dietary choices, sustainability awareness, and food selection habits and motivations among various consumer groups depending on their organic food share. Conclusions: Overall, this study’s findings highlight a link between organic food consumption and certain sustainable behaviors, suggesting potential for organic consumers’ contribution to a sustainable transformation. The study offers valuable insights into the existing knowledge gap regarding the behaviors of organic and sustainable consumers in Warsaw. Furthermore, despite the non-random nature of the sample limiting the generalizability of findings, it serves as a preliminary resource for other European cities that are formulating food policies and incorporating Green Public Procurement (GPP) into their procurement processes, especially for municipalities within the Visegrad Group. Full article

This research aimed to qualitatively analyze the composition of selected extra virgin olive oils from organic and conventional farming available on the Polish market. Determination of the fatty acid profile, determination of the sterol content, and measurement of the acidic and peroxide numbers of the olive oils were performed. Moreover, the content of phenolic acids was determined using the HPLC method, and the antioxidant activity was examined using, e.g., the FRAP and DPPH methods, to establish the differences between the analyzed olive oil samples. The most abundant fatty acids in the olive oil were monounsaturated fatty acids (65.60–78.50%) with oleic acid (59.54–75.36%), saturated fatty acids (14.60–20.49%) with palmitic acid (10.93–16.45%), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (7.80–15.04%) with linoleic acid (6.24–14.34%). The phytosterol fraction consisted of β-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, clerosterol, ∆5-avenasterol, cycloartenol, 24-methylenecycloartenol, and citrostadienol, and its concentration ranged from 775.23 to 1115.70 mg/kg of the olive oils. The conventional method of olive cultivation influenced campesterol concentration in the extra virgin olive oils, and the concentration was higher in such products than in organic. Tests conducted on the reduction of iron ions (FRAP method) showed that the olive oil obtained from conventional farming (except for one product) had slightly higher antioxidant activity (0.23–0.30 μmol TE/g of olive oil) than that obtained from organic farming (0.19–0.26 μmol TE/g of olive oil). The total content of phenolic acids (oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol) in the extra virgin olive oils ranged from 133.20 to 226.82 mg/kg. Full article

The European Green Deal, including the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, assumes an increase in the area under organic farming to 25% by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to understand the factors that lead to the development of organic farming. Data from Lithuanian and Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network datasets and logistic regression was used to evaluate factors influencing the adoption of organic farming in two neighboring countries—Lithuania and Poland—that have quite different agricultural sectors. The study period was 2009–2019. The results indicated that multiple factors affected the probability of adopting organic farming in both Lithuania and Poland. However, the results were somewhat different at the beginning and at the end of the research period. The findings also demonstrated an important role of subsidies in the adoption of organic farming. These findings are particularly important for policy makers to design effective policies and programs aimed at supporting the development of organic farming in both Lithuania and Poland. Full article

Organic farming takes on particular importance in the context of implementing the sustainable development concept as it combines environmentally safe farming methods with (as a general assumption) producing pollution-free food. Hence, environmental conditions might play a role in determining the development pace of that type of farming. The key objective of this paper is therefore to identify the scope and direction of multidimensional relationships between the development level of organic farming and environmental conditions. This was performed with the canonical analysis. The research process included the structuring of the authors’ own synthetic metrics used in assessing the condition of the environment and the development level of organic farming. The study covered European Union countries and all 380 Polish districts (Poland is one of the very few Union members where organic farming development is currently inconsistent with the expected trends adopted under the Common Agricultural Policy). It follows from the analyses that when the variables relating to environmental conditions are known, they can explain only less than 10% of variance in the set of variables used in describing the development level of Polish organic farming. In turn, the analysis at Union level suggests that a positive—but not stronger than moderate—correlation exists between the two phenomena. Full article

In the next few years, the demand for organic crops, including barley, will grow. Barley is one of the world’s most important crops cultivated for food and feed. With the forecasted increase in cropped area, there is a need for stable, well-adapted and high-yielding varieties. The aim of this study was to assess the yield stability of ten varieties tested in the Polish organic post-registration trials in the years 2020–2022. For this purpose, we fitted a linear mixed model on plot data. Additionally, for each variety, we calculated the probability of the yield falling to a certain threshold. It is shown that the Bente variety was the highest-yielding among the tested varieties. The Pilote variety was the most stable in terms of Shukla’s stability variance. Furthermore, for the three highest-yielding varieties, the lowest values of the simultaneous selection index and the probability of falling below a certain threshold were obtained. We can, therefore, conclude that the highest-yielding varieties should be promoted for cultivation. Moreover, new varieties suitable for organic farming can be bred from the highest-yielding and most stable varieties. Full article

Agriculture is one of the key sectors of the economy, but it also generates many residues and waste that are only partially used (as, for example, feed, litter, and fertilizer). The resulting residues and waste can be valuable components for other sectors of the economy (e.g., energy), contributing to the implementation of a circular economy. The main aim of the research is to assess the diversity of the biomass potential from agricultural residues in the context of the level of organization of agricultural production and circular agriculture in Poland at the local level (314 counties). The level of organization of agricultural production was determined using the synthetic measure based on four variables (average farm size, number of tractors per farm, share of farms producing for the market, and the number of AWU per 100 ha of UAA). The potential of agricultural biomass was estimated on the basis of existing surpluses of straw, hay, energy crops grown on marginal lands, and residues from orchard maintenance. The data came from the General Agricultural Census conducted by the Polish Statistical Office in 2020. The conducted research showed that over 75% of counties are characterized by a high and medium level of organization of agricultural production. However, unused biomass resources from agricultural production residues are common (2/3 of counties are characterized by high and medium potential). There is a positive relationship between the level of biomass potential from agricultural residues and the level of organization of agricultural production at the local level in Poland, but the strength of this relationship is weak. Full article

Leaf rust and net blotch are two important fungal diseases of barley. Leaf rust is the most important rust disease of barley, whereas net blotch can result in significant yield losses and cause the deterioration of crop quality. The best and the most environmentally friendly method to control diseases is to cultivate resistant varieties. The aim of the current study was to identify barley varieties with an improved resistance to leaf rust and net blotch in Polish organic post-registration trials conducted in the years 2020–2022. For this purpose, the cumulative link mixed model with several variance components was applied to model resistance to leaf rust and net blotch. It was found that the reference variety Radek was the most resistant to leaf rust, whereas variety Avatar outperformed the reference variety in terms of resistance to net blotch, although the difference between the two varieties was non-significant. In the present study, the use of the cumulative link mixed model framework made it possible to calculate cumulative probabilities or the probability of a given score for each variety and disease, which might be useful for plant breeders and crop experts. Both, the method of analysis and resistant varieties may be used in the breeding process to derive new resistant varieties suitable for the organic farming system. Full article

Mastitis is a common mammary gland disease of dairy cattle caused by a wide range of organisms including bacteria, fungi and algae. Mastitis contributes to economic losses of dairy farms due to reduced yield and poor quality of milk. Since the correct identification of pathogens responsible for the development of mastitis is crucial to the success of treatment, it is necessary to develop a quick and accurate test to distinguish the main pathogens causing this disease. In this paper, we describe the development of a test based on the multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method allowing for the identification of Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis and Staphylococcus aureus. When creating our test, we relied on the results from new generation sequencing (NGS) for accurate determination of species affiliation. The multiplex PCR test was verified on 100 strains including veterinary samples, ATCC and Polish Collection of Microorganisms (PCM) reference strains. The obtained results indicate that this test is accurate and displays high specificity. It may serve as a valuable molecular tool for the detection of major mastitis pathogens. Full article

By producing high quality food with a low environmental impact, organic farming plays an essential role in developing sustainable food systems. Over time, consumer interest in organic food is systematically growing, which results in a generally positive attitude towards organic products. Many studies that are devoted to analysing organic food consumers’ behaviour aim to generalise the studied trends to the population of a given country or region. Given the varying rates of organic market development between countries, there is a need for more narrowly focused research, which could more profoundly facilitate local development of organic market. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of Polish consumers about organic fruit and to identify the socioeconomic and sociodemographic determinants of the propensity to choose and purchase organic fruit. Respondents were recruited via a market research agency using a consumer access panel. To collect responses, a formal, structured questionnaire was developed and distributed using the CAWI method. The general acceptance of price increases for organic apples amounts to less than around 30% (89% of responses). The effect of income and package size tend to interact with regard to the purchase preference of apples (p < 0.001). The highest frequency of organic fruit purchases were indicated for physical stores, in particular supermarkets (5.35 times/month, 95%CI). A relationship between willingness to consume organic fruits and the self-described economic situation (p = 0.005), as well as true household income (p = 0.007), has been shown. A relationship between the frequency of organic fruit purchases and the number of household members (p = 0.006), as well as number of household members under the age of 18 (p = 0.011), has also been shown. Marketing techniques for organic products should emphasize family welfare and be directed at younger consumers, especially at retail outlets where customers are most likely to buy them, namely physical supermarkets, local grocery stores and discount stores. Full article

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the specialization of agricultural production on selected parameters of soil health, i.e., soil organic carbon content (SOC), soil acidification, soil nutrient status, i.e., total nitrogen content (N_T), available forms of phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, and microelements content, as well as the content of selected potentially toxic metals (PTMs). For the study, 18 farms located in the Masovian Voivodeship in Central Poland were selected. They were grouped into six types, and each type was represented by three farms. The study included organic farms; farms specializing in: crop, vegetable, poultry, dairy cattle, and pigs production. A total of 144 soil samples were analyzed. The results showed that the specialization of agricultural production and fertilizer management had a significant impact on most of the tested soil health parameters, except SOC and N_T content. Despite the high organic fertilizer doses introduced into soils in poultry (170 kg N per hectare as poultry manure) and pig farms (150 kg N per hectare as pig manure), there was no significant influence of these amendments on SOC content. This may indicate low organic carbon sequestration potential in some Polish agricultural soils. Organic farms had the lowest levels of plant nutrients in the tested soil samples, which may limit soil productivity. All the tested soils were strongly acidified, which could restrict both production and regulatory soil functions. Based on the synthetic index of soil fertility (SSFI), vegetable and poultry farms were characterized by very high fertility, while crop, dairy cattle, and pig farms fell into the medium fertility class. Organic farms were in the lowest fertility class. However, the study suggests that the SSFI may not be the best indicator for assessing soil fertility and health; therefore, further research is needed. Full article

Organic farms should, by definition, place particular emphasis on the protection of agricultural soils, landscape care and activities aimed at producing high-quality agricultural products. However, when joining this production system, the farms face many challenges in order to make these contributions to society at the expected level. The main aim of the study is to determine the scale of disproportions in production effects achieved by farms between organic and conventional production systems, taking into account the quality of natural management conditions. An equally important goal is to determine the factors in Polish agriculture that determine whether to conduct this production system. The paper aims to indicate the direction of development of organic farming in the EU, including Poland, based on the Eurostat data for 2012–2020. It was noted that the current development of the organic farming sector in EU member states has been at different rates. In Poland, its development strength largely depends on the presence of ANCs. Nearly ¾ of organic utilized agriculture area (UAA) is located in communes with a large share of them. Organic farms achieve lower production effects in comparison to conventional farms, and their disproportions also depend on the quality of natural farming conditions. In Poland, the personal competences of farmers are also an important determinant in joining organic farming. Full article

Chokeberry fruits are a rich source of bioactive ingredients and their beneficial effect on the body has been proven in the literature. They contain antioxidants such as polyphenols (anthocyanins, procyanidins, phenolic acids, flavonols and flavanols) but also other essential substances with health-promoting potential, such as vitamin C and elements. Providing the right amount of these ingredients is very important for maintaining health and preventing the effects of oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to assess the content of antioxidant elements (magnesium—Mg) and trace elements (copper—Cu, iron—Fe, manganese—Mn, selenium—Se and zinc—Zn), with the antioxidant potential being measured using the FRAP method, along with total anthocyanin, total flavonoid and total polyphenol content (TPC) in 25 chokeberry juices and 6 chokeberry fibers sourced from conventional and organic farming. All chokeberry juices and chokeberry fibers available on the Polish market at that time were ordered for testing. The studied juices came from concentrate (FC) and not from concentrate (NFC). Taking into account the mineral content, it was shown that both chokeberry juices and fibers contained the highest amount of Mg and the lowest amount of Se. The FRAP value was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in organic juices compared to conventional ones as well as being higher (p < 0.05) in NFC juices compared to FC juices. NFC juices were also characterized by their higher concentrations of TPC, total flavonoid and total anthocyanin levels (p < 0.05) compared to FC juices. Consumption of 100 g of chokeberry juice can cover from 149.5 to 3177.0% of the daily requirement for Cu, 6.8–32.4% for Mn, 2.8–6.1% for Mg, 0.9–7.4% for Se, 0.2–3.7% for Fe, 0.3–1.2% for Zn and 8.3–34.5% for vitamin C. In turn, the consumption of 10 g of fiber can cover 4.3–32.0% of the daily requirement for Fe, 0.6–9.0% for Se, 3.7–8.2% for Cu, 2.2–3.8% for Mg, 0.6–9.0% for Se, 0.9–8.5% for Zn and 0.5–0.7%% for vitamin C. Chokeberry products can be a valuable component of a healthy diet. Full article

During the pandemic, health and environmental issues were re-evaluated, stimulating interest in organic food. Organic milk is more beneficial than conventional milk in terms of the health-promoting substances (e.g., vitamins, fatty acids), particularly regarding its protein and lipid fractions. Poland is the main producer of cow’s milk in the EU, but only 0.2% of this production is organic. To identify the antecedents and obstacles to increasing organic milk production in Poland, the aim of this study is to explore the low level of organic cow’s milk output in Poland compared with sector leaders in the EU. We analyzed statistics on milk production, including unpublished data collected by the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, Poland, with the use of descriptive statistics and frequency distributions. Over the period 2010–2020, the number of farms producing and selling organic milk and the number of farms with organic pastures and meadows decreased significantly in Poland. A limited number of certified farms sell their milk as organic. If all production of organic milk was sold as organic, the supply would have increased by 56% in 2020. Organic milk processing is highly concentrated which is an obstacle to the development of organic milk farming. Due to its high instability and the spatial differences in the locations of sellers (producers) and buyers (processors) and inconsistent production volumes, the supply of organic cow’s raw milk does not meet the demand from Polish dairies. Cooperation between producers and processors is essential. Providing organic dairy farms with production and market advice, as well as technical support, is crucial for the development of farms and the organic milk sector as a whole, as is, to a certain extent, evidenced by Austria. The specific nature of the raw milk market requires the procurement of organic milk on a lasting basis regarding guarantees of purchase and farmgate prices. In this way, the continuity of organic raw milk supply would be secured and the sector of organic dairy products should grow. Full article