Felix Arion

RESEARCH CONCERNING THE EFFECT OF A FERTILIZATION SYSTEM ON WHEAT CROPS ON A REPRESENTATIVE SOIL IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN PLAIN

The research is based on the production results obtained on wheat crops cultivated following corn, conducted on an argic chernozem soil in the Transylvanian Plain. The goal of this research is to scientifically and agrochemically substantiate the differentiated fertilization systems involved in obtaining big productions in the reference area. In this study it was tried to track the effect of the nitrogen-potassium interaction in achieving the productions obtained in 2011 and 2013. The obtained results present the production levels obtained for wheat crops (Dumbrava kind), the prior crop being corn. The already existing and further research will enrich the study’s utility in taking a rational fertilization decision based in the future also on the support of the suggested solutions. The presented data hold originality, according to which the suggested solutions become important and they also present a real efficiency in the fertilization practice and technologies applied to wheat crops.

Water consumption in rural areas: limits of the ethics of water use - study case of Kurdistan Region, Iraq

All life relies on an essential substance which is water. Where there is water there is life and where water is scarce, life has to struggle because it has no or very limited alternative. Therefore, the question is: how to deal with that no replacement? Water use is a complex issue and involves many actors from local communities to international bodies. Water ethics is being increasingly discussed, especially socioeconomic aspects and their integration with policies and practices of water resource management. Although in1992, there was an International Conference which was held in Dublin in principles three and four stated that: ‘Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water’, with ‘Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good’. Water consumption and policy is also an intensively discussed subject. Many researchers try to find an answer regarding the proper use and value of water consumption. This paper presents the particularities of water resources in the rural areas of Kurdistan Region (North of Iraq). During 17th of June and 15th of September, 2012, a research project was conducted in the rural areas of the Kurdistan Region, taking into consideration the precipitation zone so it can be clearly distinguished among the three regions of Kurdistan. The research method used was a survey based on questionnaires. The total number of questionnaires distributed among the farmers was 236 in rural areas of Kurdistan Region. The use of water for irrigation, livestock etc, is estimated as being the cause of more than three quarter of total withdrawal. It is necessary to mention that in the Kurdistan Region there is no regulation regarding the water consumption for rural areas and the water scarcity in the area imposes to adopt a proper legislation regarding the water pricing on one hand, and the ethical principles of water consumption on the other hand. Previous studies revealed the fact that women play a major role in managing the domestic water. Based on this it can be stated that people from rural areas have major problems regarding the water availability and proper measures should be taken.

Limits of developing a national system of agricultural extension

The concept of extension is extremely wide and complex, being developed in national contexts that differ in many characteristics: beneficiaries, objectives, financial resources, and so on. At the moment it is interesting for government to know the extent to which it can give up its power and responsibility without incurring negative effects, knowing both that most of the beneficiaries are not able to sustain the cost of being helped and that agricultural extension follows a number of national government objectives. These objectives include domestic food security, reducing poverty, decreasing the disparity between urban and rural living standards, and many others.