Feasibility of using vertical farming in northern Iran: A multiple necessity.

Agricultural production in vertical farms (VF) will play a prominent role in preventing environmental crises, its good governance and maintaining food security for everyone in the world. The ecological footprint in Guilan province significantly exceeds its biological capacity, indicating considerable pressure on its natural resources and ecosystems. This problem, which is mostly due to the use of traditional production methods in the agricultural sector, requires a change in lifestyle and production methods. The purpose of the current research is the feasibility of VF in Guilan province with the help of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) model and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). After identifying internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) affecting production in VF, the necessary strategies were determined and then prioritized using the QSPM matrix. Necessary information through written scientific sources and survey studies based on key questions between two groups of professors of geography and rural planning, water resources engineering, soil, architecture and experts from the plant production department and the head of the environment department, Jihad Agricultural Organization of Guilan province and the organization Food hygiene was achieved. The statistical population participating in the survey was 30 people. The results of the research showed that 7 strategies were formulated based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and were prioritized based on the importance of four strategies in the QSPM table. The first priority for ensuring food security in Guilan province is to focus on increasing agricultural productivity per unit area. This strategy is crucial considering the challenges of low ownership and limited land availability in the region. Thus, enhancing productivity per unit area should be given utmost priority to meet the food demands of the population. The appropriate strategy for VF production in Guilan province is a competitive-aggressive strategy and being in this position requires attracting the necessary funds. This study fills research gaps by providing a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility of vertical farming in Guilan province. The emphasis on methodology, strategic planning, and addressing food security and environmental challenges contributes to the existing body of knowledge. By highlighting the transferability and adaptability of the research findings, other researchers can utilize the methods and adapt the strategies to their own regions, promoting further research and advancement in the field of sustainable agriculture.

Consumer Preference for Rice Grain Quality in the South Kivu and Tanganyika Provinces, Eastern DR Congo.

In Africa, rice has always been a staple food in some countries and the fastest growing food source there. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in terms of cereal production, rice is ranked second after maize and is an important source of income for the rice farmer. The objective of this study was to analyze and understand consumers' preferences and behaviors towards local and imported rice in the South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, DRC. Data collected on 1565 rice-consuming households in eastern DRC showed that there is a great opportunity for the rice value chain and food policy development, and the promotion of local rice consumption. Consumers focus on local rice because it is cheaper, but it does not always meet their desired needs. Indeed, only urban consumers were more willing to pay for higher-quality rice. The development of the demand for local rice calls for strong investment in improving production, post-harvest practices, and market aspects. It was found that over 90% of rice consumers know about local rice production and over 84% have consumed it. In rural areas, there is typically lower consumption of imported rice. However, as households require more rice, they tend to rely more on imported varieties due to their availability in the market. The most preferred rice attributes were flavor, aroma, purity, swelling capacity, breakage rate, and whiteness. Therefore, rice producers should consider the habits and needs of consumers to improve market demand. In addition, good packaging, labeling, and marketing can also enhance local rice preference and competitiveness in South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces in eastern DRC. The findings of this study indicated that research aimed at improving local rice varieties with regard to yield, disease resistance, and organoleptic qualities could enable the population to consume more locally produced rice, which is often more affordable than imported rice. This could in turn significantly reduce the need for rice imports. These results suggest that research carried out to improve the yield and organoleptic qualities of local rice in this area can allow it to be more competitive on the market and can reduce the importation of rice.

Ecosystem services valuation: a review of concepts, systems, new issues, and considerations about pollution in ecosystem services.

Managers can determine the function of ecosystem services in decision-making processes through valuation. Ecological functions and processes that benefit people lead to ecosystem services. Valuing ecosystem services mean finding values for the benefits of ecosystem services. For the concepts related to ecosystem services and their valuation, categories in different articles have been presented. One of the most important issues is providing a suitable grouping for different methods and concepts of valuing ecosystem services. In this study, the most recent topics related to ecosystem service valuation methods were compiled and categorized by using the system theory. The aim of this study was to introduce some of the most important classical and modern methods and concepts of valuing ecosystem services. For this aim, a review of articles related to ecosystem service valuation methods, content analysis, and categorization of their contents was used to provide definitions, concepts, and categorization of different methods. To summarize, valuation methods are classified into two types: classical and modern methods. Classical approaches include the avoided cost method, the replacement cost method, the factor income method, the travel cost method, hedonic pricing, and contingent value. Modern methods include the basic value transfer method, deliberative ecosystem service valuation, valuation of climate change risks, and other cases that evolve every day in the world of science. Findings of the paper have the potential to be beneficial in comprehending the definitions and ideas of ecosystem services in ecosystem management, particularly in protected areas, participatory management, and pollutant research. This research can add to the worldwide literature on the valuing of ecosystem services while also determining the most pressing issues and difficulties of today, such as climate change, pollution, ecosystem management, and participatory management.

Global city data analysis using SciMAT: a bibliometric review.

Global cities play a significant role in world economy as they serve as key hubs of economic activity and trade. These cities are centers of innovation, finance, culture, and commerce, attracting businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the world. They are characterized by their openness, diversity, and their ability to attract and retain talent. This paper includes a bibliometric analysis of the structure of global cities through examining the literature on global cities, including the document type, country/territory distribution, institution distribution, geographical distribution of authors, specially most active authors and their interests or research areas, relationships between principal authors and more relevant journals, and the research hot spots. The input data consists of journal articles archived by the Web of Science from 1991 to 2023, and the analysis is performed using SciMAT and VOS Viewer. The result of this paper would provide valuable insights into the state of research on this topic, including who is conducting research, where it is being conducted, what types of publications are being produced, and which themes are having the most impact on the field. Such an analysis would be useful for researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested in understanding the role of global cities in the world economy.

Social, economic, and technical factors affecting CO2 emissions in Iran.

Most scholars support the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as one of the major causes of the increase in global climate change. Therefore, reducing CO2 emissions from the main emitter countries, including Iran as the sixth emitter, is important to deal with the harmful effects of global climate change. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper was to analyze the social, economic, and technical factors affecting CO2 emissions in Iran. Previous studies on diverse variables affecting emissions are not very accurate and reliable as they do not consider indirect effects. This study applied a structural equation model (SEM) to estimate the direct and indirect impacts of factors on the emissions by panel data for 28 provinces of Iran from 2003 to 2019. According to geographical location, three distinct regions, the north, center, and south of Iran were considered. The findings suggest that a 1% increase in social factor directly increased CO2 emissions by 2.23% (in the north) and 1.58% (in the center), but indirectly reduced emissions by 0.41% (in the north) and 0.92% (in the center). Hence, the total effects of the social factor on CO2 emissions were estimated at 1.82%, and 0.66% in the northern, and central regions, respectively. In addition, the total effects of the economic factor on CO2 emissions were estimated at 1.52%, and 0.73% in those regions. The results of this study showed that the direct effects of a technical factor on CO2 emissions were negative in the north and center. However, they were positive in the south of Iran. Based on the empirical results of this study, three policy implications are discussed in order to control CO2 emissions in regional distinctions of Iran as follows: First, policymakers should pay attention to the social factor, i.e., the growth of human capital in the southern region with the aim of increasing sustainable development. Second, Iranian policymakers must prevent unilaterally increasing gross domestic product (GDP) and financial development in the north and center. Third, policymakers should pay attention to the technical factor, i.e., improving energy efficiency, as well as upgrading information and communications technology (ICT) in the northern and central regions, and limiting the technical factor in the southern region.

Accuracy of pixel-based classification: application of different algorithms to landscapes of Western Iran.

Scenarios for monitoring land cover on a large scale, involving large volumes of data, are becoming more prevalent in remote sensing applications. The accuracy of algorithms is important for environmental monitoring and assessments. Because they performed equally well throughout the various research regions and required little human involvement during the categorization process, they appear to be resilient and accurate for automated, big area change monitoring. Malekshahi City is one of the important and at the same time critical areas in terms of land use change and forest area reduction in Ilam Province. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the accuracy of nine different methods for identifying land use types in Malekshahi City located in Western Iran. Results revealed that the artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm with back-propagation algorithms could reach the highest accuracy and efficiency among the other methods with kappa coefficient and overall accuracy of approximately 0.94 and 96.5, respectively. Then, with an overall accuracy of about 91.35 and 90.0, respectively, the methods of Mahalanobis distance (MD) and minimum distance to mean (MDM) were introduced as the next priority to categorize land use. Further investigation of the classified land use showed that good results can be provided about the area of the land use classes of the region by applying the ANN algorithm due to high accuracy. According to those results, it can be concluded that this method is the best algorithm to extract land use maps in Malekshahi City because of high accuracy.

The monetary facilities payment for ecosystem services as an approach to restore the Degraded Urmia Lake in Iran.

This study analyzed the potential use of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a strategy for improving water supply management. This study focused on the Siminehroud Sub-basin due to its high importance to the Basin of Urmia Lake (UL). Siminehroud is the second provider of water (by volume) to Urmia Lake. To evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of a PES scheme, the current land use map was extracted using satellite imagery. In addition, the two algorithms of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) are used for Landsat images classification, rather than analyzing the relationship between land use and ecosystem services. Then, the most relevant ecosystem services provided in the region were evaluated using the Benefit Transfer Method. In the last step, by designing and implementing a survey, on the one hand, the local farmers' Willingness to Accept (WTA) cash payments for reducing the area they cultivate, and on the other hand, the farmers' Willingness to Pay (WTP) for managing the water consumption were determined. The results illustrated that the WTA program is more acceptable among the beneficiaries. It is also notable that this program needs very high governmental funding. Furthermore, the results of the program indicate that the land area out of the cultivation cycle will gradually increase while the price of agricultural water will also increase.

Contribution of agricultural land conversion to global GHG emissions: A meta-analysis.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) have extensive environmental effects by trapping heat and causing climate change and air pollution. Land plays a key role in the global cycles of GHG (i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrogen oxide (N2O)), and land use change (LUC) can lead to the release of such gases into the atmosphere or the removal of them from the atmosphere. One of the most common forms of LUC is agricultural land conversion (ALC) where agricultural lands are converted for other uses. This study aimed to review 51 original papers from 1990 to 2020 that investigate the contribution of ALC to GHG emissions from a spatiotemporal perspective using a meta-analysis method. The results of spatiotemporal effects on GHG emissions showed that the effects were significant. The emissions were affected by different continent regions representing the spatial effects. The most significant spatial effect was relevant to African and Asian countries. In addition, the quadratic relationship between ALC and GHG emissions had the highest significant coefficients, showing an upward concave curve. Therefore, increasing ALC to more than 8 % of available land led to increasing GHG emissions during the economic development process. The implications of the current study are important for policymakers from two perspectives. First, to achieve sustainable economic development, policymaking should prevent the conversion of more than 90 % of agricultural land to other uses based on the turning point of the second model. Second, policies to control global GHG emissions should take into account spatial effects (e.g., continental Africa and Asia), which show the highest contribution to GHG emissions.

Impacts of land consolidation on land degradation: A systematic review.

Land consolidation (LC) is a widespread form of rural planning and is often presented as an important tool for mitigating land degradation. We therefore decided to make a systematic review of the effects of LC projects implemented under different natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results show that there is a major dichotomy in the understanding of LC. Studies from some parts of the world, e.g., Africa and South-east Asia, mostly report on LC projects aimed principally at creating larger fields to facilitate management. Studies from other regions, notably from Europe and China, describe LC as a complex form of planning that includes various types of land management measures. The effects of LC projects on land degradation are strongly linked to the type of project. Within the sample of reviewed studies, the effect of LC projects on land degradation was ambivalent, and projects not including land management measures even tended to contribute to land degradation. Conversely, in studies where LC projects involved specific land management measures, LC had a positive effect on most land degradation types. The results of our study indicate that LC projects can help significantly to mitigate land degradation.

Mapping of dust source susceptibility by remote sensing and machine learning techniques (case study: Iran-Iraq border).

A dust storm is a major environmental problem affecting many arid regions worldwide. The novel contribution of this study is combining indicators extracted from RS- and statistic-based predictive models to spatial mapping of land susceptibility to dust emissions in a very important dust source area in the borders of Iran and Iraq (Khuzestan province in Iran and Al-Basrah and Maysan provinces in Iraq). In this research, remote sensing (RS) techniques and machine learning techniques, including multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS), random forest (RF), and logistic regression (LR), were used for dust source identification and susceptibility map preparation. To this end, 152 DSA for the period of 2005-2020 were identified in the study area. Of these DSA data, 70% was assigned to the Dust Source Susceptibility Mapping (DSSM) (training dataset) and 30% to model validation. Consequently, six factors (i.e., soil, lithology, slope, normalized vegetation differential index (NDVI), geomorphology, and land use units) were prepared as DSA's independent and effective variables. The results of all three models indicated that land use had the most impact on DSA. The validation results of these models using the test data showed sub-curves of 0.92, 0.86, and 0.76 for the RF, MARS, and LR models, respectively. Also, results showed that the RF model outperformed MARS (AUC = 0.89) and LR (AUC = 0.78) methods. In all three models, high and very high susceptibility classes generally covered a large percentage of the case study. The highest percentage of dust source points was also in this susceptibility category. Overall, the results of this study can be useful for planners and managers to control and reduce the risk of negative dust consequences.

Contribution of small-scale farmers to global food security: a meta-analysis.

In this study, the impacts of small-scale farmers on food security enhancement were estimated in three dimensions of food availability, food access and food utilization. In the current study, a systematic review and meta-analysis have been performed to synthesize results from 75 original articles. It includes the pooling of data that quantitatively investigate whether or not causal links characterized in the original articles remain valid across a broader scope of the literature. The findings show that farmers who are small-scale in natural/physical capital would lead to higher median food production and agricultural productivity, compared with small-scale farmers in financial capital, at about 19% and 15%, respectively. Meta-regression results indicate that small-scale farmers in natural/physical capital have significantly positive effects on the average agricultural productivity, food income and biofortification. By contrast, farmers who are small-scale in financial capital have negative effects on food security. The influential role of these small-scale farmers should also be considered since food insecurity leads to socio-economic implications. Therefore, it is recommended to cultivate higher value crops, to participate in various income-generating activities such as fisheries and forestry, and to pay agricultural credits. The effect of the size of small-scale farmers on global food security is very useful for policymakers to plan for a world without hunger. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Facts and fears that limit digital transformation in farming: Exploring barriers to the outreach of wireless sensor networks in Southwest Iran.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are considered part of an environmentally friendly technology leading to more timely and cost-effective production and management of farms. Despite the potential of WSNs to agricultural development in the global South, outreach is still very limited, also in Iran. Therefore, in order to facilitate the adoption of WSNs, it is necessary to identify the factors influencing and challenging the adoption of this technology. This exploratory study uses a qualitative approach to identify the main barriers WSN outreach is facing. In the results, we distinguish facts that we define as issues or barriers that were identified by others from fears that are not supported by evidence so far, at the level of the farmers, the government actors as well as the technology itself. Facts include communication barriers such as internet access, farmers' knowledge levels and rigidity to change as well as the government's top-down organisation of the extension programme and support levels. Fears are mainly expressed on the technology itself and relate to costs, a lack of access, the complexity of use and reliability of the data. We provide a nuanced view of how fears need to be acknowledged and facts are to be tackled.

Consumers' attitude toward participation in community-supported aquaculture: a case of Kurdistan province in the west of Iran.

Considering the increasing importance of sustainable operations in the agricultural sector and the relationship between producers and consumers, the current study was to determine customers' attitudes on participation in community-supported aquaculture programs in Kurdistan province (in the west of Iran). The present study was a survey, non-experimental, applied, and descriptive-correlational research. Using a literature review and field studies, factors affecting consumers' attitudes have been extracted. Then, to determine validity, the questionnaire was given to a panel of subject matter experts. Furthermore, to assess the reliability of the research instrument, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated. The results showed the good validity and reliability of the research tool. Moreover, structural equation modeling was used to confirm the proposed model. The results showed that among the factors affecting the attitude of consumers, the price of aquatic products had the first place, which has been neglected in the previous studies. In this regard, it was suggested that by creating support funds and facilities for the participation of consumers in community-supported aquaculture programs, setting standards for healthy aquatic products, and producing programs related to the introduction of community-supported aquaculture programs on the radio and television, the attitude of the consumers can be improved.

The role of micro- and small-scale enterprises in enhancing sustainable community livelihood: Tigray, Ethiopia.

Micro- and small-scale enterprises (MSEs) have emerged as one of the most important tools for addressing economic and social issues and achieving development goals. In both developed and developing economies, MSEs have been acknowledged as critical components of national development. This study aimed to assess the contributions of MSEs toward sustainable community livelihood in Emba Alaje, Wereda, Ethiopia. The results revealed that MSEs contributed to economic growth, employment formation, and income generation for the local community. In addition, the study indicated that the MSEs were significantly affected by different determinant factors such as infrastructures, raw material, working premises, and human capital. The study clearly showed that there was a gender gap over participation in different MSE sectors. In addition, many sectors which can employ more people are still managed by men. This shows that the bodies involved, such as the MSE Development Offices, Bureau of Cooperatives, and Bureau of Works and Social Affairs, should join their hands and allow women to enter traditionally male-dominated sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and urban farming. Above all, greater efforts should be made to consider both female- and male-owned businesses.

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Micro and Small Enterprises: Evidence From Rural Areas of Iran.

Since 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis has caused a great deal of social and economic damages to micro and small-scale enterprises (MSEs). This research examined the most common damages of this crisis in active and inactive rural MSEs and also assessed different kind of responses the managers and owners of theses MSEs have received dealing with these damages. The sample population of this study consisted of all managers of 72 active and 38 closed rural MSEs in the Dastjerd village, Hamedan, Iran. These MSEs were mainly garment small factories. This research utilized a mixed approach (quantitative-qualitative) to study the research objectives in depth. First, in qualitative part, semi-constructed interviews and field visits were done. Then, using quantitative, results of the qualitative section, previous studies and the existing literature, a researcher-made questionnaire was created. Based on qualitative part information through interviews, damages of rural MSEs during COVID-19 pandemic were categorized into three classes, including damages related to production, and financial and marketing issues. Also, two categories of managers' responses that could be labeled as passive and adaptive behavior were identified. Findings showed that active rural MSEs have taken more adaptive measures and tried to find appropriate ways to reduce or overcome damages. Active MSEs were mainly owned and managed collaboratively by more literate and experienced managers. Also results revealed that rural MSEs' managers reacted to different kinds of damages based on their ability, knowledge, and experience. Based on research results, managers' knowledge and skills can help them find more adaptive solutions to keep the firms stable and overcome damages. It can be concluded that COVID-19 pandemic has a great impact on rural MSEs and they need more financial support and managerial advice to overcome this kind of crisis situation.

Analysis of changes in air pollution quality and impact of COVID-19 on environmental health in Iran: application of interpolation models and spatial autocorrelation.

In the global COVID-19 epidemic, humans are faced with a new challenge. The concept of quarantine as a preventive measure has changed human activities in all aspects of life. This challenge has led to changes in the environment as well. The air quality index is one of the immediate concrete parameters. In this study, the actual potential of quarantine effects on the air quality index and related variables in Tehran, the capital of Iran, is assessed, where, first, the data on the pollutant reference concentration for all measuring stations in Tehran, from February 19 to April 19, from 2017 to 2020, are monitored and evaluated. This study investigated the hourly concentrations of six particulate matters (PM), including PM2.5, PM10, and air contaminants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). Changes in pollution rate during the study period can be due to reduced urban traffic, small industrial activities, and dust mites of urban and industrial origins. Although pollution has declined in most regions during the COVID-19 quarantine period, the PM2.5 rate has not decreased significantly, which might be of natural origins such as dust. Next, the air quality index for the stations is calculated, and then, the interpolation is made by evaluating the root mean square (RMS) of different models. The local and global Moran index indicates that the changes and the air quality index in the study area are clustered and have a high spatial autocorrelation. The results indicate that although the bad air quality is reduced due to quarantine, major changes are needed in urban management to provide favorable conditions. Contaminants can play a role in transmitting COVID-19 as a carrier of the virus. It is suggested that due to the rise in COVID-19 and temperature in Iran, in future studies, the effect of increased temperature on COVID-19 can be assessed.

Understanding responses to climate-related water scarcity in Africa.

Water scarcity is a global challenge, yet existing responses are failing to cope with current shocks and stressors, including those attributable to climate change. In sub-Saharan Africa, the impacts of water scarcity threaten livelihoods and wellbeing across the continent and are driving a broad range of adaptive responses. This paper describes trends of water scarcity for Africa and outlines climate impacts on key water-related sectors on food systems, cities, livelihoods and wellbeing, conflict and security, economies, and ecosystems. It then uses systematic review methods, including the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative, to analyse 240 articles and identify adaptation characteristics of planned and autonomous responses to water scarcity across Africa. The most common impact drivers responded to are drought and participation variability. The most frequently identified actors responding to water scarcity include individuals or households (32%), local government (15%) and national government (15%), while the most common types of response are behavioural and cultural (30%), technological and infrastructural (27%), ecosystem-based (25%) and institutional (18%). Most planned responses target low-income communities (31%), women (20%), and indigenous communities (13%), but very few studies target migrants, ethnic minorities or those living with disabilities. There is a lack of coordination of planned adaptation at scale across all relevant sectors and regions, and lack of legal and institutional frameworks for their operation. Most responses to water scarcity are coping and autonomous responses that showed only minor adjustments to business-as-usual water practices, suggesting limited adaptation depth. Maladaptation is associated with one or more dimension of responses in almost 20% of articles. Coordinating institutional responses, carefully planned technologies, planning for projected climate risks including extension of climate services and increased climate change literacy, and integrating indigenous knowledge will help to address identified challenges of water scarcity towards more adaptive responses across Africa.

Evaluating economic and ecological management to determine the economic size of pastoral units for different climatic zones in the northeast of Iran.

Stocking rate and rangeland area are key variables to provide the livelihood of herders in different climatic zones. To evaluate the economic and ecological management of pastoral units, this study aims to determine the optimal economic size of pastoral units for livestock grazing use considering the ecological capacity of semi-arid rangelands in different climatic scenarios. Therefore, 12 pastoral units (an area of 47,355 ha) were selected in two climatic zones (summer and winter rangelands) in the Kalat region of Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. By measuring forage production, carrying capacity was calculated. Based on the results, the costs of traditional livestock management in winter rangelands are higher than those of summer rangelands. Moreover, the current size of the assigned rangeland, especially the summer rangeland, is lower than that of the economic justification. The results emphasize that rangeland-based livestock husbandry cannot create a good livelihood for herders in the region, and it is necessary to pay special attention to other services and aspects, despite the existing ecological and socio-economic complexities. In this regard, providing multi-purpose rangeland use and useable technologies to better manage these areas is necessary to increase per capita household income and reduce the stocking rate in the region's rangelands. Ultimately, both increasing the level of available rangelands and reducing costs by applying new technology are required, as is the economic consideration of pastoral units by using rangelands for multiple purposes.

Social, economic and environmental vulnerability: The case of wheat farmers in Northeast Iran.

This research used a qualitative and quantitative approach to classify factors influencing wheat farmers' social, economic, and environmental vulnerability in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran, from the perspective of elite wheat farmers and agricultural specialists, and then to establish some recommendations based on the results. To achieve the study objectives, in the qualitative part, in-depth interviews were held with 20 agricultural specialists in the field of wheat cultivation, and 9 elite wheat farmers were selected using a purposive sampling method. Using stratified random sampling, 391 wheat farmers participated in the quantitative part. From the agricultural specialists' viewpoint, the prime factor affecting vulnerability was the social factor "farm management". The second factor was the environmental vulnerability factor "Sunn pest and heat", and the final factor was the economic vulnerability factor "the costs of fertilizer, equipment, and machines and their maintenance". In contrast, from the viewpoint of elite wheat farmers, the dominant factor affecting vulnerability was the economic factor "the costs of equipment, fertilizer, and machines and their maintenance". Regarding social vulnerability, "Governmental support" was stressed and the most important environmental vulnerability factor was "Sunn pest and cold". The results of confirmatory factor analysis were more in line with the views of agricultural specialists. According to the results, it is suggested that the agricultural extension system provides timely training to farmers in order to properly manage farms in times of crisis. The government should also compensate part of the costs of social and economic damage to farmers by providing free or low-interest loans.

Does Increasing Farm Plot Size Influence the Visual Quality of Everyday Agricultural Landscapes?

The increase in farm plot size is one of the most apparent and significant trends that have influenced central and eastern European agricultural landscapes since the 1950s. In many countries where the average plot size in traditional land-use systems did not exceed several hectares, present-day plots reach the size of 200 ha or more. In recent times, efforts have been made to reverse this trend to restore important ecosystem functions and to re-establish the aesthetic values of everyday landscapes. Visual landscape quality is becoming a major driving force in the development of agricultural landscapes with known effects on people's well-being and health, and this quality plays an increasingly important role in agricultural policies. However, no comprehensive research has been carried out to establish the links between perceived visual landscape quality and the scale of the farm plot pattern. The current study was therefore designed to determine whether greater farmland pattern heterogeneity, i.e., smaller farm plot sizes, is consistent with higher visual preferences. The results showed that people preferred a small-scale plot pattern in landscapes characterized by a flat relief and a low proportion of woody vegetation. These homogeneous landscapes were also overall considered significantly less beautiful than more diverse landscapes. However, even a moderate decrease in plot size notably improved these low beauty scores. These preferences were displayed consistently by all respondents, and most strongly by older respondents, respondents with a higher level of education, and those professionally engaged in landscape design or conservation. The high level of consensus among respondents in rejecting further land consolidation in homogeneous landscapes, which form a large proportion of European farmland, underlines that the results of this study provide a valid argument for discussing sustainable agricultural plot sizes as part of agricultural policy-making.