The expansion and changing cropping pattern of rapeseed production and biodiesel manufacturing in Poland

Poland depends on imports for its transportation fuel supply and EC renewable energy policy encourages rapeseed conversion into biodiesel. This paper discusses changes in winter rapeseed production following changes in sugar policy, decreased dependence on potato use as feed and food, and the EU 2007–2009 support program for production of oil seeds as biofuel feedstock. We examine whether farm cost efficiency scores differ across Poland's 16 regions between those growing rapeseed and all other farms using Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) data. Farms growing rapeseed are more cost efficient in all regions, and while regions with long experience in growing rapeseed still dominate the production, rapeseed production is expanding into new areas. Subsidies offered under the EU support program likely initiated expansion and the expansion continues after the program expired. Less efficient farms can be encouraged to enter rapeseed production through farm outreach services and competitive prices in relation to other crops since the available land permits further expansion of this biodiesel feedstock production

Farmers and their groves: Will cost inefficiency lead to land use change?

Increased forest areas and climate change mitigation are policy goals enhanced by expanding private forest ownership. This study shows transfer of land from farms owning forested acreage associated with low quality land and high production costs achieves such goals. Calculated cost efficiency scores show a large gap between the most and least efficient farms, and farms with forests are less cost efficient. Land reforestation through subsidy programs could replace income from agricultural production. We illustrate that farms from the applied FADN panel could reforest 45,000 hectares, binding about 0.5 mln tons of carbon annually without limiting food or feed supply

Dairy farm cost efficiency in leading milk producing regions in Poland

This paper examines the cost efficiency of dairy farms in 2 important regions of commercial milk production in Poland (i.e., Wielkopolskie and Podlaskie). Both regions gained importance following the market-driven resource allocation mechanism adopted after Poland’s transition to the market economy in 1989 and accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004. The elimination of the dairy quota system in the EU in 2015 offers new expansion opportunities. The analysis of trends in cow numbers, milk production, and yield per cow shows different patterns of expansion of the dairy sector in the 2 regions. We selected dairy farm data from the Farm Accounts Data Network database for both regions and applied the cost frontier estimation model to calculate the relative cost-efficiency index for the period 2004 to 2009. The indexes compare each farm in the sample to the most efficient dairy farm in each region separately. Additionally, the top 5% of dairy farms with the highest relative cost efficiency index from each region were compared in terms of production costs with published results from a study using the representative farm approach. The comparison of results from 2 different studies permits a conclusion that Wielkopolskie and Podlaskie dairy farms are able to compete with farms from the 4 largest milk-producing countries in the EU. Although both regions can improve yields per cow, especially Podlaskie, both regions are likely to take advantage of the expansion opportunities offered by the 2015 termination of the milk quota system

Prevalence of retinopathy in Caucasian type 2 diabetic patients from the South of Brazil and relationship with clinical and metabolic factors

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a sight-threatening chronic complication of diabetes mellitus and is the leading cause of acquired blindness in adults. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the prevalence of and the factors associated with DR in an analysis of 210 consecutive and unrelated Brazilian Caucasians with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Retinopathy was evaluated by ophthalmoscopy and/or biomicroscopy through dilated pupils. The relationship between clinical and metabolic variables and the presence of DR was assessed by logistic regression analysis. DR was detected in 99 of the 210 patients (47%). In the univariate logistic regression analyses, male sex, duration of diabetes, body mass index, glycated hemoglobin, C-peptide, LDL cholesterol, smoking, and albumin excretion rate were found to be associated with the presence of DR. However, the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that only duration of diabetes (odds ratio (OR) = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.09-1.22; P < 0.001), glycated hemoglobin (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.01-1.46; P = 0.047) and albumin excretion rate >100 µg/min (OR = 12.72, 95% CI = 3.89-41.56; P < 0.001) were independently associated with DR. Although DR was found to be frequent among Brazilian type 2 diabetic patients, its prevalence was within the range observed in other Caucasian populations. Our findings emphasize the need for good glycemic control in order to prevent or delay the onset of DR, since the most well-known risk factors for the development of this complication in type 2 diabetes mellitus, such as duration of diabetes, glycated hemoglobin and albumin excretion rate were independently related to DR

Phytate Decreases Formation of Advanced Glycation End-Products in Patients with Type II Diabetes: Randomized Crossover Trial

Myo-inositol hexaphosphate (phytate; IP6) is a natural compound that is abundant in cereals, legumes, and nuts and it has the ability to chelate metal cations. The binding of IP6 to transition metals suggests that it could be used for the treatment of metal-catalyzed protein glycation, which appears to trigger diabetes-related diseases. Our in vitro studies showed that IP6 reduced the formation of Fe3+ catalyzed advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). This led us to perform a randomized cross-over trial to investigate the impact of the daily consumption IP6 on protein glycation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM; n= 33). Thus, we measured AGEs, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), several vascular risk factors, and urinary IP6 at baseline and at the end of the intervention period. Patients who consumed IP6 supplements for 3 months had lower levels of circulating AGEs and HbA1c than those who did not consume IP6. This is the first report to show that consumption of IP6 inhibits protein glycation in patients with T2DM. Considering that AGEs contribute to microvascular and macrovascular complications in T2DM, our data indicates that dietary supplementation with IP6 should be considered as a therapy to prevent the formation of AGEs and therefore, the development of diabetes-related diseases in patients with T2DM.P.S. expresses her appreciation for a postdoctoral fellowship (PD/009/2013) to the Conselleria de Educacio, Cultura i Universitats del Govern de les Illes Balears and the European Social Fund, through the ESF Operational Programme of the Balearic Islands 2013-2017