The purpose of this thesis is to assess the implications of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) on the agricultural supply chain in Greece by examining the relationships between farmers and their intermediaries, and their interactions during the buying and selling process. More specifically, the focus of the research takes place in Pouri, a small village in central Greece whose economy centers around Apple Farming, where we can observe the exchange of locally grown goods between farmers and intermediaries. The thesis consists of two parts; the first part examines how Greek farmers perceive the process of buying and selling agricultural products and how they respond to problems within their current structure; through observing processes, conducting interviews and collecting narrative stories to identify the issues, we assess whether it would be advantageous for farmers to implement ICTs as part of the solution. The second part consists of a review of the academic literature to examine the same or similar situations in the agricultural supply chain of other global regions and their economic contexts. Lastly, a thorough thematic analysis of the research data provides a better understanding of the issues facing farmers and their needs as they pertain to ICTs, to improve the agricultural supply chain and the entire rural sector.

Markberedning är vanligt förekommande när återbeskogning skall ske efter en avverkning. Vilken metod som väljs styrs av olika faktorer som t ex markfuktighet, humuslagrets tjocklek och mineraljordlagrets djup. I detta arbete studeras ett försök vid SLU: s försökspark i Siljansfors, ca 20 km SV om Mora. Studien omfattar två olika försöksytor, Sf 284 och Sf 287, planterade med gran (Picea abies) år 2004 respektive 2007. Ståndorten är en moränmark, markfuktighetsklassen är frisk och vegetationstypen är blåbär- och lingontyp och är belägen cirka 210 m.ö.h.  Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera och jämföra tre olika markberedningsmetoder med avseende på överlevnad och höjdtillväxt hos granplantor (Picea abies) under de första åren efter plantering. Vid plantering utan markberedning och utan kemiskt behandlade plantor är risken för en hög avgång på grund av skador orsakade av snytbagge (Hylobius abietis L.) stor de första åren. De markberedningsmetoder som jämfördes var högläggning, fläckmarkberedning och inversmetoden. Dessa tre metoder jämfördes inbördes samt mot att inte markbereda alls. I det totala samlade plantmaterialet var hälften kemiskt behandlat mot snytbagge. Fördelningen kemiskt behandlat och obehandlat plantmaterial var jämt fördelat i alla försök och upprepningar. I studien ingick också en utvärdering av den så kallade ”kanteffekten”, dvs. effekten av att plantorna sattes närmare än, respektive längre än 10 cm från kanten av den anlagda markberedningsytan. I juli 2009 mättes planthöjd och överlevnad på försöksytorna. Resultatet presenteras som medelvärden i form av stapeldiagram. Överlevnadsgraden höjdes med hjälp av markberedning, permetrinbehandling och val av planteringspunkt i förhållande till humuskant.  Det var framför allt högläggning och inversmarkberedning som gynnade plantornas höjdtillväxt. / Soil preparation is common when reforestation occurs after harvesting. Which method is chosen is governed by various factors such as soil moisture, humus layer thickness and depth of mineral soil. An experiment was made at SLU's experimental park in Siljansfors, about 20 km SW about Mora. The study comprises two different experimental areas, Sf 284 and Sf 287, where Picea abies was planted in 2004 and 2007 respectively. The soil is a moraine, the soil moisture class is fresh and the vegetation type is blueberry and lingonberry type. The site is located approximately 210 m above sea level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare three different soil preparation methods regarding to survival and height growth of Picea abies during the first years after planting. In the case of planting without soil preparation and without chemically treated plants, the risk of a high mortality due to the damage caused by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) is high during the first years. The soil preparation methods that were compared were mounding, patch scarification and the inverse method. These three methods were compared to each other as well as to no soil preparation at all. In the total aggregate plant material, half were chemically treated against pine weevil. The distribution of chemically treated and untreated plant material was evenly distributed throughout all trials and repeats. The study also included an evaluation of the so-called "edge effect", i.e. the effect of placing the plants closer than, respectively, longer than 10 cm from the edge of the scarified patch. In July 2009, plant height and survival were measured in the experimental areas. The result is presented as averages in the form of bar charts. The survival rate was increased by soil preparation, permetrin treatment and selection of planting point relative to humus edge. It was above all mounding and inverse soil preparation that favored the height of the plants.

Palmolja sägs vara världens mest resurseffektiva oljegröda och återfinns i bland annatlivsmedel, oleokemikalier och biobränsle. Mer än varannan produkt i dagligvaruhandlarinnehåller palmolja. Den höga efterfrågan har gjort palmoljeindustrin attraktiv att investera i och att många aktörer är involverade. En lång aktörskedja gör industrin svår att kontrollera, ansvarstagandet brister och en komplex hållbarhetsproblematik uppstår. För uppnå hållbarhet krävs samspel mellan ekologi, samhälle och ekonomi. Idag överutnyttjas naturens resurser vilket leder till att samspel mellan dimensionerna inte nås. För att få bättre förståelse och inblick i den komplexa hållbarhetsproblematiken tog vi del av experters och aktörers olika perspektiv. För studien valdes en kvalitativ intervjumetod som kartlägger miljökonsekvenser som ansågs störst. Sedan återges lösningsmöjligheter att skapa en mer hållbar palmoljeindustri. Resultatet visade att möjliga lösningstågärder bör baseras på ett tydligt definierat och ökat ansvarstagande för problem och konsekvenser som uppstår på grund av palmoljeindustrin. / Palm oil is known for being an efficient and productive crop and can be found in for example food, chemicals and biofuel. Up to every second product in grocery stores contains palm oil. Today's high demand of palm oil makes the industry attractive for investments while involvement from several actors makes the industry hard to control and lack of responsibility occurs. Those factors are of major menace for a sustainable palm oil industry. To achieve sustainability an interaction between ecology, society and economy needs to arise. Nature's resources are today over-exploited which leads to a non-interaction within the earlier mentioned dimensions. This study maps what we consider the greatest environmental issues and possible measures are to create a more sustainable industry. The result shows that increased and clearly defined responsibility for all actors involved in the industry needs to appear and improve to create sustainability.

Background: Over the last 30 years, Sweden's agricultural industry has changed significantly, with land prices rising and the number of agricultural firms steadily declining as they are replaced by larger farms. In the near future, there will be a considerable increase in the number of ownership transfers initiated in Sweden, this since in 2020 one-third of agricultural entrepreneurs with sole proprietorships were 65 or older. Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to identify factors influencing family farm succession intentions, as well as (2) to address the theoretical deficit within family farm research by establishing the two implicit economic and emotional paradigms with a theoretical foundation, and ultimately contribute towards determining which theoretical approach is best for explaining succession in family farms. Method: The researchers used a positivist research philosophy in conjunction with a deductive research approach. The quantitative technique was utilized to collect data, with the researchers employing a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to Swedish farmers. Pearson correlation and binary logistic regression tests were used to further analyze the data. Conclusion: The findings show that family farm exposure is significant for intra-family succession in Swedish family farms; a factor derived from intergenerational solidarity theory. This implies that a theory from another domain is applicable to family farm research, and that the emotional perspective has a greater influence on farmer succession intentions than the economic perspective.

Affective states of animals are emotions with positive or negative valance. Positive and negative affective states affect animal welfare, and can bias interpretation of information positively or negatively, respectively. Judgement bias tests measure affective states based on responses to ambiguous cues, intermediate to cues with learnt positive and negative outcomes. Responses closer to those of positive cues indicate positive affective state. However, animals need extensive training to learn initial associations to reference cues. Therefore, I here aimed to validate an alternative affective state test based on instinctive avoidance of patterns resembling eyespots. Responses to ambiguous eyespot cues similar to responses to full eyespot cues could indicate negative affective state. To test this, behavioural responses of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) chicks to ambiguous cues from a validated judgement bias test were compared to responses to cues resembling eyespots. In a second cohort of birds, I developed simplified tests with only one ambiguous cue in each tests. I predicted that responses in both tests would correlate positively. In the original tests, shorter distance and latency to approach ambiguous cues correlated positively with latency to approach one of the eyespot cues, a full eyespot cue. This pattern was only observed in females. In the simplified tests, at 4 weeks of age, shortest latency to approach cues correlated among tests. This pattern was not observed when chicks were tested at 2 weeks of age. Overall, the eyespot test is a promising alternative affective state test, but further studies exploring sex- and age-effects, are needed.

In cities today, vast amounts of nutrients are being wasted. Improvement in nutrient management within agriculture can contribute to a more sustainable society. Reusing nutrients in agriculture could aid in creating a more circular system, where organic fertilizers can be used instead of chemical fertilizers. Urine is a liquid which has a high nutrient content. According to the Swedish environmental protection agency, human urine can replace mineral fertilizers, by using methods such as source separation, where urine is divided from faeces. This is a cheap, effective and sustainable fertilizer management system that can be easily achieved. In this study, urine fertilizers were compared with ecological and conventional fertilizers (NPK and cow manure). The study examined the effect of different urine fertilizers compared with organic and inorganic ones on plant growth, nutrient content, pH value and microbial growth. The plant growth experiment was carried out in the greenhouse facilities in Alnarp, Sweden. The results from the experiment show that cow manure has a better outcome when it comes to plant growth, but Aurin, one of the urine fertilizers, had the highest uptake of nitrate. Non-diluted urine had a stable result in all analyses. According to this study human urine is a fertilizer which can be used in crop cultivation systems, and can deliver good agricultural results.

Mastitis is an inflammation that is caused in the udder tissue of cattle and which annually causes high costs within productions and the profitability of farms. The purpose of this study is to determine if udder inflammation affects both the amount of milk that produces and investigate how the protein and fat -content are affected. To be able to implement the study, I have used data from a farm in Värmland where mastitis is a common disease affecting the cows, and which reduces profitability annually. From the year 2015, a total of 134 cows on the farm where the study occurred were treated with antibiotics by a veterinarian, where up to half of the cows were affected by a clinically visible infection. Two groups have been used in the study where 45 cows affected by mastitis have been examined through test milking results and then compared with a control group consisting of healthy individuals where I have used cows that have not been visibly affected by mastitis. The results for the study of how the milk volume is affected showed a significant difference for a decrease in the quantity last year (P =0,036). Based on the results, it is concluded that clinical mastitis reduces the amount of milk and the content of the milk. / Mastit är en inflammation som orsakas i juvervävnaden hos nötkreatur och som årligen orsakar stora kostnader inom produktionen och lönsamheten på gårdar. Syftet med denna studie var att fastställa om juverinflammationer kan påverkar en nedgång inom den mängd mjölk som produceras samt undersöka hur protein- samt fetthalten påverkas eftersom innehållet är en viktig del av lönsamheten. För att kunna genomföra studien har jag använt mig av data från en gård i Värmland där mastit är en vanlig förekommande sjukdom som drabbar korna, och som årligen drar ner på lönsamheten. Från år 2015 har totalt 134 kor på gården där studien genomförts varit behandlade med antibiotika av veterinär där uppemot hälften av korna drabbades av en klinisk synlig infektion. Två grupper har använts i studien där 45 kor drabbade av mastit har undersökts genom provmjölkningsresultat och som sedan jämförts med en kontrollgrupp bestående av friska individer där kor som ej har varit synligt drabbade av mastit använts. Resultatet för undersökningen av hur mjölkmängden påverkas visade en signifikant skillnad för en minskning av mängden sista året (P=0,036) men ingen signifikant skillnad över fett och proteinhalten kunde ses. Utifrån resultatet dras slutsatsen att klinisk mastit minskar mjölkmängden medan innehållet av fett och protein förblir opåverkat.

Strategic management is crucial for organizational success in today's volatile business environment, and yet, underutilized within agricultural businesses. The agricultural industry is facing rapid change with the introduction of new GM technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, and following regulations. Although these technologies have the potential to provide farmers with improved crops containing desired traits, excessive regulations and obstacles hinder its implementation in European agricultural practices. If the upcoming decision regarding CRISPR-Cas9 allows the technology to not be treated under GMO regulations, European agriculture is faced with a major opportunity. However, as procedures are unexplored, organizations are left unprepared.   This study investigates the optimal strategic planning approach for Swedish agricultural businesses wanting to efficiently implement new technologies and adjust to regulatory changes. The research is based on a qualitative study that incorporates deductive methodology. It follows a multiple case study research design with eight semi-structured interviews from six Swedish and American case companies as the primary data collection method. By taking inspiration from experienced companies’ planning strategies and including European values, Swedish agricultural companies wanting to implement CRISPR-Cas9 can efficiently navigate changes within the industry while maintaining a competitive advantage. A simple model combining parts from short- and long-term planning frameworks with communication and value creation can guide companies entering the upcoming field.

Syfte: Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i hur elever på Hippologigymnasiet ser på hästen som moti-verande faktor i deras lärande. Syftet med denna undersökning är att beskriva och försöka skapa bättre förståelse för på vilket sätt hästen direkt eller indirekt betyder för motivationen till lärande. Med utgångspunkt i Antonovskys (2007) teori om KASAM, känsla av sammanhang, kopplat till stallets sociala arena, samspelet med hästen och målinriktning studeras faktorer som har betydelse för elevernas motivation till lärande. Metod: Studien baseras på kvantitativ och kvalitativ data från 49 enkäter (svarsfrekvens 74 %) samt på en gruppintervju med fyra elever. Resultat: Studien visar att egenskaper som disciplin, ansvar, handlingsförmåga och ledarskap utvecklas i stallmiljön. Regler och normer i stallet utgör en fostrande social arena som präglar de som vistas där sedan tidig ålder, av betydelse för den egna motivationen till lärande. Motivation-en till lärande stärks då eleverna känner ett sammanhang när egna erfarenheter tillsammans med nya kunskaper gör att de klarar av utmaningar man ofta ställs inför i stallmiljön i samspelet med hästen. Detta skapar meningsfullhet som ökar graden av elevers känsla av sammanhang, KASAM, och därmed en viktig faktor för motivationen till lärande. Studien visar även på samband mellan målsättning och motivation med hästen som utgångspunkt, eleverna är mycket målinriktade och redan i samband med val av skola vet majoriteten (92 %) inom vilket område de studera efter avslutat gymnasium. Dessutom visar resultatet att de som har egen häst planerar sin studietid i högre grad än de som inte har egen häst. Slutsats; Hästen är en betydelsefull faktor för motivationen till lärande direkt eller indirekt.

Den negativa attityden kring palmolja har uppkommit för att industrin ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv brister i sociala, ekonomiska och ekologiska aspekter. Produktionen finns i utvecklingsländerna, främst i Malaysia och Indonesien. Intresset för palmolja har ökat i Liberia, som tillsammans med Sverige är studieländer i den här undersökningen. Industrin har en stor miljöpåverkan, det förekommer dåliga arbetsförhållanden med låga löner och brist på rättigheter. Palmoljeindustrin har samtidigt i utvecklingsländerna gett möjlighet till ökad välfärd, då industrin är det som primärt ger inkomst för lokalbefolkningen.Studiens resultat visar att en uteslutning av palmolja i produkter inte är en lösning på problemet. En möjlig lösning till problemet är istället att samarbeta och jobba för hållbar odling av palmolja. / The negative attitude towards palm oil has arisen because of the sustainability of industry in social, economic and ecological aspects. Production is in developing countries, mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia. The interest in palm oil has increased in Liberia, which together with Sweden are study countries in this survey. The industry has a major environmental impact, there are poor working conditions with low wages and lack of rights. At the same time, in the developing countries, the palm oil industry has provided an opportunity for increased welfare, as the industry is the primary source of income for the local population.The study results show that an exclusion of palm oil in products is not a solution to the problem. A possible solution to the problem is instead to cooperate and work for sustainable cultivation of palm oil.