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Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten monialaiset maatalousyrittäjät ovat menestyneet suhteessa muihin maatalousyrittäjiin. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli tunnistaa, millaista yrittäjyysosaamista menestyneillä maatalousyrittäjillä on sekä havaita mahdolliset erot monialaisten ja muiden maatalousyrittäjien osaamisessa. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä hyödynnettiin Entrepreneurial Competence Frameworkia (EntreComp), jota on käytetty tähän mennessä vähän yrittäjyyden tutkimuksessa. Tavoitteena oli selvittää, voidaanko maatalousyrittäjien yrittäjyysosaamista hahmottaa EntreComp -viitekehyksen kautta. Tutkimuksen aineistona toimi Luonnonvarakeskuksen, Työtehoseuran sekä Pellervon taloustutkimuksen toteuttamassa Smart Farmers -hankkeessa vuonna 2021 tehty viljelijäkysely. Kyselyyn vastasi 1342 satunnaisotannalla Ruokaviraston maatilayrittäjärekisteristä poimittua viljelijää. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnettiin Smart Farmers -hankkeessa muodostettua menestyksen määritelmää. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin määrällistä tutkimusta, jossa aineistoa käsiteltiin määrällisillä analyysimenetelmillä tarkastelemalla jakaumia ja ristiintaulukoimalla muuttujia vertailtavien ryhmien suhteen. Lisäksi muuttujien välistä riippuvuutta selvitettiin tilastollisin testein. Sekä monialaisilla että muilla maatalousyrittäjillä vahvimpia yrittäjyysosaamisen osa-alueita olivat tuotanto-osaaminen, riskienhallinta ja itsensä johtaminen. Monialaiset hallitsivat muita maatalousyrittäjiä paremmin uuden teknologian, mitä selittää mahdollisesti se, että merkittävä osa kyselyyn vastanneista monialaisista yrittäjistä harjoitti maatalouden ohella koneurakointia ja monialaisilla maatalousyrittäjillä oli enemmän maatalousalan koulutusta. Monialaiset olivat myös menestyneempiä kuin muut maatalousyrittäjät, mutta parempaan menestykseen ei tässä tutkimuksessa löytynyt selkeää syytä. EntreComp- viitekehyksen soveltuvuutta maatalousyrittäjien yrittäjyysosaamisen mallintamiseen kokeiltiin tutkimalla menestyneiden maatalousyrittäjien osaamista. Tuloksista voidaan päätellä, että maatalousyrittäjillä on EntreCompissa esitettyjä kompetensseja. EntreComp vaikuttaisi siis sopivan myös maatalousyrittäjien tutkimukseen. Jatkotutkimusta monialaisten maatalousyrittäjien menestystekijöistä voisi tehdä EntreComp -viitekehystä hyödyntäen.

Tässä työssä pyrittiin selvittämään monialaisuuden ja yrittäjämäisen orientaation yhteyttä toisiinsa, sekä niiden ilmenemistapoja suomalaisilla lammastiloilla. Tutkimustapana oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimus, ja tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla kuutta monialaisen lammastilan yrittäjää. Työssä pyrittiin selvittämään miksi ja miten yrittäjät olivat monialaistaneet liiketoimintaansa, sekä millaiset asiat vaikuttivat heidän päätöksentekoonsa. Tehtyjä päätöksiä ja valintoja analysoiden, pyrittiin selvittämään esiintyykö toiminnassa yrittäjämäiselle orientaatiolle ominaisia piirteitä, ja jos esiintyy, niin millaisia. Tämän analysoinnin jälkeen pyrittiin vielä löytämään yhteneväisyyksiä ja eroavaisuuksia tilojen toiminnan, monialaisuuden muodon ja yrittäjämäisen orientaation ilmenemisen välillä. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella monialaisuutta voisi pitää yhtenä yrittäjämäisen orientaation ilmentäjänä tutkimukseen osallistuneilla lammastiloilla. Tutkimukseen osallistuneilla yrittäjillä monialaistamispäätöksen taustalla oleviksi motivaattoreiksi useimmin esiin nousivat halu hyödyntää olemassa olevia resursseja tehokkaasti sekä lisätulojen hankkiminen. Lisäksi tärkeänä pidettiin perheen ja läheisten merkitystä, joko työllistämisen kannalta tai tehokkaan työn vapauttaman ajan kannalta. Tehokkaaseen työhön ja ajankäyttöön liittyen voidaan tuloksista nostaa esiin myös yrittäjien halu tehdä ekologista ja eettistä työtä. Tehokkaalla resurssien käytöllä ja toimintaa kehittämällä tavoiteltiin myös ekologista tuotantoa, johon yrittäjät usein lisäsivät tavoitteen eettisestä tuotannosta niin yrittäjien itsensä kuin eläintenkin osalta. Kaikkien tutkimukseen osallistuneiden yrittäjien toiminnassa havaittiin yrittäjämäiseen orientaatioon liitettävissä olevia piirteitä. Erityisesti esiin nousivat autonominen ja proaktiivinen toiminta. Tuloksista pystyttiin nostamaan eroavaisuuksia yrittäjämäisen orientaation esiintymisessä monialaisten tilojen ja portfolio -yritysten välillä. Monialaisilla tiloilla yrittäjämäiseen orientaatioon liitettävissä oleva toiminta keskittyi vahvemmin alkutuotantoon liittyviin päätöksiin kun taas portfolio -yrityksillä yrittäjämäiseen orientaatioon liitettävissä oleva toiminta käsitti luonnollisesti laajemman kokonaisuuden heidän liiketoimintansa ollessa laajempaa. Portfolio -yritysten päätöksiin vaikutti vahvemmin esimerkiksi kuluttajakäyttäytyminen, koska asiakkailta saatu tulo oli suuremmassa roolissa kuin monialaisilla tiloilla. Portfolio -yrityksillä lammastuotanto oli usein koko liiketoiminnan keskiössä, mutta toisaalta se oli myös vain yksi liiketoimintakokonaisuuden osa-alue, jonka pohjalta ja jota hyödyntäen oli lähdetty rakentamaan laajempaa liiketoiminnallista kokonaisuutta. Monialaisilla maatiloilla tehtävä aktiivinen, ennakoiva ja tehokas toiminta, jolla pyritään luomaan kilpailuetua sekä parempaa taloudellista tulosta, kertoo yrittäjien vahvasta yrittäjämäisestä orientaatiosta. Yrittäjät pyrkivät omaamillaan resursseilla ja omilla päätöksillään vaikuttamaan yrityksensä tilanteeseen ja kehittämiseen. Tämä tukee yrittäjämäisen orientaation ajatusta, jossa keskiössä on yritys sekä yrittäjä itse. Näitä yrityksen sisäisiä toimintoja hyödyntämällä ja kehittämällä yrittäjät pyrkivät pärjäämään markkinoilla.

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää lahosta puuaineesta riippuvaiselle lajistolle tärkeiden onttojen puiden ominaisuuksien vaikutusta pääkaupunkiseudun jalojen puistopuiden onttouden esiintymistodennäköisyyteen. Tutkimuksessa mitattavia ominaisuuksia olivat puiden läpimitta, puulaji, pituus sekä kasvupaikan valoisuus ja metsäisyys. Tutkittavia puulajeja olivat lehmus (Tilia cordata), vaahtera (Acer platanoides), tammi (Quercus robur), saarni (Fraxinus excelsior) ja jalavat (Ulmus glabra ja U. laevis). Tutkimuskohteina olivat pääkaupunkiseudulla sijaitsevat 14 viheraluetta, jotka vaihtelivat metsäisistä puustokeskittymistä valoisiin ja intensiivisesti hoidettuihin puistoihin. Onttouden esiintymisen riippuvuutta muista muuttujista tutkittiin korrelaatioanalyysillä sekä logistisilla regressioanalyyseillä, joissa huomioitiin myös puiden jakaantuminen viheraluiden välillä. Puulajilla ja puun läpimitalla oli vaikutusta onttouden esiintymistodennäköisyyteen. Kasvupaikan valoisuudella oli merkitystä rungon onttoutumisessa ainakin lehmukselle ja vaahteralle. Metsäisyys liittyy valoisuuteen ja näiden muuttujien vaikutus rungon onttoutumistodennäköisyyteen on kietoutunut toisiinsa. Pituudella ei todennäköisesti ollut merkitystä onttoutumiseen. Tulosten perusteella etenkin pääkaupunkiseudun lehmukset sekä vaahterat ovat herkkiä onttoutumaan ja täten ne muodostavat monimuotoisia elinympäristöjä. Valoisuuden ja metsäisyyden vaikutus onttoutumiseen on vahvasti sidoksissa puiden hoitoon ja hoitotoimilla on siis suuri vaikutus onkaloiden syntyyn.

The aim of this study was to investigate if the drainage-based utilization of agricultural peatlands, associated with heavy greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, really meets the goals of the farmers, and to investigate how well alternatives with lesser GHG emissions could fit the farmers’ needs. Finland has obligations, both national and from European Union, to reduce its total GHG emissions from the levels of 1990 by 39 % until 2030, and 80 % until 2050. Ten percent of Finland’s total GHG emissions come from agricultural sector. Agricultural organic soils represent only about 10 % of total agricultural land in Finland, but it is estimated that the GHG emissions from these organic soils make up to 50-60 % of the total GHG emissions of the whole agricultural sector. The low water table in traditional drainage-based utilization of agricultural peatlands causes rapid decomposition of peat, which leads to high GHG emissions, leaching of nutrients, subsidence and to numerous problems on the fields. According to literature review done, raising of the water table is the most efficient way to reduce GHG emissions on agricultural peatlands, but the raised water table limits the use of traditional crops like cereals. Restoration of the peatland, paludiculture and afforestation have been suggested as alternative uses of these agricultural peatlands in literature. In this study, multi-criteria decision analysis was used to compare different uses of agricultural peatlands in the light of varying goals. Twelve different forms of peatland utilization were selected for the comparison, and these included forms of utilization with both high and low water tables. Firstly, it was investigated what kind of indicators can be used to assess the performance of the different types of utilization, and values for those indicators were gathered from the literature if possible. Weighting of the indicators in relation to the goals of the farmers was planned to be carried out with a questionnaire, but as we did not manage to get any answers from the farmers, the multi-criteria decision analysis was done with weightings collected both from a group of scientists and from a simulation. Traditional forms of drainage-based farming scored well on financial and productional indicators, but they lacked on regulating and cultural indicators. In both analyses with the weighting given by the group of scientists and by simulation, utilization forms of peatlands with high water table were selected as the best alternative for agricultural peatland management significantly more often than the deeply drained alternatives. With the weighting done by the group of scientists the deeply drained forms were selected not once as the best alternative for peatland utilization, and with the weightings extracted from the simulation in only 3,5 % of the cases a deeply drained form of utilization was selected as a best alternative. These multi-criteria decision analyses show, that the wet forms of peatland utilization have a great potential to be selected as the best alternatives of agricultural peatland utilization also with weighting profiles that put heavy weight also in financial indicators, although this requires the market to the alternative materials to be developed. The policy concerning agricultural subsidies likely affects financial attractiveness of the utilization alternatives of peatlands by great extent. Further long-term research of paludiculture is still needed, and field studies on paludiculture should also be started in Finland to improve the assessment of wet peatland use on most indicators.

Wheat bran is obtained after conventional milling of wheat grains for the production of white flour, which is an important source of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, but still remains underutilized in food manufacturing. In spite of the increasing evidence about the health effects of whole-meal and fiber-rich foods, refined white flour is still preferred. Bran also has a negative influence on dough rheology, texture and the sensory quality of bread, which limits its use in bran bread baking. The use of starter culture for sourdough fermentation can drive the fermentation process and confer specific changes on the matrix. Exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are important due to their physicochemical properties affecting dough rheology and bread texture, as well as their health-promoting potential. The screening of EPS-producing strains has been carried out mostly on wheat and rye sourdough, and very few studies have considered different matrices. The objective of this work was to determine and compare whole-wheat flour and wheat bran fermentation by two strains of LAB (Leuconostoc spp. and Weissella spp.) in the presence of added sucrose and without, and to study the effect of sourdough obtained with a selected EPS-producing LAB strain on the quality of bread and its shelf-life. Sourdough quality was studied by means of microbiological, rheological and chemical analysis by comparing the growth and acidification performance in the different matrices, and by evaluating EPS production using viscosity measurements. The physical and mechanical properties of fresh bread made using the best EPS producer LAB were investigated to study the product shelf-life by using the seed replacement method and texture analysis test. The results showed that dough prepared with Weissella confusa with added sucrose had a positive impact on viscosity, as well as providing mild acidic sourdough leading to better bread quality properties, whereas in the presence of Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides, no positive viscosity has observed in whole-wheat sourdough. Bran sourdough samples with Weissella confusa showed a higher volume, better color and shelf-life during storage than samples with un-soured bran, confirming the effect of sourdough and the positive role of EPS on the functional properties of high-fiber bread making.

The diversity of nature has declined significantly over the past decades. The agricultural diversity has the same trend and the agricultural environments includes of high-value habitats and their associated biodiversity. In the EU and in the Finnish environmental schemes, therefore, efforts have been made to protect and increase biodiversity. Since 2009, voluntary nature management fields have been part of the Finnish’s agri-environmental measures in the agri-environment scheme. These nature management fields include perennial grass fields, game fields, landscape fields and meadow fields. Nature management fields are used specifically to maintain the diversity of the agricultural environment. This study examined two types of nature management fields in summer of 2013. The variety of vascular plants, butterflies and bumblebees was observed in Uusimaa, Finland. The study consists of 40 field blocks, divided into perennial grassland fields (3-4 years) and meadow fields (over 8 years). Nature management field types differed from each other by vegetation, establishment and temporal change. The aim of this study was to provide information which can help in the design and management of nature management fields. The intention is to provide insight on what kind of vegetation could be used to encourage increase in the number and diversity of pollinators, as well as, what kind of the nature management fields promote environmental diversity in farmland. This study was conducted as part of Marjaana Toivonen's dissertation project, “Enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services through environmental Fallows”. Vegetation was clearly influenced by the time and what was sown in the field. The old perennial grassland fields can preserve and safeguard the permanence of species. Young meadow fields are sown usually with flower seed mixtures. Thus, the abundance of flowering plants is high and the plants provide pollen and nectar for the insects. It was also found that the vegetation was divided according to the type of nature management fields. With pollinators, this trend was not observed as clearly. However, bumblebees were most common in meadow fields. Clear division between the types of fields was not seen in butterflies but they appeared to prefer grassland fields. This study shows that both grassland and meadow fields are needed for protecting biodiversity. Nature management fields have an important role as the multi-species vegetation patches which allow organisms to survive, get food and travel in otherwise monocultural farming environments.

Wooden breast is muscle myopathy occurring in broilers, myopathy forms hard and pale connective tissue areas in broiler breast muscles. When wooden breast is occurring also some other myopathies can coexist: loose muscle structure and white stripping are visible on breast muscles. The myopathy is relatively new and it was noticed approximately ten years ago in greater amounts. The subject of this thesis was to study wing flapping and how it affects the morphology of breast muscles and bones and whether there are links between them and wooden breast prevalence. The literature review handled muscle morphology and bones morphology and how muscles shape changes when they grow in size, how muscles and bones grow normally and how the exercise of the muscles will affect wooden breast prevalence. In the literature review the anatomy of broiler movement and especially the anatomy of bones and the muscles that are involved in wing movement is handled. The study is made by raising 171 broiler birds divided in three groups: Group A birds have feed and water on floor level and birds do not have to use their wings. Group B birds lived same way as A-group until at day 25 drinking water is moved to platform which is higher than the floor level. Birds had to fly to platform and down when they need water or feed. Group C feed and water were on floor level but after 3 days water was risen on the platform and platform was risen gradually when birds grew and all birds of the Group C learned how to get to platform. From the original 171 birds 17 were sacrificed outside the study due health reasons. The birds (171-17 i.e. 154) were terminated 20, 30 or 41 days old in 40, 58 or 56 bird batches. The percentage of termination was roughly equal in each group on each termination, except at Day 20, when Group A and Group B had had the same treatment, and there were no terminations in Group B. The aim of this thesis was to study effects of wing flapping to broilers morphological changes. This thesis showed that there were no significant differences in Group A and Group C between studied properties. Wing flapping showed no significant differences during sample termination days in morphological properties.

Malnutrition in early life has long-lasting and irreversible consequences, and it is estimated to be the cause of nearly half of the deaths in children under the age of five. Most child undernutrition occurs in the period of complementary feeding, when breast milk is gradually being replaced by complementary foods. Undernutrition is caused by inadequate nutrient and energy intakes and diseases that result from poor feeding practices. Complementary feeding includes a complex set of behaviours and decisions, which are in turn influenced by a vast number of determinants, such as caregiver s knowledge and skills, time constraints, social support system and community context. The aim of this study is to qualitatively investigate mothers perceptions of complementary feeding and to evaluate the influence of household and community context on complementary food choices in rural area of Southern Benin. Child undernutrition is extremely prevalent in Benin, and 45 % of children under the age of five are chronically malnourished. Two remote rural villages in the Mono region of Benin were selected for the study. The sample consisted of mothers who had a child aged 6 to 24 months. Purposeful sampling was used. Data was collected through individual interviews with structured and open-ended questions (n=30) and six focus group discussions. Four groups were organised for caregivers (n=34) and two for healthcare and social workers in the region (n=13). Translated and transcribed data was systematically coded with the Atlas.ti program and analysed using qualitative content and thematic analysis. The analysis was inductive and data-driven. Data and methodological triangulation were used in order to evaluate the validity and credibility of data, which was collected using different research methods. Young children in the villages were not fed according to WHO recommendations. Complementary foods lacked variety and especially animal-source foods were limited. Children were usually fed maize gruel or porridge, which were seldom supplemented with more nutritious ingredients. Four themes were formed of the determinants of feeding practices: maternal knowledge framework, child characteristics, household context and community context. Mothers had several ways to rationalise why certain foods were better than others. Mothers considered macaroni, maize gruel and porridge to be the most suitable and healthy foods for young children. However, mothers also valued locally available, more nutritious products, such as eggs, beans and green leafy vegetables. No food taboos concerning feeding of young children existed in the villages. Children started eating family foods from a very early age, and separate foods were hardly ever prepared for them. Mothers made many feeding decisions based on children s behaviour, cues and development level. Mothers seemed to have quite a lot of power over infant feeding decisions on the household level, but also the older generation and fathers influenced feeding choices. Fathers decided how money was spent in the household and grandmothers tried to maintain the traditional ways of child care. The main reason for poor feeding practices was poverty, which limited the choice of foods and the time mothers had for child care. Rural migration led to fathers being absent from families, increasing mothers work burden. These results suggest that there are several possible barriers and also enablers of optimal complementary feeding in the study villages.

The importance of corporate social responsibility has been increasing among organizations and society. In addition to companies, the requirement of responsibility also applies to the activities of organizations. Responsibility has become a basic requirement and a prerequisite for an organization’s operations to be profitable, sustainable and acceptable. A socially responsible organization operates in a sustainable manner and considers the expectations of its stakeholders in its activities. Today, responsibility involves a great number of conflicting expectations and requirements. The stakeholders are essential in implementing responsibility and further developing organizational activities and operations. The focus of this thesis is to examine responsibility in the activities of the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). The target is to observe the attitudes of forest owners regarding MTK’s responsibility. Thus, the purpose of the study is to find out how the members see the responsibility of MTK and to examine how MTK meets the expectations of its members. A survey carried out in the study provided valuable information for the development of the organization’s responsibility work and their lobbying work. The thesis is a quantitative research. The empirical data was collected as a Webropol survey from MTK forest owners in March and April 2021. The survey was sent to a total of 1000 forest owners and 201 answers were received. The response rate of the study was around 20 %. The SPSS statistic software was used in the analysis of the study. According to the results, the forest owners were satisfied with MTK’s objectives of responsibility and sustainability targets. The organization was seen as an expert and as a competent actor contributing to the vitality of rural areas. In particular, MTK was seen as a responsible organization regarding environmental values. According to the results, forest owners felt that activities promoting responsibility are important. In the objectives of forest ownership, the members emphasized the objectives of recreational use more than the economic objectives. Forest owners felt that activities that promote the growth and health of forests, the prevention of forest damage, the protection of water and the rights of forest owners were extremely important. In the future, MTK should focus on developing its visibility. In its responsibility work, MTK should pay increasing attention to its interaction with its stakeholders. This is also indicated by the fact that only one third of the respondents replied that they knew MTK’s activities well. The objectives requiring the most development are responding to feedback, allowing members to influence decision-making and listening to members’ needs.

Multiplex PCR uses several primer pairs, each specific for different DNA sequences in the same reaction, enabling viruses from different families and genera to be recognized by the same test. The new broad-based method of detecting plant viruses, siRNA analysis, is expected to improve the identification of plant viruses as it does not require a prediction of viruses that may be present in the sample. Due to the method, limiting the test to detecting only certain viruses is unnecessary. The aim of this study was to optimize two or more single-phase multiplex RT-PCR tests for the pest laboratory of the Finnish Food Safety Authority (now known as Finnish Food Authority). The tests were for nine published, degenerate primer pairs for the simultaneous identification of Potyvirus, Potexvirus, Tobravirus and Tospovirus genera, Tobamovirus subgroup 1, Nepovirus subgroups a and b, Bromoviridae family and Carmovirus, Dianthovirus, and Tombusvirus, which belong in the Tombusviridae family. Both multiplex RT-PCR tests and siRNA deep sequencing were used to detect plant viruses from infected samples or samples showing viral symptoms. By identifying the viruses in the plant samples, the goal was to estimate the suitability of multiplex RT-PCR tests for identifying multiple RNA viruses from different genera. siRNA analysis was used to ensure the correctness of the multiplex RT-PCR results. In this study, two multiplex RT-PCR tests were created to detect viruses belonging to eight different virus groups. The obtained results serve as a basis for the validation of the multiplex RT-PCR tests. The validation is required to verify the suitability of the method for its intended use and the reliability of the results of the method. The results showed that siRNA deep sequencing was able to detect almost the whole genome from some of the found viruses. Multiplex RT-PCR tests detected Lupine mosaic virus (LuMV) from lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.), Arabic mosaic virus (ArMV) from Chinese astilbe (Astilbe chinensis (Maxim.) Franch.) and from quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) from moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia L.) and possibly a new Potyvirus species from honey clover (Melilotus albus Medik.). siRNA analysis detected the same viruses, which increases confidence in the optimized multiplex RT-PCR tests.