Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 9.11. 2007

Czech Republic wants higher endowments for vine-growers from new member states of EU

A priority of the Czech Republic in negotiation on a final form of European wine market reform will be a change of way of allotment of endowments in favour of new member states. A second area will be cancellation of limitation of the ban to sweeten table wines with sugar. The Minister of Agriculture Petr Gandalovič said it to ČTK today. The reform should be passed contrary to expectation this year. At the end of October most of European countries were against the draft reform. “However, recently we have recorded pressures so that the reform would be passed as soon as possible, however, the best would be already this year during the presidency of Portugal. Many countries which refuse the reform negotiate now on a possible support of the proposal at a cost of special advantages and concessions”, Gandalovič said.

Pig breeders demand billion crowns, they plan demonstration

Czech pig breeders urge the Ministry of Agriculture to provide direct endowments in height of 2,50 crowns per kilogram of life weight; in total about billion crowns. The support should moderate negative impacts of low input prices of meat and growing costs for breeding. “Surrounding states have already adopted a similar measure and if they are not introduced also in our republic, pig breeding will be reduced, self-sufficiency in meat production will decrease and import and prices will increase”, the president of Agrarian Chamber Jan Veleba said to journalists today in Brno. Farmers plan a demonstration on the 23rd of November in front of the building of Ministry of Agriculture. ČTK is finding out a statement of the ministry now.

Declaration of MZe to problems of regulation of establishment of game

Regarding big damages to forest growths and field crops the Ministry of Agriculture (MZe) appeals to reduce number of some kind of big game. MZe considers this problem as a very serious, therefore it makes this steps and appeal to all holders of hunting districts and owners of hunting land. To take effective measures the Ministry of Agriculture appeals to all holders of hunting districts and owners of hunting land to use maximally options provided by a legal regulation in the hunting sector in relation to regulate game breeding. These options are especially responsible composition of hunting management plans, reduction of game establishment where there are not presumptions for raising of some kinds of game in wild nature as well as for adoption of extraordinary measures to decrease game establishment including exemptions from forbidden ways of hunting.

Area sown by GM crops increased by 77 percent this year in Europe

The biggest interest in GM crops is shown by farmers in France. Crops using genetic technologies get still bigger space on European fields and they were grown on acreage 110 077 hectares this year which is by 77 percent more than last year. The biggest interest in them is shown by farmers in France where the sown acreage increased more than four times; the Czech Republic and Germany showed only slightly slower increase. A space for further expansion of biotechnological crops is still very wide. From all already developed genetically modified crops (GMO) it is possible in the European Union to grow commercially only so called Bt-corn resistant towards larvae of moth; moreover, growing is enabled meanwhile only in seven countries, despite the fact that the European Union refuses the bans of GMO growing in particular countries. Through the world last year, ten year after beginning of the commercial production the acreage of sown land exceeds 100 million hectares and a number of growers increased over ten million.