Summary of newspapers of the previous day - 13. 10. 2008

Private Agriculture Association at successful negotiation to evening-up of payments

A substantial negotiation on adjustment of a budget of the Ministry of Agriculture for 2009 in which representatives of the most significant non-governmental organizations participated took place on Friday the 10th of October. Concretely it was dealt with participation of: the chairman of the Private Agriculture Association of the CR Stanislav Němec, the president of Agrarian Chamber of the CR Jan Veleba, the chairman of the Marginal Areas Union Milan Boleslav, and the president of Young Agrarians Society of the CR Pavel Moulis.

Financial crisis effect on cereals market

Prices of cereals on world market decrease; exports of wheat could relieve. Cereals markets are in tow of an international financial crisis. A strong economic softening in many countries which pushes rate of raw materials on futures markets further downwards, because institutional investors relinquish their activities in the raw-materials sector in large extent owing to liquidity, raises big fears. Above all it is dealt with quotation of raw oil, corn and soya beans which got under a big pressure. A rate on Chicago Change decreased almost by 20 % during two weeks; on Parisian Change it was by more than 10 %.

Acreage on which CR grows genetically modified corn exceeded 8000 ha

Events from the end of last year show a possible development of “green biotechnologies” in the EU. Two antagonistic powers are obvious. On one side farmers, scientists and industry require modernizing of 20-year old European legislative for genetically modified organisms (GMO), however, on the other one an EU commissioner for environment Stavros Dimas, who threats with a ban of genetically modified Bt corn. That all is penetrated with economic and political interests to protect European agriculture against imports of cheaper genetically modified commodities as soya and corn. A discreditable disinformation of Europeans about genetic modifications which are called genetic manipulation by anti-GMO activists plays up to them.

What was the 34th year of MFF Ekofilm

The 34th year of International Film Festival (IFF) about environment, natural and cultural heritage-Ekofilm 2008 took place this year from the 6th to the 12th October 2008 in České Budějovice and Český Krumlov. A Festival Cinema-train (Kinematovlak) visited Třeboň, Veselí nad Lužnicí and Boršov nad Vltavou. This year was devoted to the International Year of the Planet Earth 2008. 172 film from 33 countries of the world, of it 46 from the Czech Republic were entered the IFF competition Ekofilm. 62 selected film evaluated by six-member international jury got on the own competition.