Summary of newspapers of the previous day - 29. 4. 2009

Economic crisis: New opportunity for market tools in environment policy

A governing committee of non-profit organization Green Budget Europe (GBE) sits today in Prague at the Ministry of Environment. The committee members negotiate about market tools in environment policy at time of economic crisis. GBE will use opportunities which a revision of instruction on energy products taxation and of the EU budget offers, so that it would try to force more targeted and more cohesive use of energy products taxation and a removal of supports harmful for the environment.

Animal welfare on eco-farms will be in stricter check

An association of advisors in organic agriculture EPOS ČR created proposal of methodology of welfare evaluation in particular kinds of farm animals raised on ecological farms. An aim of the methodology is creation of and evaluation system of animal welfare and its subsequent application in practice. The methodology draft was created at workshops with participation of experts from various branches. The methodologies were remarked by employees of VÚŽV Prague Uhříněvěs and at present they are verified in practice in cooperation with a control organization of organic agriculture Biokont CZ, s.r.o.

Rains slow down sowing of corn in USA

For the first time in last 3 trade séances in frame of yesterday´s business day on Change Chicago Board of Trade price of July futures contracts for corn has increased. The reason were speculations according to which a rainy weather reigning at present in the Center-West area of the USA from Oklahoma to Pensylvania will delay a sowing course and will decrease a potential volume of this year´s corn yield in the United States, which are considered as the biggest world producers and exporter.

Number of cows decreases. Are supermarket blame for it?

A number of cows in the Czech Republic intensively decreases. Farmers will demonstrate against it. Only in the region Chrudim in the first quarter, over five hundreds of cows were selected from raising. However, total republic numbers should be far worse. “During this half-year our agriculture can loose six to seven pieces and it is a very palpable and irretrievable loss”, a chairman of the Agrarian Chamber Jan Veleba warns. Farmers are afraid that cows will have the same fate as pigs. “Our self-sufficiency is on sixty percents and the production still goes down”, Veleba tells.