Summary of newspapers of the previous day - 8.6.2010

Government updated financial strategy of water protection against nitrate pollution from agricultural machines

On base of the last six investigations mapping the actual state of meeting conditions of the Council instruction 91/676/E.E.C. on water protection against nitrate pollution from agriculture machines (nitrate directions) oriented to protection and treatment with water resources, according to the CR government decree from the 9th of June, 2008 No. 693, the Financial strategy of nitrate direction implementation was updated. The submitted draft was at today´s government meeting approved.

Amount of honey will be low owing to rainy spring

“That there could be a threat of pickle, it crossed my mind immediately when bees started to sting. Otherwise they do not do that. I looked in beehives and there was no honey. What they collected, they consumed”, a bee-keeper Bohuslav Toman says. According to bee-keepers, this year´s poor yield of honey is caused mainly by rainy weather which lasted for example in north-east of the republic from the end of April to the beginning of June. “That the winter was long and frosty, it was suitable for bees. It was good that it got warm in March, but then rains did harm to bees. Therefore bees could not get on blossoms of fruit trees. Moreover, the nectar in blossoms was much diluted with water”.

According to ACH estimation, cereal harvest will be by as many as 15 percents lower than last year

According to the Agrarian Chamber, this year´s crop of cereals will be owing to spring heavy rains and floods by as many as 15 percents lower than the last year, the president of Agrarian Chamber Jan Veleba said to ČTK today. The last year´s harvest 7.832 million tonnes belonged from a long-term point of view to the above-average. Cereals take a half of arable land in the country. According to Veleby, the harvest is endangered not only in places hit by recent floods but also in others, after rains underflooding fields. “This will push on cereal price growth. Whether the prices will really raise or not, it will be decided by the market situation, minimally in Europe”, Veleba said to ČTK.

Progress report of SZIF and spending of financial means over 2009

At today´s government meeting, the Minister of Agriculture Jakub Šebesta submitted a material “Annual progress report of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund and spending financial means over the year 2009”. “SZIF is a manager of European subsidies in the agrarian sector and at the same time an inspection body which monitors the correctness of usage of these means. The total height of European subsidies over 2009 reached approximately 40.5 billion crowns. The biggest share of the total expenditures – 25 billion crowns aimed at direct payments and almost 8 billion crowns at the Rural Development Programme”, the minister Šebesta stated.