Summary of newspaper of the previous day – 30. 8. 2011

Farmers have harvested almost all cereals

To today´s day, 1.31 million hectares of field under cereals have been harvested of the total amount of 1.35 million hectares sowed for this year´s harvest. 7. 226 million tonnes of cereals are in granaries. Farmers have harvested almost all cereals and combine machines have to cut the last less than three percents of inland fields. In case of rape, only roughly one percent of sown areas staid unharvested. Average yields per hectare in cereals and rape are higher this year against the last one. It results from data published on the internet by the Ministry of Agriculture (MZe) today.

MZe: We can not intervene into arguments of Lesy ČR and CSO about wood price index

It is not within competence of the Ministry of Agriculture to intervene in an argument between the state enterprise Lesy České republiky (LČR) and the Czech Statistic Office (CSO) about publication of wood price index. The Minister of Agriculture Ivan Fuksa (ODS) communicated it by means of his press department. Lesy ČR complains about CSO at the Constitutional Court. LČR litigates about the index also with forestry firms. Both the state subjects got into the conflict after CSO had not published the wood price index over the 1st quarter.

Grape crop in south Moravia ripens; vineyards are guarded by watchmen

Grape crop in south Moravia ripens. Vine-yards are guarded against starlings and thieves by watchmen, so called “hotars” who can use a weapon to chase away starlings. By this way, according to estimations made by the Vine-growers Union as many as one third of vine-yard acreage is protected. According to secretary of the Vine-growers Union Martin Půček, vine-growers do not do without watchmen today. In the past, farmers can use subsidies to hire guards; now, they have to finance these works themselves. For example Zemědělské družstvo Sedlec near Mikulov have to pay for two month of guarding of 120 hectares of vineyards for 400 000 crowns.

According to FAO, mutated strain of bird flu spreads in China and Vietnam

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of UNO warned about a rise of bird flu virus. It was transported by a wild bird migration back in the countries where it had been already eradicated. Its mutated strain resisting obviously vaccines spreads in China and Vietnam. FAO called to increase alertness to register every occurrence of the infection because an impact on people can not be anticipated. The bird flu virus is endemic on most territory of north and central Vietnam; moreover now, also its new strains spread there.