Summary of newspapers of the previous day - 5.1.2012

Taste of apples from last year´s harvest could be reputedly better than at another time

Taste of apples from last year´s harvest from Czech orchards could be reputedly better than in other years. Some participants of today´s traditional apple tasting in Hořice in Jičín region agreed on it. The evaluation could show which varieties as preferred by consumers as the most delicious. A fruit-grower František Paprštejn from the Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy said it to ČTK. Concrete results of today´s tasting will known after counting next week. Last year was not simple for fruit-growers. The last year´s crop was wasted by spring frosts; according to the present estimations the apple harvest should be the lowest since 1984 in the entire country. It showed also in today´s tasting. Apples were damaged besides frost also by hails, so, organizers of tasting from the Holovousy Research Institute have to exclude from the evaluation the category apple appearance for the first time in history.

Home slaughter of cattle ...already

It seems that it is not still clear to all how it is with home cattle slaughters which are allowed on base of an amendment of veterinary law, which came in force on the first of January 2012. We bring the essential. A substantial message is that for home cattle slaughter, but also slaughter of farm-kept game, a breeder have to know only the paragraph 21 of the Veterinary Law and does not need any implementing regulation. There is no such regulation. So, is will be enough when the breeder asks a locally appropriate Regional Veterinary Administration, possibly Town Veterinary Administration in Prague, for a permit, and he/she can slaughter the slaughter cattle to the age of 24 months at home.

Check of food quality 12011

The State and Food Inspection (SZIP) still more often meet cases when appropriate quality of food is not met in the market network. Even if the situation in area of food safety is very good in the Czech Republic and the whole central Europe, according to SZIP check findings the quality is not at the appropriate level. Some results of checks focused on the quality in just passed year could be marked as alarming. SZIP feels signals from the consumer public also from other resources on whose basic it pays much more attentions to the quality of marketed foods. Therefore, the Inspection focused on this area with increased intensity not only within the common checks last year, but also in thematic-oriented extraordinary check actions.

What state does not have to own, let´s not own. It holds also for Lesy ČR

The Minister of Agriculture Petr Bendl (ODS) re-opened a question whether and at what extent the state should own forests. According to his opinion it is not necessary so that forest would belong to the state at all cost and in such an extent as now. According to him a private owner will take care of forest always better. According to the minister it is necessary above all to finalize church restitutions because it obstructs the process of forest administration. Roughly it is dealt with 130 thousand hectares which should be returned to original owners. “I wish we were able to solve this question after more than 20 years since the revolution”, Bendl told. The right-wing minister Petr Bendl also clearly expressed his opinion of the dominant state forest ownership in the Czech Republic.