Summary of newspaper of the previous day – 17.1.2012

MoA will negotiate about European protection for frgál and fruit

Valašský frgál (a special cake) and Lhenicko-chelčické ovoce (fruit) could be added on a list of foods bearing the protected indication of European Union. It results from a running evaluation of Food safety and nutrition strategy for the period 2010 – 2013 which will be discussed by the government on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) A time consuming negotiation of applications of local producers, which usually drags for several years, will continue this year. The MoA stated it on its web today.

Fruit harvest was extraordinarily low last year, fruit-grower´s loss amounts to half billion CZK

Fruit harvest decreased last year by 16 percents to 101 249 tonnes and belonged to the lowest harvest over the last 50 years. Against the average of the last five years the harvest decreased by 38 percents. Fruit-growers´ losses in takings will exceed a half of billion crowns. A ground for the crop fall was last year´s spring frosts which damaged most of planting in the country. A chairman of the Fruit-Growing Union of the CR Martin Ludvík told it at today´s Fruit-growing Days in Hradec Králové.

Price of eggs rose; breeders had to enlarge hen cages

Egg price has risen by 40 hellers per a piece over the year. It happened owing to stricter norms for hen breeding; however, some breeders in Poland and Hungary ignore them. Thanks to that they sell cheaper and thereby they liquidate competition. The eggs do not differ from the Czech ones in quality, but importers have to carry them back, possibly to destroy them. Hen breeders have to use so called enriched cages according to stricter European rules. They guarantee foe hens several square centimetres of extra space and also an own nest. All states of the European Union have to use them since the New Year. The cage modification cost farmers´ money which shows in the egg price. But, producers in some states have not adapt to the news yet and export cheaper eggs in the Czech Republic on a large scale.

Agrarian subsidies decreased to 42.5 billion crowns last year

Subsidies in agriculture and related branches decrease year-on-yearly by 1.1 billion to 42.5 billion crowns. The reason was a reduction of national subsidies. Petr Bendl (ODS), the Minister of Agriculture stated it at a press conference. Decrease in subsidy volume for farmers, food-producers, foresters and water-managers was caused according to him by reduction of supports from national resources in the framework of the state budget savings. The biggest money volume was represented by unified payments per area within which more than 16 billion crowns were paid off to farmers last year, year-on-yearly by 1.7 billion more. Vice versa, farmers got by 1.5 billion less in the framework of national supplementary payments within which they obtained 2.1 billion CZK. Also payments from the Rural Development Programme have decreased.