Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 17. 8. 2005

Cereals is damaged by permanent rain, moreover purchase prices are disastrous

The weather delays a harvest. Moreover, the rain depreciates the harvest. Except a low quality of harvested grain farmers are annoyed also by low purchase prices. They correspond with a time thirty years ago. However, at that time a litre of rock-oil costed three crowns. Two thirds of a dominant crop-plant of Mlada Boleslav region, perennial wheat, stay still on fields. Farmers cannot harvest it due to rain. „The situation is very bad. Cereals will start to intergrow and the quality will decrease“, said Dagmar Mocová, a director of the Agrarian chamber Mladá Boleslav. „Still 226 hectares of wheat remained on my fields. Probability that food wheat will maintain its quality is in such conditions is very small“, said Josef Heřmanský, a private farmer from Semčice.

Agri-business balance increased slightly compared to last year

The first half-year of this year finished with about three quarters of milliard crowns better agri-business balance compared to the same period in the last year. It results from data which were provided by the press department of the Ministry of Agriculture CR (MZe). Agrarian export in 1st half-year 2005 increased compared to the 1st half-year 2004 by 24 %, while agrarian import in the same time increased by 14 %,and covering import by export grew from 65,21 % in 2004 to 70,88 % in this year.

MZe wants to increase direct payments by means of two millard loan from PGRLF

The Ministry of Agriculture wants to even up direct payments to farmers to roughly 58 percents of a level of the previous EU-15 this year. A two-milliard-crown loan, which the Subsidiary and Guarantee Agricultural and Forest Fund granted to the State Agricultural Intervention Fund, which manages the dotations, should help to that . The proposal will be negotiated by the government in Wednesday, reported the press department of MZe to the ČTK. Direct payments represents key agricultural supports. The state can end up 30-percent dotations from the EU from own resources to 60 percents this year. This full increase was required by farmers. However, the MZe has meanwhile money in a budget only for rouhly 50-percent direct payments, that´s why it looked for other resources in its resort. By adding two milliard crowns, the direct payments will grow to 57,6 % ,which corresponds to a level, which is secured by the surrounding states, the MZe announced.

Giant for bio-oil production will arise

An iol concern Shell will build together with East German engineering firm Choren Industries the biggest enterprise for bio-oil production in the world scale. Experts evaluate the decision about investment of 400 million Euro as a break-through in a production of alternative fuels. „A by-product“ of the investment in Lubmin in the federative country Mecklenburg-Front Pomerania is one hundred and fifty new work opportunities and a fact that it will stimulate agricultural production in the country which has a high unemployment and stays for the most part just on agriculture.