Summry of newspapers of the previous day – 18. 12. 2008

This year´s cereal production has new record. It increased by 5,4 percents

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published that the increase is first of all owing to last year´s high prices and favourable weather. This year the world, thanks to last year´s high prices and favourable weather, produced a record amount of wheat and other cereals and reserves of these commodities significantly grew from last year´s minimums. The total production increased by 5,4 percent to 2,254 billion tons, the Food and Agriculture Organization announced on Thursday.

Vegetable is not only food

Quercetin, a secondary plant substances from group flavonoids incident in many kinds of fruit and vegetable decreases effectively, in test with animals, susceptibility of upper airways to infections of flu viruses – this a conclusion resulting from an American study carried out on mice. Animals in the tests were in consequence of strong physical burden more susceptible to the upper airways infections. Besides this they were infected with flu viruses.

Apple reserves are higher by quarter, prices decreased by half

Czech growers stored 48 667 tons of apples to the 1st December which is by quarter more against five-year average. In comparison with an exceptional last year when the apple harvest was the lowest since 1995 owing to frosts, reserves are higher by 52 percents. Prices of apples on the market decreased from record June prices by about half.

Government approved consumer tax relieves for bio-components in fuels

At yesterday´s meeting the government approved an amendment of act on consumer tax which extempts from tax duty net bio-fuels; in fuels with high content of bio-component the share of bio-component is extempted from the tax. “It is a fundamental step for a successful development of production and use of bio-fuels”, the Minister of Environment Martin Bursík welcomed the government decision. The draft law results from an approved material “The program of support of further use of bio-fuels in transportation” which the Ministry of Agriculture prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment.