Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 19. 3. 2009

The simpler agricultural legislative, the cheaper and more competitive agriculture

The European Union wants to reduce an administrative burden of farmers by as much as quarter. Czech presidency, which took the simplification of European legislative and making it more efficient as one of main priorities, helps in it significantly. Under the direction of the Minister Gandalovič the Council for Agriculture and Fishery determined areas in which farmers feel the most stringent and snowed under with regulations whose usefulness is in most cases out-of-date. As a bonus the simplification process should bring also financial savings.

Farmers require extraordinary subsidy in height 300 Euro per dairy cow

A financial contribution in height of 300 Euros (now roughly 8100 crowns) per a dairy cow – it is a requirement of representatives of Czech breeders of dairy cattle and they want a decision on this subsidy by the 15th of April. After negotiation of an Operative group of the Agrarian Chamber, the chairman of ACH Jan Veleba said it to ČTK. According to him farmers do not require other increase of budget of the Ministry of Agriculture. “The means should be delivered by re-distribution of the present resources; also money from so called Barros´ parcel could be aimed to help the branch”, Veleba told and added that since the year beginning farmers have lost 1,7 billion crowns in incomes owing to low milk buy-out prices.

Repeated use of some pesticides influence bees´ behaviour

A worldwide decrease in numbers of honey-bees is an alarming problem which is, besides other, put in connection with use of certain pesticides – e.g. death of bees in German state Baden-Württemberg relates to use of neonicotinoids as imidacloprid and clothianidin from the firm Bayer. French research workers (from the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse) checked how neonicotinoid pesticides (acetamiprid, thiamethoxam, imidacloprid) and fipronil influence behaviour of bees, first of all their ability to learn and remember.

Nary grain to naught !

European officers from the General Management for Agriculture and Rural Development passed a black Wednesday yesterday. Euro-commissioners led by José Manuele Barrosa approved a material with the name “Simplification of common agricultural policy” which hides a paragraph Experience from harvest. According to it, officers of the European Union dealing with agriculture will have to stay obligatorily on a farm from 2010 in frame of their further training. “Details of the program are still considered”, the text mentions further.