Summary of newspapers of the previous days – 30.4. – 3.5.2009

Many question marks about future of agriculture in European Union

Considerations about standpoints of the future agriculture development in the European Union are limited by the fact that they are not officially authorized documents of its long-term perspective. Generally, the future of global agriculture and human nutrition is proclaimed on a principle of a sustainable relation between population growth and resources. FAO long-term programs, especially considering reduction of starvation in the world, however, are not being fulfilled. By 2030 a total increase of food need is expected by 50 % and by 2050 even by 100 %. Already only the perspectives related to 2030 are in the world connected with more than by 50 % higher costs for water in agriculture and with stopping of soil degradation.

Subsidies for agriculture in less favourable areas will be simpler and better targeted

The European Commission approved a notice of new classification of agricultural areas with a natural disadvantage on the 21st of April 2009. The Commission determined eight soil and climate criteria which should become a base of objective and unambiguous classification of these areas. However, the Commission needs to get more data to be able to judge their practicability before it submits a relevant legislative proposal. Therefore it called upon member states to carry out simulations with use of their data which will show how these criteria work. The new classification system could be implemented in 2014 – till this time the present one stays in force. A revision will not touch mountain areas which are already classified on base of common objective criteria, or areas with specific disadvantage (e.g. islands and coastal areas).

Farmers fight for Union subsidies

Farmers in Poland get slowly used to the fact that they have to regularly hard fight with bureaucrats to get to what they have right. On the battlefield a situation is different every time. Two years ago there were kilometers long queues and chaos in front of offices of powerful Agency for Restructuring and Agriculture Modernization. Applications for subsidies from Brussels were received according a rule “who comes the first”. A traditional Polish disease showed itself in full strength – an uneconomical state administration. Officers came to work at six morning and left after midnight. They were sleepy, annoyed and made mistakes for which farmers paid later.

Quality of plant products on threshold of 3rd millennium

A characteristics feature of the present is a close mutual cohesion of all articles of food chain. This cooperation is essential in a hard competition on domestic as well as foreign market, and just the quality of raw materials and final products is a base presumption of success. The Research Institute of Brewing and Malting, Plc. in cooperation with the Commission of Quality of Plant Products of the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences issued a special publication “Quality of plant products on threshold of the 3rd millennium” at the beginning of 2008.