Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 11. 1. 2010

Honey production increased last year, number of bee-keepers grew after years

Czech honey production grew by more than 13 percents to 6891 tons last year though bee-keepers predicted its decrease during the year. A secretary of the Czech Bee-keepers Union (ČSV) Miroslav Peroutka, stated it. According to him mainly repeated increase in number of bee colonies decimated by the year before last epidemic of disease varroasis showed itself in the growth of honey production. L ast year after twenty years of decrease, number of bee-keepers rose slightly for the first time. The number of bee colonies grew year-on-year approximately by 36 thousand to 497 thousand; despite that it still less that before the epidemic. Roughly 520 thousands of bee colonies were in the CR in 2007.

Will buy-out prices of cereals better?

The Agrarian Chamber of the CR published results of an opinion poll on its web pages before the year end. It organizes them regularly and they are always on actual topic. The last opinion poll concerned a significant commodity – cereals. The question was: Will buy-out prices of cereals be better in 2010? The opinion poll results are following. 29,17 % are optimists who believe in turn of prices for the better. Pessimists prevail. They do not believe in improvement in cereal prices. They represent 45,33 %. Than there was a group corresponding with those who did not want to throw everything in one sack and eliminate. In their answers they roughly identified with an expression that prices will change but it depends on a different commodity.

Czechs belong to biggest apple consumers in world

Apple tress are the most represented kind of fruit in the Czech Republic, they amounts roughly to a half of production orchards and spread out on an acreage of about nine thousand of hectares. In last twenty years their area decreased by 20 %. However, the total apple production, despite this reduction, increased slightly. It is thank to new technologies of growing and thereby also higher yields. Apple trees are grown in all fruit grower regions of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. The Czech Republic has very good climatic conditions for growing of this kind of fruit. For comparison, the acreage of pear trees reaches about 700 ha, however, their area increases in last years.

Stock had highest sale last year, 28 million liters

A sale of the biggest Czech spirit producers was favourably influenced by increase of consumption tax. Consumers preferred traditional trademarks. Stock Plzeň-Božkov, the biggest spirit producers in the CR increased year-on-year the sale by five percents to last year´s 27,99 million liters of spirits. It is dealt with the highest sale till this time. The distillery overcame a record from the year 2008 which was 27,53 million liters. A general director of Stock, Petr Pavlík, told it on Monday. Last year´s takings and profit have not been published by the plant yet. “The financial crisis influenced undoubtedly the whole spirit market last year. Consumers started to spend less, especially in gastronomy. However, if they decided for a purchase, they preferred traditional and reliable marks”.