scholarly journals The atractiveness of apple production in the Czech Republic

Author(s):  
Dagmar Kudová

The paper deals with evaluation of attractiveness of apple production in the Czech Republic using the Industry attractiveness evaluation matrix according to the methodology of Higgins and Vincze (1989). It identifies the key criteria for evaluation of attractiveness from five fields: market factors, competition factors, financial and economic factors, technological factors, and socio-political factors. The key criteria are described in detail and evaluated from the viewpoint of a producer operating in the apple production industry. The text comes from the papers from the field of fruit production and apple production published by Kudová (2003, 2004, 2005) and Chládková (2003). Application of these methods on other industries was applied by Žufan et al. (2001) and Tomšík, and Žufan (2004).According to the data of the Division of Perennial Plants of the Central Institutte for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (CISTA), the number of subjects (firms and growers) operating intensive orchards reaches 1 238 on the area of 18 998 ha. In 2003 the number of subjects was 1 243 on the area of 19 514 ha. The total sales in fruit production were in decline from 1999 to 2005, and the decline of sales of apples grown in intensive orchards in 2005 was 34% in comparison with 2004. In the foreign trade, there significantly prevail imports above exports, and from 2002 to 2004 the imports of apples grew by 220%. The biggest growth of area of orchards was in 2004 – by 211 ha of mature apple-trees, which amounts only for 2% of the total area. In connection with this growth, there grew also the yield. Diversity of the market is based on varietal structure of apple-trees grown. According to the data of CISTA, the current varietal structure is not suitable and its change is very slow. Most of apples are grown in Central Bohemia, which amounts for 11% of the total area, which is more than 2000 ha. We can conclude, that even though the average market price of agricultural land is quite high – 25.76 CZK.m–2, the lands for agricultural use for market production with the area of more than 5 ha have the average price of 5.04 CZK.m–2, which is the country average of the price of agricultural land according to the value index (BPEJ).The costs of establishing an apple-tree orchard amount for CZK 409,000 to CZK 653,000 per hectare – depending on the number of trees per hectare. The average costs of attending an apple-tree orchard are CZK 75.226 per hectare (average for the period of 1998–2003). Profits in this industry are based on selling the harvest through growers-organization or to a cannery, or by storing the fruits in own warehouses (only those with a controlled atmosphere are competitive).Fruit consumption in the Czech Republic is slightly increasing from 1990, and till 2005 it grew by 12.1 kg per person per year (by 18.8%) to the current 76.5 kg per person per year. Apples have an important share on the total fruit consumption, and their consumption grows, as well. The increase in the period of 1990─2005 was 65%. European Union, and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic through the State Agricultural Intervention Fund (SZIF) introduce a spectrum of support programmes, in which it is possible to apply for financial support. But it is necessary to emphasize, that many fruit producers are not able to get to these funds because of high administrative demands on filling-in and submitting the proposals.The attractiveness of the Czech apple production is evaluated as below-average; the resulting attractiveness score according to the Industry Attractiveness Evaluation Matrix is 2.41, which means that it is lower than the general average score (3).The paper is a part of solution of the research plan of the Faculty of Business and Economics, MUAF in Brno (No. MSM 6215648904).

Author(s):  
Dagmar Kudová

The paper deals with evaluation of attractiveness of stone fruits production in Czech Republic using the industry attractiveness evaluation matrix according to the methodology of Higgins and Vincze (1989). It was identifies the key criteria for evaluation of attractiveness, described in detail and eva­lua­ted from the viewpoint of a producer operating in the stone fruits production industry. According to the data of the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (OTK ÚKZÚZ) for 2008, 1166 entities (companies and growers) farmed on 21 738 hectares of fruit orchards, of which 6 730 ha were aimed on stone fruit production.Total sales for the production of stone fruits decreased by 34.5 % in the period of 2004–2008. Production of stone fruit can be sold through sales co-operatives, to a fruit processing company or in­de­pen­dent­ly. Czech Ministry of Agriculture and the EU through the State Agricultural Intervention Fund stated a range of support programs under which it is possible to apply for funding. Attractiveness of the production of stone fruit is evaluated as below average; the result of the industry attractiveness evaluation matrix for this sector equals 1.84, which is lower than the average score of 3.00.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
VÁCLAV ZÁMEČNÍK ◽  
VOJTĚCH KUBELKA ◽  
MIROSLAV ŠÁLEK

SummaryOnly a few studies have assessed the predation risk on artificially marked nests, or have examined ways of marking nests to avoid destruction by machinery. Until now, however, neither type of study has directly addressed this apparent trade-off experimentally. The impact of marking the nests of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus with thin 2 m-long conspicuous bamboo poles with the top end highlighted with reflective red or orange spray has been tested for three years in two breeding areas of waders in the Czech Republic. A total of 52 pairs of nests on agricultural land, with each pair consisting of one marked nest and one unmarked reference counterpart nest, were monitored for 2004 nest-days until hatching, agricultural operations or failure. The results proved that marking itself does not result in increased nest predation. The nests found in the early incubation stage were under higher threat of depredation, irrespective of the presence of marking. Our results show that it is possible to find a finely-tuned trade-off in nest marking of ground-nesting birds between risk of damage by agricultural machinery and risk of increased nest predation. Our positive experience with Northern Lapwing, and episodically with three other wader species in the Czech Republic, suggests that this direct nest protection could be used effectively for a wider variety of ground-nesting birds.


Author(s):  
Jaromír Kolejka ◽  
Eva Nováková

Small parcels of agricultural land are rare in the present landscape of Czech Republic and become the subject of interests of the state protection of the nature, the landscape and the environment. At the same time, such areas represent interesting subjects for the local administration as attractive tourist object. In the historical territory of Moravia (the eastern 1/3 of the Czech Republic), a regional inventory of areas with preserved ancient land use structure was carried out on all individual cadastral territories (focused not only on small parcels, but also on large aristocratic estates on agricultural and forest land originated before the main wave of industrial revolution Moravia, before 1850. The sites are still subjects to topic economic pressure on land consolidation. Their existence in the future is under threat and is decreasing every year both in number and size. The inventory results are presented on example of the Jeseníky region.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Kubalíková

<p>Establishing legal protection to a geosite (or geodiversity site) is considered one of the key tools of how to conserve its values and how to avoid degradation and devastation. The proper management measures (usually included in care plans or other planning and strategic documentation) then help to balance the conservation needs and sustainable use of the sites and allow to gain public finances for these purposes.</p><p>In the Czech Republic, nature conservation is anchored in Act n. 114/1992 Coll. (Nature Conservation Act) which defines several levels of protected areas that can be applied also on geoheritage. However, there are other legislative tools that protect other entities (e.g. agricultural land, water, or forests). The special relationship to geodiversity has Act n. 44/1988 Coll. (Mining Act) which aims to protect the mineral deposits including their deposit areas. Various tools for the protection applied to a single area can cause ambiguities because every protected entity has different management and limitations.</p><p>This is the case of Hády Hill, an area situated in the outskirts of Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. The area is important from the Earth Science point of view (tectonics, paleontology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, hydrogeology) and has high ecological and cultural values, e.g. occurrence of endangered species linked to the subsoil, remnants of old landscape structures (orchards, pastures), historical mining, use of the building material for Brno monuments. Earth-science and ecological values are protected according to Nature Conservation Act within one National Nature Reserve, two Nature Monuments, and four Important Landscape Elements and partly included in Special Area of Conservation (according to the Habitats Directive - Council Directive 92/43/EEC). Moreover, due to the occurrence of quality limestone, which was extracted from the Middle Ages up to the end of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century, the part of the study area is declared as a reserved mineral deposit and protected deposit area (according to Mining Act). All these areas mutually overlap.</p><p>Concerning geoheritage, some phenomena still have no degree of protection, but they are included in the Database of Geological Localities (kept by the Czech Geological Survey) and proposed for legal protection.</p><p>Last but not least, the site undergoes tourist and recreational pressure which is continuously increasing due to the COVID-19 situation (lack of indoor possibilities of how to spend the free time).</p><p>To find the balance between the various conservation needs, management measures, limitations, tourist/recreation pressure, and urban development, it was necessary to do a complex analysis of the various types of protected areas and their values. Based on the SWOT analysis and Risk Assessment, the main threats, risks, and possible conflicts of interest were identified and assessed. Then, specific proposals and possible solutions were designed with an emphasis on effective geoconservation (e.g. declaration of the new or enlarging the currently protected areas), development of sustainable forms of tourism, and future rational use of an area (e.g. via volunteer activities or participative planning of management).</p>


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 358
Author(s):  
Ladislav Menšík ◽  
David Kincl ◽  
Pavel Nerušil ◽  
Jan Srbek ◽  
Lukáš Hlisnikovský ◽  
...  

In today’s agriculture, maize is considered to be one of the major feed, food and industrial crops. Cultivation of maize by inappropriate agricultural practices and on unsuitable sites is connected with specific risks of soil degradation, mainly due to water erosion of the soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the yielding parameters, fodder quality and anti-erosion efficiency of different methods of conservation tillage for maize in two areas (Jevíčko—JEV and Skoupý—SKO) with different climate and soil conditions in the Czech Republic in the period 2016–2018, using multivariate exploratory techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA). Four variants of soil tillage methods were analysed: Conventional Tillage (CT), two slightly different Strip-Till techniques (ST) and Direct Sowing (DS). The analysed parameters were: dry mass of the plants, height of the plants, starch content (SC), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and content of neutral detergent fibre (NDF), soil loss by erosion and surface runoff. The multivariate exploratory techniques PCA and FA significantly differed in two categories of techniques in both locations. The first category consists of soil conservation techniques (SCT): ST (JEV/SKO) and DS (JEV). These techniques are characterised by lower yields of dry mass, lower height of plants, forage quality equal to CT, but a high level of protection of the soil against erosion. The second category consists of CT (JEV and SKO) and partially of DS (SKO). These treatments are characterised by high dry mass production, higher plants, high forage quality, but a feeble capacity of protection of the soil against erosion. The results of the study confirm the presumption of the positive influence of introduction and application of new agronomical practices in the areas of interest and other areas with similar natural conditions in the sense of sustainable management for agricultural management of agricultural land for the conditions of the Czech Republic and therefore of Central and Eastern Europe. PCA and FA were used as an effective method for comprehensive evaluation of the use of STC in agricultural practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Čejka ◽  
Miroslav Trnka ◽  
Paul J. Krusic ◽  
Ulrich Stobbe ◽  
Daniel Oliach ◽  
...  

AbstractClimate change affects the distribution of many species, including Burgundy and Périgord truffles in central and southern Europe, respectively. The cultivation potential of these high-prized cash crops under future warming, however, remains highly uncertain. Here we perform a literature review to define the ecological requirements for the growth of both truffle species. This information is used to develop niche models, and to estimate their cultivation potential in the Czech Republic under current (2020) and future (2050) climate conditions. The Burgundy truffle is already highly suitable for cultivation on ~ 14% of agricultural land in the Czech Republic (8486 km2), whereas only ~ 8% of the warmest part of southern Moravia are currently characterised by a low suitability for Périgord truffles (6418 km2). Though rising temperatures under RCP8.5 will reduce the highly suitable cultivation areas by 7%, the 250 km2 (3%) expansion under low-emission scenarios will stimulate Burgundy truffles to benefit from future warming. Doubling the moderate and expanding the highly suitable land by 352 km2 in 2050, the overall cultivation potential for Périgord truffles will rise substantially. Our findings suggest that Burgundy and Périgord truffles could become important high-value crops for many regions in central Europe with alkaline soils. Although associated with uncertainty, long-term investments in truffle cultivation could generate a wide range of ecological and economic benefits.


2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 250-256
Author(s):  
J. Bartůšková ◽  
J. Homolka

Changes in the land law, which occurred after 1948, still influence the whle Czech countryside to this day. Typical features of Czech agriculture, i.e. the fragmentation of ownership of the agricultural land fund and the high share of leased agricultural land, which is a direct consequence of the socialistic large-scale production, continue even despite extensive legal changes after 1989. The changes in the Czech land law after 1989 brought about not only the legal guarantees for owners but also new problems, which are still necessary to solve. An important tool of the solution of the present Czech agriculture problems is represented by land adjustments. The membership of the Czech Republic in the European Union on one hand led to the simplification of land acquisition for some foreigners, however; on the other hand it has not influenced in principle the structure of landowners. Still in 2008, the questions of the atonement of property injustices are finished yet regarding the churches concerning agricultural and forest land. A new civil code, currently in process, which can influence some legal relations to the land, has not been put forward to the Parliament yet.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 117-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brychta ◽  
M. Janeček

The study presents all approaches of rainfall erosivity factor (R) computation and estimation used in the Czech Republic (CR). A lot of distortions stem from the difference in erosive rainfall criteria, time period, tipping rain gauges errors, low temporal resolution of rainfall data, the type of interpolation method, and inappropriate covariates. Differences in resulting R values and their spatial distribution caused by the described approaches were analyzed using the geostatistical method of Empirical Bayesian Kriging and the tools of the geographic information system (GIS). Similarity with the highest temporal resolution approach using 1-min rainfall data was analyzed. Different types of covariates were tested for incorporation to the cokriging method. Only longitude exhibits high correlation with R and can be recommended for the CR conditions. By incorporating covariates such as elevation, with no or weak correlation with R, the results can be distorted even by 81%. Because of significant yearly variation of R factor values and not clearly confirmed methodology of R values calculation and their estimation at unmeasured places we recommend the R factor for agricultural land in the Czech Republic R = 40 MJ/ha·cm/h +/– 10% depends on geographic location.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Krasa ◽  
Tomas Dostal ◽  
David Zumr ◽  
Adam Tejkl ◽  
Miroslav Bauer

<p>In last decades several trends have been visible in agricultural land use in the Czech Republic. Among all oil rape production was raised (mainly in last 10 years) and maize production was enlarged in some regions where bio-fuel stations have been newly built. As a row crop, maize without proper management control leads to accelerated water erosion and sediment transport. Oil rape is generally considered as a relatively soil preserving crop, supporting also infiltration by a root system. But seeding period of oil rape in the Czech Republic starts in August still in the peak period of erosive rainstorms. Recent risks associated with both crops will be presented by data from field rainfall-runoff simulations, targeted on developing actual crop protection factor (C-factor) of USLE for Czech conditions. The second source of the data for presenting risk trends is Czech soil erosion monitoring database of State Land Office (https://me.vumop.cz/), where many occurrences of erosion damages were identified on both crops. Finally, study focused on bare soil remote sensing via Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 in recent years showed link between erosion risks and the two above mentioned crops.</p><p>National implementation of European cross compliance policy in the Czech Republic targeted the protection also to fight these risky trends, but the power of the agricultural policy, as will be presented, is limited in this scope. We see similar threats in other European countries and we were able to visit North East China regions with intensive corn production where soil erosion by water is causing serious soil and water degradation. Therefore, shared knowledge on strategies how to prevent risky soil managements could lead to benefits in both European and Chinese conditions.</p><p>The contribution was prepared in the frame of projects No. QK1920224 (Possibilities of anti-erosion protection on farms to avoid the use of glyphosate), and H2020 SHUi (Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems).</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-117
Author(s):  
Boleslav Jelínek ◽  
Luboš Úradníček

AbstractThe first biocorridors were established in the territory of the Czech Republic in the 1990s. One of them, planted on a former agricultural land, was the Radějov biocorridor. This paper deals with the growth and development of trees and shrubs on three permanent research plots in 1993 - 2012. Repeated inventories of trees as well as monitoring of their biometrical parameters were carried out in both tree and shrub layers. The number of trees decreases with the increasing level of stand canopy. Moreover, mean heights, diameters and crown projection areas of selected woody plants were compared. Under the given conditions, the growth of these woody plants can be positively evaluated.


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