Search

The aim of this article was to express social and economic aspects of the sustainable livestock production in relation to meat consumption in the Czech Republic and to predict the possibilities of further development of livestock production in the conditions of Czech agriculture. With the accession of Czechia to the EU (2004), the structure of Czech agriculture changed to the detriment of livestock production. The decisive sectors of livestock production are pig breeding, cattle breeding and poultry farming. This article (contribution) analyzes trends in the development of production in the basic categories of livestock, and it evaluates the degree of self-sufficiency of the economy in the given sector of agricultural production and the consumption of individual types of meat in Czechia. Using Holt&rsquo, s model of statistical analysis, it then predicts the future consumption of meat and its individual types in the Czech Republic in the years 2020&ndash, 2024. As research has shown, the sustainable development of livestock production and meat consumption in the Czech Republic depends not only on the mutual size of meat production and consumption or its quality, but also significantly on the market prices of meat (including world prices), as well as changes in eating habits of the population.

Each year, around 2% of the four million hectares of farmland in Czechia changes owners. However, after years of significant growth in prices, a slowdown in pace and demand is expected. Rising interest rates, a strengthening of the crown and legislative changes in 2018 have influenced the price of farmland. Yet the prices of farmland in Czechia are a third of those in the countries of Western Europe, and so it still represents an interesting opportunity for investors. Currently, land is bought primarily by the farmers who work it. In Czechia, 80% of farmers farm on hired land, and rent increases are starting to be an issue for many of them. The return on the investment in agricultural land is currently around 50 years for an owner and 25 years for a farmer working the land. As research has shown, the price of farmland is an important factor in the sustainable development of agriculture in Czechia, along with the greening of production and the fight against soil erosion and the effects of climate change.

Hop-growing has had a long tradition in the Czech Republic, and it remains in the interest of the Czech economy to further develop this agricultural sector. With an almost one-tenth share of the harvest, the Czech Republic is the third largest producer of aroma hops in the world after Germany and the US, which together account for over two-thirds of the hop market. The purpose of this article is to describe the current state of the Czech and global markets in hops, and the position of the dominant company, Chmelarstvi, druzstvo Zatec, on this market. Towards the end of 2017, the area of hop fields in the Czech Republic reached 4,945 ha, which is the most in the last 7 years. Year-over-year, this represents an increase of 3.4%. The increase was caused by the current demand for quality Czech hops and the weak European harvest in 2015. Thus, the storehouses emptied, and breweries' stores all over the world, to which 80% of domestic hop production is supplied, ran out. Since then, demand and prices have increased to a level that has begun to cover the costs of hop production. This has also meant that investments in hop production have increased. With the increasing area of hop fields in the Czech Republic, hop growers have to deal with a significant problem, which is the unavailability of workers., Agricultural sciences, Economics, Chmelarstvi, druzstvo Zatec, Hops, Hops production, Hop fields, Hop yields

The purpose of this study is to express the perspective of development of the hop field area in connection with the growing number of microbreweries and the popularity of special beers in Czechia. Czech beer is a concept all over the world, it comes not only from 45 large industrial breweries, including world-famous breweries from Pilsen, Prague or České Budějovice, but is also produced in more than 480 small breweries (microbreweries), many of which are traditional family businesses. With a consumption of 141 L per person in 2018, the Czechs are among the world’s largest beer consumers and they have already surpassed even the Irish and Germans. The research performed confirmed the validity of the hypothesis about a slight positive effect of the growth in the number of microbreweries and the production of special beers on the extent of the hop field area in Czechia. In addition to the interpretation of new beer styles, this article also discusses the emergence of new aromatic hop varieties, the development of beer tourism and new sales opportunities for hop growers.

This paper presents a time analysis of the prices of pork in the food value chain for five European countries from 2010 to 2018 with respect to the position of small farms in the European market. T...

The aim of the presented article is to evaluate the impact of climate change on the sugar content of grapes in the Czech Republic during the period 2000–2019 through selected indicators on the basis of available secondary sources. Attention is focused on the developments in both the main wine-growing regions of Moravia and Bohemia. In the field of viticulture and wine-growing, the sugar content of grapes, as a basic parameter for the classification of wines, plays an important role. In the Czech Republic, the average sugar content of grapes has had a constantly growing trend. This trend is evident both in the wine-growing region of Bohemia and in the wine-growing region of Moravia. The impact of climate change, especially the gradual increase of average temperatures in the growing season, cannot be overlooked. It greatly affects, among other things, the sugar content of grapes. Calculations according to the Huglin Index and the Winkler Index were used to determine the relationship between climate and sugar content. These indexes summarize the course of temperatures during the entire vegetation period into a single numerical value. The results show that both indexes describe the effect of air temperature on sugar content in both wine regions of the Czech Republic in a statistically significant way. The Huglin Index shows a higher correlation rate. The Winkler Index proved to be less suitable for both areas. Alternatively, the Winkler Index calculated for a shorter growing season was tested, which showed a higher degree of correlation with sugar content, approaching the significance of the Huglin Index.

Purpose Vine growing for the production of wine constitutes one of the major areas of agriculture of the Czech Republic, and in recent years, it has been qualitatively improved. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether oligopolistic market structures have come into being on the sparkling wine market in the Czech Republic, and whether some wine firms have a dominant position on the sparkling wine market. Design/methodology/approach The purpose of this study is to find, compare and carry out a statistical analysis of data on the production and sale of sparkling wines in the Czech Republic, in particular the indicators of the sales and profits of the dominant producer, Bohemia Sekt. In retail chains in the Czech Republic, the price of domestic and foreign sparkling wines was then compared with a comparative analysis. Findings The dominant seller of sparkling wine on the Czech market is Bohemia Sekt, which is also the largest domestic non-sparkling and sparkling wine producer. Bohemia Sekt sold 11 m bottles of sparkling wine on the Czech market in 2015 and maintained a 67 per cent share of the domestic market. Traditionally, Christmas time and the end of the year is the main season for selling sparkling wines in the Czech Republic, as more than one-third of the annual production of all wineries is sold at this time. Originality/value The paper presents a finding about the consistency of the prices of sparkling wines offered in retail chains in the Czech Republic. This confirms the validity of using the model of oligopolistic competition with a dominant company on the sparkling wine market in the Czech Republic. The dominance of Bohemia Sekt in the given market is mainly due to the loyalty of Czech consumers to this brand.