Currently, the decline in spruce wood prices is a serious problem for the forestry sector in the Czech Republic. We estimate that the fall in wood prices in European markets causes losses not only to the forestry companies producing, harvesting, and processing the wood, but also to the workers in the sector. These losses are mainly caused by a combination of several natural factors: drought, climate change, and the effects of bark beetles. In particular, spruce bark beetles cause the greatest damage. Due to this bark beetle calamity, unplanned logging has increased. In 2019, these damages have culminated. Almost 100 million m³ of wood has been harvested over the last decade due to the bark beetle and more than half of this volume has been mined in the last four years. Therefore, the losses in the forestry sector are around EUR 1.12 billion. The aim of this study is an analysis of the relationship between the volume of incidental logging and the decline in the price of spruce wood. These results show the strong correlation between the measure of unplanned wood harvesting and the decrease in wood prices, as well as an estimate of price development if the upward trend of incidental mining continues. The average price of wood in the Czech Republic could thus reach a historical minimum of EUR 79.39 per m³ of spruce and category SM/JE II (spruce/fir). In addition, the decline in wood prices will be reflected in the management of forestry and timber businesses, including stagnant wages for forestry workers. The socio-economic impact of the bark beetle calamity is high and is most affected by the decline in spruce timber prices.

Sustainable agriculture with low inputs of chemicals and fertilizers has been recently attracting more attention from producers and researchers in the EU. The main reason for such attention is The European Green Deal—the EU’s latest growth strategy concerning environmental degradation and climate change. One of its main components is the Farm to Fork strategy, which especially features the reduction in pesticide and mineral fertilizer application and also supports the development of organic farming. At the same time, food demand is rising. These ambitious challenges require extensive research, development and innovation. Therefore, new non-chemical techniques for improving plant growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses must be explored for their potential in this field. One of the most promising is the use of non-thermal plasma for such purposes. As this physical factor is a complex mixture of ions, atoms, electrons, radicals and molecules, its effect on plants and pathogens is also complex. This review presents different aspects of the effect of non-thermal plasma on seed germination, development of seedlings, plants and pathogens. The literature was explored to provide evidence for the possible use of non-thermal plasma for boosting plant growth and plant protection.

Maize is one of the important food crops in the Czech Republic, its growth and productivity are influenced by climate change. This study investigated the influence of precipitation under recent climate change on maize yield both for grain and silage in the whole Czech Republic during 2002–2019. Total maize yield and yield rate increased in the Czech Republic from 1961 to 2010, but they became to decrease after 2010. This is in line with the tendency of decreased precipitation and an increase in temperature after 2010, and changes are especially significant during the maize growing period, which indicates the importance of temperature and precipitation. In detail, there is a low to moderate negative correlation (−0.39 to −0.51) between grain maize yield and the average temperature in August for almost all the regions. While there is a low negative correlation between silage maize yield with the average temperature in July and August from some regions. The precipitation in July exhibited moderate to high positive correlation (0.54–0.79) to grain maize yield rate for almost all the regions, and it had low to moderate positive correlation (0.35–0.70) to silage maize yield rate for all the regions. Water deficit exhibited a negative correlation with both maize yield rate and its influence mainly in July for silage but both in July and August for grain. Farmer’s profit from grain maize is influence by yield rate, temperature, precipitation, and water deficit. A positive correlation was found between profit and grain yield rate and precipitation from July and August, while a negative correlation was detected between profit and water deficit and the average temperature in July and August. In conclusion, our results pointed out the factors influencing maize yield rate under changing climate conditions in the Czech Republic, and it warrants further studies on how to maintain maize production in a changing climate.

The primary goal of this article is to evaluate water scarcity in selected countries of the Middle-East and assess the impact on agricultural production. To begin with, the Weighted Anomaly Standardized Precipitation (WASP) Index from 1979 to 2017 was spatially computed for Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In order to demonstrate the effect of reduced levels of water, the water shortage situation in cities with the population higher than one million was examined. This was accomplished by utilizing the Composite Index approach to make water related statistics more intelligible. A projection for the years of 2020 to 2030 was created in order to demonstrate possible changes in the supply and demand for water in selected countries of the Middle-East. In regards to evaluating the economic effects of water shortages on agricultural sector, effects of lower precipitation on agricultural production in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were estimated. With ever-increasing urbanization, all countries are currently experiencing a moderate to high water risk. Our research points to excessively high water stress for most analyzed cities through the year 2030. Also, it is demonstrated how much precipitation decreases influence agricultural production in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. From the analyzed countries, some evidence is found that precipitation negatively influences crop production, primarily for Iran.

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

For several years, the Zambian economy relied on the mining sector, which has been affected by fluctuations in commodity prices. The new century enhanced the calls for economic diversification, with the agricultural, manufacturing, and services sectors amongst those pronounced. This article focused on the role of agriculture in supporting the economy, particularly, the effect of agriculture on economic growth. The data analyzed was reviewed for the period 1983–2017. The ARDL Bounds Test was applied in order to meet the said objectives. The ECM results suggest that agriculture, manufacturing, services, and mining converge to an equilibrium and affect economic growth at the speed of adjustment of 90.6%, with the effect from agriculture, mining, and services being significant. The impact of agriculture on economic growth was significant in both the short-run and long-run, with coefficient unit effects of 0.428 and 0.342, respectively. The effects are strong because more than two-thirds of the rural population rely on farming, and agriculture has stood as a catalyst for food security. For the effect of agriculture to be much more profound, farmers must be supported with adequate infrastructure, accessibility to markets, farming inputs, better irrigation techniques, which would address the problem of reliance on rain, all of which were inconsistent in the last decade. Additionally, governments must ensure the institutionalization of food processing industries which add more value to the national income.