6. AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

AGRICULTURE

This “industry” of agriculture embraces agricultural primary production enterprises (holdings) engaged in crop and livestock production. In compliance with EU legislation the Czech Statistical Office has harmonized the way of measuring data on agriculture since 2002. The data are mostly sample surveyed, the sample of respondents is based on the updated Agro-register, and the results are grossed up by statistical mathematical methods. 100% structural surveys, which cover all agricultural units, are conducted in the framework of Agrocensuses at rather long time intervals. Since the year above, all data have been measured and grossed up only for the agricultural sector and do not include own-account production (kitchen gardens) of the population.

The basic unit for records in the area of agricultural statistics is the agricultural holding, which carries out activities principally classified as agricultural and defined the following threshold values: the agricultural land area of 1 hectare and over and the following supplementary minimum criteria of 1 500 m² of grown intensive crops – orchards, flowers, vegetables grown in the open, 1 000 m² of vineyards, 300 m² of area under cover, 1 head of cattle, 2 pigs, 4 sheep and goats, 50 heads of poultry, 100 rabbits or fur animals, and all holdings engaged in fish farming in water bodies whose areas are not limited by size. Meeting at least one of the criteria is sufficient for incorporation of units into the agricultural sector.

All agricultural and non-agricultural land is obtained by summing up 31 December figures on areas designed for crops, as recorded in the real estate register kept by the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre. All data on land are measured as crop areas of both agricultural holdings and non-agricultural establishments or of private owners, no distinction being made as to the type of management and land size.

Areas under crops are measured by censuses taken as at 31 May and cover production areas (i.e. arable land areas, areas under crops in orchards and gardens; and areas of meadows and pastures temporarily ploughed and used for sowing), which are to be harvested in the reference period. They include areas under winter, spring and perennial crops. The item "Set-aside arable land” includes all arable land not sown or planted, regardless of reason, and land temporarily excluded or not farmed.

Harvest is the total quantity of a crop, which has a standard moisture content and standard purity; it includes inferior portions of the crop appropriate e.g. to feed livestock (such as grain waste, small discarded potatoes, etc.), but excludes seed crops and crop planting stock. Yield per hectare is the ratio of harvest to production area. Since 2001 the production area has been referring to the area, from which the measured crop was actually harvested. Since 2002 the production area has been equal to area under crops (except for permanent grassland and grain maize).

The harvest of individual fruits from fruit trees and bushes in the CR is measured by means of questionnaires on final harvests of agricultural crops as at the end of year. Figures on the total volume of production are derived by summing up data from the questionnaires returned from holdings and mathematical and statistical estimation methods.

Livestock population is derived from livestock censuses as at 1 March (in 2003 as at 1 April). Cows are breeding dams calved at least once, both mated and non-mated. Sows are breeding dams farrowed at least once (excluding sows discarded from breeding), including those not farrowed. Poultry includes hens and cocks, geese and ganders, ducks and drakes, turkey hens and cocks (including young ones).

Meat production in terms of carcass weight includes data from all abattoirs in the Czech Republic. Inevitable slaughters are counted in the carcass weight providing the meat is used for human consumption. The average carcass weight of pigs excludes sows and boars.

The size structure of agricultural holdings is based on the data kept in the Farm Register. This register was established in 2000 from results of an agricultural census and is updated every year with according to statistical reporting on the one hand and sample surveys covering a third of agricultural holdings rotated every two years on the other hand.

Forestry comprises all incorporated enterprises, which employ 20 employees or more and have forestry as their principal activity (CZ-NACE), and businesses managing forest land 200 ha or more in area.

Afforestation/reforestation refers to the area artificially afforested/reforested by planting and sowing (i.e. natural regeneration is excluded).

Timber removal comprises (a) a felled tree volume of large and small timber measured in m³ u. b., which was accepted as final assortment or whole-stem logs and (b) so-called self-production felling. The volume is counted irrespective of what kind of thinning or felling it is derived from and includes salvage felling.

Total cleaning includes total area under cleaning or young-growth stand clean cutting. Usually, those measures are the first silvicultural measures applied to forest stands. Streamside stand cleaning is included, too.

Thinning refers to intentional silvicultural measures in premature stands, usually older than those classified to the first age groups, which are carried out in order to tend and improve the overall state of stands. These measures include, in particular, stand structure modifications, morphological tending of stands, and stand stabilization, and are to increase the increment without permanent decrease in stand density.