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This article concerns an influence of heat treatment on strength and toughness of steel. The partial results of tests on steel 12　042 are presented.

The present investigation was conducted to know the impact of bio-inoculants in low input field conditions on the magnitude and direction of gene effects and mean performance of some morphological and productivity traits in three wheat cultivars WH 147 (medium mineral input), WH 533 (drought tolerant), Raj 3077 (drought tolerant) and six generations namely P₁, P₂, F₁, F₂, BC₁ and BC₂ of three crosses i.e. WH 147 × WH 533, WH 533 × Raj 3077 and WH 147 × Raj 3077. The experiment was conducted in randomised block design with three replications and three treatments i.e. control (C, without inoculation), inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF, Glomus fasciculatum), and AMF + Azotobacter chroococcum (Azc). Mineral fertilizer (80 kg N/ha + 40 kg P/ha + 18 kg ZnSO₄/ha) was applied in all the three treatments. The application of bio-inoculants, AMF and AMF + Azc had a positive effect on plant height, peduncle length, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index in various populations of all the crosses. However, in some of the generations the impact of bio-inoculants was insignificant. The joint scaling test revealed that additive-dominance gene effects were mainly operative in governing expression of peduncle length, tillers per plant, plant height, grains/spike, grain yield and all traits except days to flowering and harvest index in crosses WH 147 × WH 533 and WH 533 × Raj 3077. The application of bioinoculants influenced gene effects for days to flowering, days to maturity, flag leaf area, spike length, grains/spike, 1000 grain weight and harvest index where complex genetic interactions were changed to simple additive-dominance gene effects in the cross WH 147 × Raj 3077. Likewise, additive-dominance gene effects were altered and digenic interactions exhibited for days to maturity, flag leaf area in WH 147 × WH 533 and days to flowering, plant height, flag leaf area in WH 533 × Raj 3077. Flag leaf area and plant height were governed by additive gene effects while for days to maturity and 1000-grain weight both additive and dominance gene effect were important. Duplicate epistasis was important in all the three crosses for days to flowering and harvest index and in the cross WH 147 × Raj 3077 for grain weight grains per spike and flag leaf area.

The paper deals with the financial situation of two selected agricultural enterprises in productive as well as in less favourable areas (LFA) in the present situation - before and consecutively after the accession to the EU. 11 selected ratio indicators are used to evaluate the financial situation. There are proposed some preparatory precautions - based on the analysis of the financial situation that can be helpful for Czech farmers in gradual adaptation into the CAP conditions.

The paper is a part of solution of the grant awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture (NAZV) No. QF 3276 and analyzes the influence of the price level of imported bottled wine on the competition in the wine-production sector in the Czech Republic. The comparison of the industrial producers' prices in the Czech Republic with the average import prices of bottled wine in particular years brings us to conclusion that a threat for Czech producers is first the price of the imported table wine (white and red) at present. The average import prices of this wine category varied under the minimal average industrial producers' prices in 1998-2003. The average import price of the white table wine in containers up to 2 liters was 19 CZK per liter in 2003 and the minimal average industrial producers' price was 26.90 CZK per liter in the same year. The price level is higher in case of the red table wine in general, but the average annual import prices (in 2003, 23 CZK per liter) also varied under the minimal average industrial producers' prices in all analyzed years (in 2003, 29.70 CZK per liter). The situation is more positive for the Czech wine producers in case of the quality wine. There is a space for an increase in price. The average import prices were by 25 CZK per liter per year higher in average than the maximal industrial producers' prices in the Czech Republic in all analyzed years. However, while the average annual import price of the white quality wine increases (50 CZK per liter in 1998; 93 CZK per liter in 2003) and creates a bigger space for the Czech wine producers in the price policy, the average annual import prices of the red quality wine varied around 80 CZK per liter in all analyzed years.

This article deals with the issue of Slovakia's competitiveness vis-ŕ-vis the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Austria and France in terms of basic variable costs invested into seeds (planting stocks), fertilisers and chemical protective in the period from 2001 to 2003. In addition to these costs, the article also compares total revenues, profit, effect of inputs into production and the variable costs profit margin. This comparative analysis uses data published for 2002. While the data for years 2001 and 2003 for Slovakia and the Czech Republic are actual, those for other countries have been simulated. The basic variable costs per tonne of the produced crop (average figure for 2001 and 2003) in Slovakia are lower, i.e. it is competitive in the production of cereals, sunflower and sugar beet vis-ŕ-vis the observed EU-15 countries, barley, sunflower and sugar beet vis-ŕ-vis the Czech Republic, wheat and barley vis-ŕ-vis Poland and barley vis-ŕ-vis Hungary.

Micro-hardness was used for the study of wood structure (Norway spruce) in the line perpendicular to tree rings (radial surface). The steel indentor 0.25 mm in diameter with flat head was used for this purpose. The individual penetration tests were performed at constant velocity 0.0167 mm/sinto a depth of 0.3 mm. Local wood strength was defined as the mean pressure on the indentor head at 0.02 mm penetration. The set of tests (~ 320) gave information about stress variation in dependence on the location of the test place in the tested surface. The stress was understood as a parameter describing the growth properties of wood similarly like the density usually used in dendrochronology. The measured strength variation is in agreement with visually observed tree rings. The acquired data made it possible to determine the mean characteristic points of the tree ring as well as the development of the parameters in dependence on the weather variations.

In a controlled pot trial, plants of birch (Betula pendula Roth) were treated in six variants: acid watering (pH 3), acid watering with spraying, drought, ammonium sulphate fertilisation, ammonium sulphate fertilisation in combination with drought, and control. The response to the treatment with ammonium sulphate in terms of the increment was discordant as it increased the sensitivity of birch to frost. Drought had a negative effect on increments. A combination of ammonium sulphate and drought; drought; ammonium sulphate and sprayed acid watering delayed the shedding of leaves; this was due to a longer vegetation period, significantly higher nitrogen content in these variants, with the exception of drought.

The fulfilment of the subject of the Act No. 76/2002 Dig. on integrated prevention reduces energy consumption and increases hygienic safety of a thermal treatment of animal tissues at veterinary decontamination institutes. By making use of a back supply of heated rendering-plant fat to the continuous disc drier KDS 250 the so-called fritting effect is induced speeding up the evaporation of residual water and reducing the redrying time of the meat and bone paste. An analysis proved a reduced consumption of specific energy, whereby the demand for the best available technique (BAT) is met.

Pea (Pisum sativum L.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) plants were cultivated for 10 days in hydroponics at 1mM and 7mM nitrate or ammonium concentrations at regulated pH 6 and ambient CO2 level. Plant growth, content of total N and both ions in plant tissues, uptake of water and both N ions were evaluated, N uptake related to transpiration mass flow and to diffusion supply was calculated. Pea and sunflower preferred nitrate nutrition while maize plants used both N ions. The content of total N as well as of both N ions in plant tissues increased with N level with some exceptions. The uptake of both N ions related to transpiration mass flow was dependent on transpiration rate and N ion concentration. At a 1mM N concentration the uptake of N ions related to transpiration mass flow was low and reached in maize up to 16 times, in sunflower 11 times and in pea 2-3 times lower values in comparison with diffusion supply. At a 7mM N concentration N uptake in pea plants was totally supplied by transpiration mass flow, in sunflower plants the ratio of N supply related to transpiration mass flow amounted to 50% and in maize plants N supply through diffusion prevailed, amounting to 70-80%. These results explicate N starvation at low N supply that can intensify at elevated CO2 causing decreased stomatal diffusion.

Twelve carbonaceous materials were investigated for adsorption of Cd, Cu and Ag from water solutions. Before the adsorption experiments the chemical and structural characterization of all materials were made. The batch adsorption experiment was used. The kinetic of the adsorption process was very fast for the first five hours but very slow for approximately the next 65 hours. Nevertheless the maximum amount of metal removed was achieved during the first stage of about five hours. Biological materials (milled wood, bark, cork) exhibited a very low affinity for adsorption of metals. The best results were obtained for materials in an intermediate degree of carbonisation with a high content of oxygen rich functional groups. Although the highly carbonised materials exhibited low ability to adsorb copper or cadmium, their capacity to bind silver was very high.

The paper is oriented on the argumentation of real and potential problems and challenges, which are a basis for the formation of a new strategy for the Czech agriculture and for a new conception of the Czech agricultural policy for the period after EU accession. Based on the arguments, goals of the new strategy are derived, to be discussed with a broader professional public. Possible fields of measures of the government to provide the strategic goals are presented to the conclusion.

This article sets out to analyze the value added generation in the Slovak agrarian sector at the time of the accession to the EU compared to which we are severely lagging behind in the overall generation of gross value added. A more detailed analysis of the value added generation over the recent years in a group of agricultural enterprises being legal entities indicates that the enterprise efficiency expressed in terms of value added generation is markedly differentiated depending on the natural conditions of the locations where individual businesses operate. Great differences in the added value between enterprises can also be found in the group of enterprises having the same natural conditions. The reason for this is a differentiation in the degree to which intensification inputs are utilized due to high prices, lack of financial resources, inefficient combination of inputs used and insufficient recognition of the importance of the value added by managers, particularly in planning of production structures and production finalization grade.

In greenhouse conditions a 3-year small-plot experiment was conducted on loamy Chernozem originating from the humus horizon to investigate the effect of sodium humate application on yield, nitrate content and vitamin C content in green pepper fruits. The application of 5 kg of sodium humate per hectare in the form of watering 3 weeks after planting of pepper seedlings under full NPK nutrition (N nutrition was divided as follows: 2/3 of total N before planting and 1/3 of total N together with sodium humate 3 weeks after planting) resulted in a statistically significant increase in pepper yield by 13.6% at a concomitant significant reduction of nitrate content in pepper fruits by 12% and increase in vitamin C content by 28.6%.

Power saws require a relatively large amount of oil for their operation the reason being idle lubrication of the cutting chain. Oil leakages in the environment can result in soil and water contamination and are known to impact both flora and fauna. Many countries in Europe struggle to minimize the damage by imposing the use of biologically degradable oils for these purposes. The work presents an assessment of these biologically degradable oils from the viewpoint of their possible occurrence in environment and from the viewpoint of their technical characteristics which affect reliability and economy of working with power saws. Oil dispersion is evaluated especially from the viewpoint of the concentration of its occurrence on the soil surface after cutting with the power saw. Technical properties evaluated include heat-oxidation stability and pumping properties of oils at low temperatures. There are original methods of measurement developed for these purposes, which facilitate high repeatability of results. The effort aims at oils with core technical parameters at least comparable with mineral oils used so far, which would represent a lesser burden on natural environment.

Tilletia controversa and Tilletia caries were specifically detected in wheat plants by PCR using primers TILf (5´-CAC AAG ACT ACG GAG GGG TG-3´) and TILr (5´-CTC CAA GCA ACC TTC TCT TTC-3´). DNAs from uninfected wheat, rye, barley and triticale were not amplified. Natural infection of control plants by other species of fungi as Alternaria spp., Erysiphe graminis and Fusarium spp. proved the specificity of the test because even in this case no unspecific products were formed. This method can be very useful both for seed producers and for state officers checking the seed quality.

This Article does not have an abstract.

In the present paper the knowledge of evaluation of the health condition of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in forest stands was summarised. It was found out that the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (Murr.) Barr damaged the coppices until 60 years. Degree of damage (I_hc) in the evaluated localities ranged from 1.11 to 3.50. Between 1992 and 2001 the biological protection in orchards by the method of hypovirulent converted strains from France was used. This method had not been used in forest stands until then. The efficiency of canker treatment ranged from 38.9% to 64.9%. On the basis of genetic variability of C. parasitica isolates they were classified into 4 vegetative-compatible (v-c) groups.

In 1986, the UN ECE established the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (hereinafter ICP Forests) to respond on the growing concern about forest damage caused since the beginning of eighties by air pollution load. Pan-European grid of the (ICP Forests) monitoring plots represents one of the most important systems of forest ecosystems assessing and checking. The Czech Republic is unfortunately well known due to this problem and so the country joined ICP Forest Programme since the very beginning. The paper presents general information on Czech forest stand condition that gained through various methods in the past as well as in the frame of ICP Forests. The participation in the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) represents a contribution of the EU candidate country to the fulfillment of the Reg. (EEC) No. 3528/86. However it seems that effects and importance of air pollution are decreasing, a lot of new stress situations exists and there is a need for continuing the programme.

Czech agricultural sector undertook many great changes in the last 12 years. These changes have resulted in the creation of business structure, which, however, is still not finished due to external (market) and internal (enterprise) conditions. The main goal within these changes was to create functional efficient and competitive agricultural sector, which is to survive in ever changing global world, in particular with respect to the intention to join the unified Europe. One of the questions, which is currently discussed very often, is to what extent the current business agricultural structure is efficient in input allocation, eventually which structural changes have to be undertaken to create such effective sector. The main objective of this contribution is therefore to present findings, which were obtained within the research project processing.

The paper includes partial results of the research oriented on the habits and behaviour of consumers in the wine market in the Czech Republic. Based on direct questioning of 1 000 respondents from the whole Czech Republic, we found that 11.3% of respondents drink wine several times a week, 29.8% of respondents at least once a week, and 23.2% drink wine several times a month. Only 2.7% of respondents do not drink wine at all. 30.3% of respondents drink wine more often than before, especially because of the fact, that they like wine more, it is of a better quality, and the offer is bigger. 34.1% of respondents buy wine several times a month especially in supermarkets or hyper- markets (45.2%) and in special vine-stores (23.8%). 52.5% of respondents prefer quality varietal wine. Rank of the top ten wines most often bought by the selected sample of respondents is: Frankovka, Cabernet Sauvignon, Müller Thurgau, Veltlínské zelené, Rulandské bílé, Svatovavřinecké, Modrý Portugal, Chardonnay, Ryzlink vlašský, Bohemia sekt.

The accession to the European Union has brought a number of issues that the new member states have to deal with, namely to use the rules and procedures applicable in the EU. These include the transition from the enterprise towards the product-oriented economy in the agricultural production enterprises. The article describes the aspects of methodology regarding this issue within the framework of the Slovak agriculture. The article emphasizes that the product economics allows to define three levels of profit, namely: market, product and enterprise profit. This issue will be illustrated on the example of a Slovak agricultural enterprise, in terms of its planned calculated generation of profit.

This study was carried out in Atatürk Central Horticultural Research Institute at Yalova in 1996 and 1997 in order to determine the frost resistance ability of fruit buds of Hayward and Matua cultivars by artificial freezing tests during winter months. Twig samples for artificial freezing tests were taken one week after defoliation, and at three-week intervals throughout the winter. The buds were exposed to temperatures of -10°C, -13°C and -15°C for 2, 4 and 6 hours. Then they were planted in a greenhouse for survival tests. It was found that -13°C and -15°C were very harmful temperatures for both cultivars even for the duration of 2 hours at -15⁰C. On the other hand, both cultivars could resist to -10°C for the duration of 6 hours. In general, Hayward is more sensitive to frost than Matua. Both cultivars showed higher resistance in February. As a result, Hayward and Matua cultivars could be grown safely in areas with as low temperatures as -10°C in winter months.

The paper is focused on logistics. The importance of the logistic chain management is emphasized as it becomes a crucial competitive success factor. The total corporate costs and customer service quality are dependent on the structure and communication within this chain. Using a concrete example, several results of the establishment of the logistic approach in the woodworking industry are mentioned in the paper. It has to be emphasized that the application of the logistic principles in the industry has its own specificities arising mainly from the biological character of processes providing and manufacturing the basis resource. A solution of the supply - purchase chain is provided on the basis of an example of the company Dřevovýroba.

Economic efficiency in farming is achieved as a result of manager's skills and proper technologic equipment available on the farm suitable for carrying out husbandry operations. Applying skilled management to the whole business of farming is of an extraordinary importance, too. The manager should be equipped with more or less sophisticated software that would make his decision making process more professional and adequate to (generaly) production conditions. Such software (program) will allow proving his technological conception by economic calculations and proper tests. An Agricultural Technology Management Program AGRO-EXPERT has been conceived and is discussed in this paper. The authors analyze situation in appearance of such programs and conditions/information necessary for their correct (adequate) functions.

The paper is briefly outlining the expected changes in the economic and financial pre-conditions for Slovak farming during the period after the country's accession to the EU. The starting point of authors reasoning is the current piece of knowledge, saying that the economic performance of individual farms is widely differentiated and the ability of individual farms to meet the future challenges and to use the opportunities is very unevenly distributed among them. Also the competitiveness if a particular agricultural commodity varies. Despite of expectations concerning the price development after accession, not all commodities will be competitive on the single market. The economic situation of farms will considerably benefit from direct payments. Nevertheless, the fact that the Slovak government opted for the Single Area payment Scheme will have some adverse effects on possible gains from payments in productive regions and in farms with high output performance. In order to mitigate these redistribution effects the author is proposing to implement a different scheme of allocation of national top-up is to direct payments. In the final part of his paper the author gives a comprehensive review on payments aimed to promote rural development and payments from the Guidance section of the EAGGF targeted at enhancement of farm re-structuring.

In any activity, thus at work as well, there is an influence of the environment on a human being. This environment, to which every worker has his own individual relationship, becomes a part and background of the worker's life. The realization of these interactions and relationships markedly affects achieved working results. The ecologically harmless technologies will not be used in forestry considerately towards the environment if forestry workers do not change their negative attitudes to their environment. In this project we tried to map out environmental knowledge of forestry workers.

Various attacks of pathogenic fungi on the larch crown were observed in Trentino/South Tyrol, Italy, over the past few years. In 1999, severe defoliation was caused by Mycosphaerella laricina, a rarely investigated pathogen, whose action was enhanced by high temperatures and humidity in August. In July 2000, larch woods showed crown yellowing due to Meria laricis. Lower temperatures and heavy precipitation were probably the predisposing factors in this case. Hypodermella laricis was observed in 2002 as a localised attack, while Lachnellula wilkommii is commonly recorded. The impact of these diseases and the environmental factors involved in their occurrence are discussed in this paper.

Nowadays, many enterprises face the problem of implementing their enterprise information system in order to keep pace with their competition. It holds generally for all types of enterprises, as e.g. manufacturing, agricultural, trading, financial, transportation, educational, etc. This paper deals with the basic rules for building an information system of the enterprise, particularly of medium or large ones. The attention is focussed at the problems each enterprise must address before starting an IS project. These are mainly the enterprise information policy planning, project feasibility and forms of its management.