Sborník 2009 díl 2. - Fakulta informatiky a managementu - Univerzita ...

CZECH AGRICULTURAL FOREIGN TRADE DEVELOPMENT
Luboš Smutka, Michal Steininger, Ondřej Miffek
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
smutka@pef.czu.cz, steininger@pef.czu.cz, miffek@pef.czu.cz
Key words:
Export – import – agriculture – territories – commodities
Abstract:
Agrarian sector represents only the minor part of present Czech gross domestic
production value. Today the share of agrarian sector in total GDP value is about 2 and
3%. Because of the Czech Republic is not self-sufficient in agricultural production (the
total volume of production is not covering the current level of domestic demand),
agricultural trade plays an important role in the Czech national economy. The main aim
of this paper is to evaluate the current development of agricultural trade structure and
value and to highlight those factors, which have decisive influence on its final character.
This paper is only the one part of long-term research which has been conducting in the
frame of the following grant No. VZ MSM 6046070906.
Introduction - Agricultural Sector Importance
The agricultural sector is one of the most important sectors of the national economy.
Although the share of agricultural sector in the total Czech is low, we must emphasize
that the agricultural sector has a very important influence on the development of our
society. The ancient Greek philosopher Xenophon, speaking about agriculture, said that:
“Agriculture is the mother and nourisher of all other arts: when agriculture is well
conducted, all other arts prosper; when agriculture is neglected, all other arts decay, on
the land and on the sea”. We must agree with ancient Xenophon. He was completely
right when he said that the agricultural sector is one of the cornerstones of human
society.
Aim and methodology
The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the current development of agricultural trade
structure and value and to highlight those factors, which have decisive influence on its
final character. For the purpose of analysis we have decided to divide our paper into
three following parts: the development of Czech foreign trade main development trends,
commodity structure development and territorial structure development. The main
source of data is the databases which are processed by the Czech statistical office,
Research institute of agricultural economics in Prague and United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization. The basic instrument in writing up this article was the
economic and statistical analysis: chain indices, basic indices, time series analysis and
regression analysis. The analyses of agricultural trade value and volume development
are performed in metric tons and CZK. The article is a part of the project No. VZ MSM
6046070906 (“Economics of resources of Czech agriculture and their efficient use in
frame of multifunctional agri-food systems“).
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