Czech PM Draws Ire As Rapeseed Blossoms

Prague, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2019 ) :Shiny yellow rapeseed plants have sprung to life in the Czech Republic and angry residents blame their billionaire leader for infesting the country with the lucrative plant.

"People say it stinks, it's ugly yellow, looks invasive. But you can't blame the plant -- the problem is in the way we're using it," says natural scientist Jakub Hruska from the Czech academy of Sciences.

"By growing rapeseed we ruin the countryside, water, soil, biodiversity," he told AFP, owing to the harmful effects of using too much fertiliser and herbicide.

With fields of rapeseed covering 16 percent of the Czech Republic's arable land, it tops the charts as the European Union's keenest grower.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who leads a minority centre-left cabinet, is widely seen as the chief benefactor because he made his fortune as owner of the Agrofert group, which covers the entire rapeseed-processing cycle.

Agrofert's units grow rapeseed, produce fertilisers and pesticides, sell farming technology and process rapeseed into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), or biodiesel, which is added to diesel fuel under a Czech law inspired by an EU directive on biofuels.

"The fertilisers and herbicides business is flourishing and Agrofert is there as a very tough and able player," says Hruska.

The second wealthiest Czech, Babis claims he has transferred Agrofert to a trust to avoid a conflict of interest as prime minister and tycoon.

But the European Union recently voiced doubts about the move and launched a probe into Babis's dual role as politician earmarking subsidies and tycoon getting them.

Rapeseed is used to produce FAME and for alimentary purposes, with each making up roughly half of total Czech output.

"Rape oil is ideal for frying, and rapeseed also serves as food for bees," says independent farming analyst Petr Havel.

"But it's also a highly cultivated plant, which makes it less resistant to pests, meaning it needs stronger chemical treatment," he told AFP.

"The problem is the pesticides stay in the soil and are washed by rain into groundwater or rivers, and they also kill microorganisms, reducing biodiversity." But Czech farmers make good money with rapeseed -- roughly twice as much as for wheat.

"There's a good market for rapeseed which has this tax relief within biofuel production," said Hruska.

"It's Agrofert's business model and they will do their best to preserve it."