European Agricultural Youth Championship will bring hundreds of students of agricultural schools to the Czech Republic

Floristry, fishing and agricultural technique, or Benešov u Prahy, Třeboň and Humpolec. Such are the disciplines and places in the Czech Republic in which the European Agricultural Youth Championship, organised under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Education and the Presidents of the Central Bohemian, South Bohemian and Vysočina Regions, will take place from 19 to 22 May.

The Czech Republic will host around 180 students of agricultural secondary schools from EU-27 and Norway. The Konopiště Golf Resort will welcome 80 delegates from the EUROPEA INTERNATIONAL, an international association of representatives of agricultural secondary schools from the above countries, to their regular spring meeting. As a member of this organisation since 2005, the Czech Republic will host this year’s championship, organising competitions in new disciplines: floristry, fishing and agricultural technique.

The floristry competition will take place at the Agricultural College and Agricultural Secondary School in Benešov, which is the EUROPEA CZECH REPUBLIC national coordinator organising all four parts of the floristry competition. There will be 18 teams from 12 European states taking part in this competition: Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Lithuania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden, United Kingdom, Poland, Estonia and Slovakia. The students will compete in the following disciplines: arrangements in pots for floral decoration of the school building, element of surprise, recognizing plant material and tying wedding bouquets to go with a concrete dress and bride. The bouquets will be presented during a fashion show held in the building of Benešov Comprehensive School on 21 May from 5 p.m. In their free time, the participants in the florist competition may visit the park of Konopiště Castle.

The fishing competition will take place in the Jakub Krčín Secondary School of Fishery and Water Management in Třeboň, in the following disciplines: identification of fresh-water fishes, boat ride with a pole and sport fishing. The following countries have sent their application: Sweden, Norway, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. All three disciplines will take place over two days, i.e. on 20 and 21 May 2009. Sport fishing has attracted the biggest interest. Teams from different countries have made enquiries about fishing technique and the types of sport fishing. Representatives of the town and the company Rybářství Třeboň a. s. have promised that they will take part in the championship. In their free time, the students may visit Hluboká Castle and the town and castle of Český Krumlov.

The last competition, focusing on agricultural technique, will take place at the Czech Agricultural Academy in Humpolec. The championship will start with the discipline of driving a tractor with a trailer, on Wednesday 20 May 2009 in Světlá nad Sázavou. The competition in scything, hand milking and guessing animal weight will take place on Thursday 21 May 2009 at the School Farm in Humpolec. Currently one to two teams from the following countries have applied to participate in the competition: Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Italy and the Czech Republic. During the championship, students taking part in this discipline may visit the castle of Lipnice nad Sázavou and enjoy a cultural programme.

On Friday 22 May 2009 the students will be able to visit Prague, namely the Old Town and the Palace Gardens of Prague Castle. At 2 p.m. the results of the competitions will be announced and prizes awarded to winners at the Ministry of Agriculture in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture.