Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation

VÚMOP building(VUMOP, v.v.i. in Czech) is a non-profit research and educative organisation. The major work activity is basic and applied research in the field of soil science, water and landscape management, soil and water protection, development and maintenance of irrigation and drainage constructions, principles, conservation methods and policies. Most of our financial resources are being provided by grants, transmitted by Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic. We cooperate closely with several Czech and foreign universities or institutions.

Our Mission

The Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation was established by the Ministry of Agriculture on June 23, 2006. It originated on January 1, 2007; by that date it was registered in the registry of public research institutions administered by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
The foundation deed defined the tasks of the Institute as advancement of knowledge and transfer of research results in the fields of complex land consolidations, pedology, formation and exploitation of landscape, and informatics related to these fields.
The subject matter of its principal, investigative activity is basic and applied research and development in these particular areas:

  • methods of soil survey, mapping, monitoring and evaluation, land use and conservation,
  • forms of exploitation and dissemination of soil survey results,
  • minimization of hazardous substances content in soil and water and assessment of their limits,
  • complex land consolidations and rural development,
  • landscape formation and conservation in the areas of specific interest, particularly water reservoir protection zones,
  • integrated water resources management and conservation,
  • protection of soil against degradation, particularly erosion and its products,
  • flood control measures in river basins,
  • water management in agricultural-forestry basins,
  • regulation of soil moisture regimes,
  • revitalization of agricultural-forestry watercourses and small water reservoirs,
  • maintenance, renovation, transformation and exploitation of land improvement systems,
  • recultivation of devastated land and decontamination of contaminated soil,
  • agricultural reclamations,
  • exploitation of grasslands and pastures,
  • evaluation of peat, conservation of peat bogs and other specific biotopes,
  • development of geographical information system methods related to reclamations and pedology,

including

  • participation in international and national research and development centres,
  • scientific, professional and pedagogic collaboration,
  • verification and transfer of research and development results into practice, including counselling and introduction of novel technologies.

An integral, long-term developing part of the tasks is represented by an additional activity performed on the basis of the requirements of corresponding state administrative authorities or regional self-governing units, done in public interest and supported by public funds according to specific legal regulations. The subject matter of further activity is particularly the activity associated with the principal activity in the field of natural, technical and social sciences, focused on complex land consolidation, pedology, landscape formation and conservation, and informatics related to these fields:

  • activity of the soil service in the area of systematic full-area update and completion of land evaluation, including additional survey at specific localities and its assessment, determination of mean land prices in individual cadastral regions, collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadaster (COSMC) in introducing land evaluation to the land registry, provision of data in compliance with the decree on the regional analytical documents, regional planning documentation and procedures to register the regional planning activity, and management of the SOWAC GIS geo-information system,
  • monitoring of the load of soil, underground water and surface water in hazardous substances in association with the protection of food chain performed in compliance with the Decree of the Government of the Czech Republic,
  • counselling activity in the field of reclamations and pedology, preparation and elaboration of technical projects, organization of professional courses, training and other educational events, including lecturing,
  • expert activity based on the resolution of the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic within the scope of the expert authorization for the fields of economy, nature conservation, water management and agriculture: reclamations and pedology - evaluation of soil quality, physical-chemical and reclamation soil properties, land evaluation, protection of soil against contamination, erosion and devastation, revitalization of river basins, land recultivation, renovation of reclamation systems, conservation and exploitation of peat bogs, regulation of water in soil and landscape, complex land consolidations; protection of water against full-area contamination.

For assurance and implementation of these activities the Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation has long-standing technical background, including the accredited laboratories, very well equipped GIS department and team of skilled specialists who consistently provide research and development activities, tasks for the Ministry of Agriculture, and conduct methodological and technical consulting and professional services for the Central Land Consolidation Office, land and other state authorities.