The Czech Republic’s self-sufficiency in vegetable production has sharply fallen from 67% in 1992 to just 31% by 2020, according to representatives from the Czech Agricultural Union during a recent press conference.
The union also highlighted a decline in domestic production of pork and poultry meat, which has driven an increase in food imports. Over the past few decades, the volume of food imports to the country has been steadily rising, with only minor fluctuations.
For instance, in the previous year, the Czech Republic imported 61.6 million kilograms of apples, 60 million kilograms of onions, 281 million kilograms of pork, and 120 million kilograms of poultry. “The high volume of imports and the decline in self-sufficiency are due to the unequal conditions for producers within the EU and the focus of consumers on low prices,” explained Pycha.
The Czech Agricultural Union also pointed out that the country frequently exports raw goods, only for them to be re-imported as processed products. This includes the export of milk, which is then brought back in the form of cheese and other dairy products.
