The food self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic does not allow the country to talk about food security. This was announced by representatives of the Czech Agricultural Union at a press conference.
According to their data, self-sufficiency in vegetable production between 1992 and 2020 decreased from 67 to 31%. Self-sufficiency in pork and poultry production is also declining, increasing the need to import food. union boss Martin Pykha He noted that Czech farmers could produce their own pork or poultry, which would reduce the carbon footprint of food imports from abroad.
“Until about 1989 we were completely self-sufficient in pork production. Now the country is only 46% self-sufficient, although our farmers can produce more and the quality of their pork is recognized around the world. “It makes no sense to import pork from Spain and poultry from Brazil when we can produce these products ourselves.” – said.
Furthermore, it was noted that the volume of food imports into the Czech Republic has been increasing, with the exception of small fluctuations since the 1990s. For example, last year the Czech Republic imported 61.6 million kg of apples, 60 million kg of onions, 281 million kg of pork and 120 million kg of poultry. Pykha explains the high volume of imports and the reduction in self-sufficiency by the unequal conditions for producers in the EU and the orientation of consumers towards low prices.
Let us remember that the Czech Republic has been a member of the EU since 2004. Within the framework of the union, the country is obliged to comply with a series of regulations that limit the development of the agro-industrial complex.
