Vegetable growing is a branch of agriculture focused on cultivating vegetables. According to preliminary data for 2025, there were 395 commercial vegetable growers in the Czech Republic, five fewer than a year earlier.[1][2] The Vegetable Growers' Union of Bohemia and Moravia says that the number of growers is falling and that the sector is gradually consolidating.[1][2]
Production and self-sufficiency
Commercial vegetable production intended for retail chains and processors rose by 8.3 percent year on year in 2025, to 229,899 tonnes, whereas in 2024 it was 212,302 tonnes, six percent less than before.[1][2] The Czech Republic is 35 percent self-sufficient in vegetable production.[1][2]
Prices and costs
Farm-gate vegetable prices follow the European and world market, and growers have long described them as low. Higher costs, for example for irrigation, therefore cannot be passed on in the price. The autumn harvest is demanding in terms of machinery, labour, transport and fuel.[1][2]
2026
In 2026 the area sown to vegetables in the Czech Republic shrank by 447 hectares year on year, to 11,824 hectares.[1][2] According to Monika Nebeská, chair of the Vegetable Growers' Union of Bohemia and Moravia, spring frosts, summer hail and torrential rain, and drought lasting until mid-September caused direct crop damage of almost 700 million crowns; 11 percent of the sown area was affected. The figure is preliminary because the harvest ends in October or November.[1][2] Based on an August estimate, the union expected production to fall by about 30 percent.[1][2] Nebeská described drought and other weather extremes as one of the greatest risks to agricultural production and said that vegetable growers would have to modernise irrigation and invest in retaining water.[1][2]
References
- ČTK / České noviny, 29 September 2026
- Novinky.cz, 29 September 2026
Chronology
- — Vegetable growers in the Czech Republic report damage of 700 million crowns so far this year from spring frosts, hail and drought. ČTK / České noviny Novinky.cz
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 29 September 2026
- Novinky.cz — 29 September 2026