Czech Republic: Strong Increase of Organic Agricultural Land also in 2010

At present approximately 450'000 hectares of land are farmed organically, which represents 10.5 percent of the total agricultural land. In this respect the Czech Republic is above the EU average.

There are about 3'500 agricultural enterprises varying significantly in size, with predominantly grassland. However, the number farmers producing cash crops is increasing.

There are small organic farms e.g. of just five hectares, but also whole former cooperatives or state farms with acreage over 1000 hectares. The Czech Republic is the leader in the field of organic farming among new EU members. (In the European Union 4.7 percent of the agricultural land were organic in 2009). 

Every year on billion Czech Crowns or 40 million euros is paid in the form of subsidies to organic farmers.

A number of important events will take place in the Czech Republic in 2011: The International Conference on Food Quality and Health in Prague and the 3rd Scientific Conference on Organic Farming. 

The driving forces in development of Czech organic farming  are: subsidies paid within agro-environmental measures, the interest of traders in organic raw materials and development of the Czech organic market.

Further information

• Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and Czech Technology Platform for Organic Agriculture: Organic Farming in the Czech Republic: Current situation and data from 2010 (253 KB)