Agricultural Transition: From Czechoslovakia to Czechia

The Czech Republic is a small and landlocked country located in Central Europe. After spending most of the 20th century as a unified political entity with neighboring Slovakia in what was formerly known as Czechoslovakia, the two countries had a peaceful separation in 1993. Throughout the Cold War, Czechoslovakia was a satellite regime of the Soviet Union and it was kept in check with stark levels of sociopolitical repression. However, after its separation from Slovakia, the Czech Republic successfully transitioned into democracy and a free market economy. Furthermore, in 1999, Czechia, as it is also known, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and later joined the European Union in 2004. With a total territory of almost 79.000 square kilometers, Czechia is somewhat smaller than North Carolina. Geographically, rolling plains, hills, and some mountains dominate the country. Czechia has a total population of almost 11 million citizens, more than 70% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Prague, which has about 1.3 million inhabitants.

Currently, the Czech annual gross domestic product (GDP) is approximately US$340 billion. Similarly, its national economy has experienced positive growth upwards of 2.0% in recent years. The Czech national economy is divided into 3% agriculture, 37% manufacturing, and 60% services. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes some 55% of the national territory, while another 35% is forested. Likewise, Czechia’s agricultural industry employs 3% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs about 37% and services employ another 60%, which seems to correspond precisely with the division of the economy.

In terms of natural resources, Czechia has coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber, and arable land. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on motor vehicles, metallurgy, machinery, glass, and armaments. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, pigs, and poultry. In terms of trade, the Czech Republic’s main partners are fellow EU members, notably Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and France, as well as China and the United Kingdom. In spite of being a member of the European Union, Czechia does not use the Euro as its official currency. However, the country’s domestic industry is protected and subsidized under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Agricultural Transition: From Czechoslovakia to Czechia

In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Czech population has been about 54 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers supply approximately 31% of the average food energy intake in the country. Simultaneously, land distribution and agricultural output in Czechia have evolved slightly throughout the last several decades. Back in 1993, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered less than 880.000 hectares, while arable land covered over 3.3 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for some 77.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had increased to account for almost 1 million hectares, while arable land represented more than 3.1 million hectares and permanent crops still covered about 76.000 hectares. Finally, in 1993, the cereals market in Czechia utilized over 1.6 million hectares of land and yielded almost 6.5 million metric tons annually. Meanwhile, in 2014, the country devoted little over 1.4 million hectares of land to cereals production and yielded some 8.8 million metric tons.

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