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Summary for: Extreme weather costs Czech vegetable growers nearly CZK 700 millionExtreme weather caused nearly CZK 700 million in direct crop losses for Czech vegetable growers through mid-September, according to a preliminary estimate from the Vegetable Growers’ Union of Bohemia and Moravia.
Spring frosts, summer hailstorms, torrential rain and prolonged drought damaged 11 percent of the country’s vegetable-growing area.
The final losses could rise because harvesting will continue into October and November, union chair Monika Nebeská said Monday.
Production expected to fall by 30 percent
Czech growers planted vegetables across 11,824 hectares this year, a year-on-year decrease of 447 hectares.
The union estimated in August that total vegetable production could fall by approximately 30 percent because of drought and high temperatures.
Growers have also faced sharply higher costs. Some farms were forced to irrigate much more intensively during the dry summer, doubling their irrigation expenses.
Fuel costs have increased as well, while the autumn harvest requires significant spending on machinery, transportation and seasonal labor.
“We are getting into a very dangerous equation: We harvest less, but every kilogram we produce costs more,” Nebeská said.
Farmers cannot necessarily pass those expenses on to consumers because purchasing prices are largely determined by European and global markets, the union said.
Growers call for investment in water systems
The vegetable sector increasingly views drought and other weather extremes as among the greatest threats to Czech agricultural production.
Growers will need to modernize irrigation systems, expand water-storage capacity and invest in more efficient technologies such as drip irrigation and micro-sprinklers, Nebeská said.
The difficult season follows a strong harvest in 2025, when favorable weather helped commercial vegetable production rise by 8.3 percent to almost 230,000 metric tons. A large harvest across Europe nevertheless pushed prices down.
The number of commercial vegetable growers in Czechia declined by five to 395 last year, continuing a trend toward consolidation within the industry.
Czechia currently produces only about 35 percent of the vegetables consumed domestically, leaving the market heavily dependent on imports.
