Agricultural profit down 25% to CZK 10bn in 2012

Prague, Feb 27 (CTK) - Profit of Czech agriculture dropped by a quarter to some Kc10bn last year, according to the results of a survey made by the Agricultural Association, and its chairman Martin Pycha ascribes the fall mainly to lower harvest of most crops.

Despite the decrease, last year's profit is above average. In 2011, profit in the sector reached a record Kc13.5bn.

According to a survey of a sample of 356 companies farming on around 600,000 hectares, profit per hectare reached Kc2,766, while in 2011 it was Kc3,861.

"It is evident, however, that regional differences are getting bigger," Pycha said.

The lowest profit of less than Kc1,000 per hectare was in the Jihomoravsky region which was hit by dry spells. The highest profit per hectare was reached by companies in the Stredocesky region.

Profit of Czech agriculture, according to the Agricultural Association's method, rose more than 2.5 times to Kc13.5bn in 2011 and was the highest since 2000 when the monitoring of this indicator began.

The Czech Statistical Office (CSU) also calculated 2011's profit of the sector as record. According to its data, farmers in 2011 more than doubled profit to Kc17.1bn in the year.

For 2012, the CSU in December preliminarily estimated a Kc1.4bn fall in profit in the sector to Kc15.7bn.

The CSU is to make public official preliminary result for Czech agriculture for last year on March 8.

Czech agriculture has been profitable since the EU accession, mainly thanks to EU subsidies. Experts warn that dependence of Czech farmers on subsidies is rising and is one of the highest in Europe.