Silva Regina
7.-11.4. 2024

A complex of agricultural and forestry fairs was ceremonially opened in the Rotunda of Hall A. Minister of Agriculture Jiří Milek on this occasion delivered a speech about the importance of the agriculture and forestry sector for the Czech economy and about the role of the Brno trade fairs.

I am honoured to be able to address you on the occasion of the launching of the 15th season of the TECHAGRO and SILVA REGINA trade fairs, and the 4th season of the BIOMASS exhibition. These events have gained a great name over the history of their existence, and nowadays they can be said, without exaggeration, to be the third largest show of agricultural equipment and technology within the European Union. This is best illustrated by hard figures: the last season that took place two years ago was attended by almost 113 thousand people. This year, 722 exhibitors participate, of which 555 from the Czech Republic.

In this country, these fairs are organized precisely because our agriculture and forestry are at a high level. The share of employment in agriculture and related industries is about 6.5% of the total number of employees in the national economy, i.e. about 255 thousand workers. The sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for less than 2.5% of total GDP in the last three years. However, we are facing new challenges such as climate changes, drought in 2015 and 2017, or the current bark beetle calamity in Northern Moravia, which by the way started sometime back in 2003. We wouldn't be able to handle these challenges without the latest technology and equipment. The use of state-of-the-art technology is amongst others due to the fact that we have the highest average agricultural soil area per farm in the European Union, specifically about 133 hectares per farm and 120 hectares per ecofarm. With the use of state-of-the-art technology and equipment we are therefore ranking at the world's top. At the same time, we are among major producers and exporters of agricultural technology. Czech companies have a long tradition here and they keep exporting machinery to traditional and new markets all over the world. The share of the Czech Republic in the EU agricultural technology market is roughly three percent, we are on the twelfth place within the EU27. The agricultural technology sector carried out exports worth almost 18 billion crowns last year.

I believe that farmers will find a wide range of high-quality machines at a good price and on acceptable instalment payment terms, and that the participation of each exhibitor and visitor will be beneficial to all parties and will contribute to further development and modernization of Czech agriculture.