33,000 farmers have already received payments this year

(Photo: AM/Tibor Vermes)

Zsolt Feldman mentioned in relation to the payments of significant amounts related to the unified applications that the new set of conditions launched last year did not only demand a significant degree of adaptation from the farmers. Following the changes also means serious tasks for the institutional system involved in the implementation, but the amount of the payments and their time-proportioned performance keep the level compared to the previous year, or even to the support cycle starting in 2014.

The first tenders will be published soon

In the period of the Common Agricultural Policy until 2027, the call for tenders places emphasis on the support of those investments where their added value is proven. In addition, the investing company maintains long-term sales or purchasing relationships with its business partners and takes significant steps to use digitization solutions. The tendering system is intended to help the effective use of around HUF 2,900 billion. The state secretary also mentioned that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on the preparation of separate investment calls for small and large enterprises. These will be favorable for smaller plants because they will not have to compete with large companies. Continuously announced tenders throughout the year will ensure that those involved respond to the economic and market changes of the past years, make their production more efficient or even open up in the direction of standing on more than one foot.

In Zsolt Feldman’s presentation, he touched on the adaptability and skills expected of farmers

It is necessary to follow the changes dictated by the market, whoever does not do this in time will be left behind: today it is not possible to farm in the way it was twenty or thirty years ago – he said. Improving efficiency in field crop production, more conscious management of input materials, technological discipline, or the use of less intensive cultivation technologies with lower input costs in poorer areas can be a step forward for those who are involved in the production of crops that, coming from outside the EU, create strong competition with their low prices. In the traditional production structure, premium-quality, healthy grains with a growing nutritional use and a special protein or fiber content can represent a stable point on the market. The differentiation of the production structure can also contribute to efficient management. The cultivation of alternative field crops other than the five main cultivated crops – sorghum, millet, oil-free, butterfly-flowered crops, soy, poppy, rye, triticale – could be one of the ways of the future, he added. The Ministry of Agriculture also supports the financing of investments with new instruments. We plan to make the interest costs related to investment loans accountable or, for example, create the possibility of collateral-free advance financing in the application system, which can be of great help to small and medium-sized businesses, added Zsolt Feldman.

AM