The limestone chernozem in Herzeghalm became the soil of the year

(Photo: Pixabay)

The State Secretary reminded that the 68th General Assembly of the UN declared December 5 as World Soil Day in 2013. He emphasized that healthy soil is the one in which there is life, and there are more living creatures in a handful of soil than there are people living on earth. Zsolt Feldman drew attention to the fact that the basis of adequate, healthy and high-quality food production is farmland. However, healthy soil serves not only food security, but also environmental and climate protection, as its carbon sequestration and cleaning capabilities are outstanding, which also affects the quality of life, he added.

He explained that in our country, farmland and soil are an extremely important environmental resource and an economic factor at the same time

Almost 54 percent of Hungary’s land area is under agricultural use. The agricultural area per person is 0.50 hectares/person, which is considered high both in the EU and in the world. Our country ranks sixth among EU member states and twentieth in the world in terms of arable land per capita. According to Zsolt Feldman, farmers have much more opportunities to get to know the soil, because they have much more information at their disposal.

The state secretary also spoke about how the domestic agricultural policy prioritizes the issue of soil improvement and sustainable tillage

In 2021, the government adopted the Soil Protection Action Plan, which builds on joint responsibility and shifts the emphasis from ex post punitive official work to preventive knowledge-sharing soil protection. Zsolt Feldman also touched on the fact that with the adoption of the Strategic Plan of Hungary’s Common Agricultural Policy (KAP), the agricultural support framework for the period up to 2027 contains a number of measures that encourage our producers to improve the soil condition.

AM