State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture: Competitive knowledge serves the success of Hungarian agriculture

At the opening of the KÁN University Days event, which also included the 5th Livestock Breeders’ Day, Imre Hubai thanked all those who, at any level of education, are trying to introduce agriculture to young people. Education provides competitive knowledge on which sectoral strategies and the renewal of the agricultural sector can be built later, and all this also serves the success of generational change and farm transfers – he said. He highlighted that livestock farmers are performing better and better in Hungarian agriculture, and the government is trying to help them with market protection and subsidies so that they can meet the challenges of the times as much as possible. He said that around 5,600 billion forints of support is available to farmers, and with this amount they are trying to help adaptability in “the age of dangers”. He believed that the competitiveness and profitability of the agricultural sector are threatened by climate change, changes in market processes, the European Union’s demand for the transformation of support policy and the opening of markets – he listed. All of this encourages farmers to cooperate and to live better with support systems, and events such as the KÁN University Days help them in this. These events “help us to learn where agriculture is today, where higher education is today, and where the sectoral cooperation is, which can make our farmers increasingly competitive,” he said.

He emphasized that the government is trying to use every means to help the success of Hungarian agriculture, the value-generating process in which food reaches the table from the field

Csaba Gyuricza, rector of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), said that the KÁN, which looks back on a long history, is the only large-scale agricultural exhibition that connects agricultural education, traditions and the latest technologies. MATE is the university of the countryside, and the future of Hungary depends on “how we treat the land in the face of changing climatic conditions,” he said, noting that the key to success is the kind of agricultural intelligence that will be available. “Their institution is working to make as many well-trained professionals available as possible,” he noted. Tibor Zászlós, president of the Hungarian Livestock Breeders’ Association, said that Hungarian livestock breeders deserve respect because they are able to adapt to various difficulties – most recently foot-and-mouth disease – and are able to respond to challenges, and with their help healthy meat could be put on the table. And the quality education that also takes place at MATE plays a major role in this process, he emphasized. The Kaposvár livestock breeding exhibition, which is being held for the 17th time until Sunday – has now developed into university days – will feature 110 exhibitors interested in agriculture this year, and the organizers are expecting 40 thousand visitors to the 15 professional and 30 public programs. A new feature is a precision farming display area, where modern agricultural technology can be learned with the help of sensors, software and intelligent devices. The program is also enriched by an expanded machinery exhibition, ratite and working dog demonstrations, as well as a rich equestrian program and a farmyard. The exhibition is accompanied by several professional conferences – such as horse and rabbit breeding – but the program also includes an Agricultural Academy on the topic of precision animal husbandry, and the event also hosts a farming and soil cultivation competition, while families can enjoy craft activities, interactive lectures, a falconry demonstration and cultural programs.

MTI