AM: The Ministry of Agriculture supports the generational change in agriculture in many ways

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The announcement quoted József Viski, the State Secretary of the Ministry responsible for agricultural and rural development support, who said at the Agricultural Academy Forum in Gödöllő that a regulatory and support system serves the generational change in agriculture, which ensures renewal as well as maintaining competitiveness. In the current agricultural support cycle, a budget of 79 billion forints is being allocated to young farmers, and 10 billion forints to support farm transfer cooperation. Advance payments for the unified application for young farmers have already reached more than 3,800 affected parties, totaling 2.5 billion forints. The State Secretary added that the Ministry developed the Act on the Transfer of Agricultural Farms and its implementing regulation as a tool for the generational renewal of agriculture. Hungary was among the first in the European Union to create this regulation, which, in addition to making the transfer of farms more flexible, simpler and more transparent, also provides sufficient incentive for both the older and younger generations, as it aims at the legal certainty and supportability of the generational change. The regulation created the opportunity for conscious forward thinking, because – as in the entire Union – the aging of the farming community is a serious problem in Hungary. Approximately 1,700 applications were received for the call for farm transfers, in which case efforts are also being made to ensure that the farmers concerned receive support to the greatest possible extent. While the applications are being reviewed, the process of farm transfers is being made as smooth as possible so that those transferring their farms can access funds in a timely manner. Moreover, their call for support for the transferees of farms with a budget of 22 billion will soon be opened – József Viski emphasized in the AM statement.

The State Secretary highlighted that Hungary recognized the need for generational renewal in good time

To this end, it used conscious legislation and the development of support policy frameworks aimed at it. Despite the fact that during last year’s EU presidency, Hungary, with the agreement of the other member states, also emphasized in the document of the Council conclusions unanimously adopted regarding the future of agricultural support after 2027 that generational change is a pressing problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, EU decision-makers have apparently ignored this as well. It has now emerged that the Commission wants to merge all EU funds into a single plan and introduce common implementation rules. This concept could cause enormous damage to agriculture as a whole, including measures aimed at generational change, in which planability and a balanced support system are key issues, the ministry said in a statement.

MTI