The irrigation development and education investment in Szarvas was handed over

(Photo: Pixabay)

Csaba Gyuricza, rector of the Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences (MATE), said that when the effects of climate change increasingly affect agricultural production, there is a great need for a practical training place that introduces farmers to the most modern tools and irrigation and water retention technologies. In addition, the investment also means that education, adult training, and professional counseling will be maintained and stabilized in Szarvas – he emphasized. He also expressed his hope that Békés county can thus be “a reinforced base” for the irrigation development background.

It also improves the quality of education

Member of Parliament Béla Dankó (Fidesz) expressed his joy that the investment will provide a knowledge base with which farmers can acquire the latest knowledge; and that not only will higher education be maintained in Szarvas, but nationally rare courses will also be brought here. Deputy Mayor Etele Molnár also emphasized that the development of five sites in the city will keep researchers, lecturers, and students in the city and will also help farmers.

MATE implemented three projects in two years

Based on a priority list, the survey of the tertiary irrigation works was prepared, the technical condition survey was conducted and the results were integrated into an IT system. The demonstration center in Szarvas has also been completed, where practical and theoretical irrigation programs and practical demonstrations are implemented; the first drone pilot training starting at the end of January also takes place here. A two-hectare flood irrigation sample area was reconstructed, where a kind of demonstration farm was created with a cantilever irrigation system suitable for precision irrigation and high-performance electric irrigation pumps. As the third part of the development, amelioration (i.e. soil improvement) plan packages, water rights establishment and operation permits were researched and processed, a basic national amelioration cadastre was created, and the methodology of field-level technical condition assessment was developed.

MTI