Despite the droughts, the productivity growth of Hungarian agriculture is at the forefront of the EU

By: STA Date: 2025. 01. 10. 10:00

Despite the natural disasters of recent years, the productivity growth of Hungarian agriculture is at the forefront of the entire European Union according to several data sets, as it has shown the fifth highest growth according to a total productivity indicator and the seventh highest growth according to an indicator indicating territorial productivity in the past decade and a half. – said Zsolt Feldman, State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, in his presentation at AGROmashEXPO on Thursday.

(Photo: AM/István Fekete)

Our farms must be made more climate-resistant in order to preserve and even increase the results achieved so far with increased efficiency – said Zsolt Feldman, who pointed out that in this respect, joint sectoral thinking about solutions that work for the widest possible circle of farmers is very important. Moreover, this winter is not favorable for agriculture yet, with very little precipitation and no serious frosts.

According to the Secretary of State, it is also worth paying attention to regulations in 2025

The producer protection package, which has been in operation since the beginning of the year, can do a lot to create favorable market conditions for producers. Within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, structural changes to the rules are no longer expected, but even so, two smaller, previously postponed new EU regulatory elements will come into effect this year. One is the HMKÁ2 regulatory system, which prescribes water retention for wetlands affecting 46.5 thousand hectares of agricultural land, and the other is the social conditionality regulatory system imposed by the European Parliament during the CAP reform in the Common Agricultural Policy system, which also mandatorily links agricultural support sanctions to official decisions due to violations of labor protection and employment rules.

Zsolt Feldman said that 790 billion forints will be available for payments related to agricultural and rural development subsidies in 2025

The State Secretary reminded that 30 tenders were announced last year, and at least 40 more are expected this year. Several of these are aimed at arable crop production, such as the already announced irrigation development tender, and those appearing in 2025 are related to the development of crop dryers and cleaners or precision technology, among others. He then added that great attention is paid to ensuring that smaller and larger farmers and projects do not compete with each other, and separate tender calls have been issued for them.