Innovation, cooperation and tender resources strengthen the competitiveness of horticulture

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

In his presentation, Imre Hubai said that the ministry provides additional support to recognized producer organizations in the fruit and vegetable sector in addition to European Union funds. These funds can be used to finance investments, research and measures to improve the market position of producers, as well as measures to adapt to climate change. “We can therefore help farmers achieve higher incomes by encouraging producer cooperation and supporting producer organizations,” he underlined. He indicated that last year, the approved national support within the framework of the 42 operational programs amounted to 7.76 billion forints, while the EU support amounted to 4.25 billion forints. Within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which determines the domestic support policy until 2027, more than 5,651 billion forints will be spent on agriculture as a whole in this EU budget cycle – he said, adding that based on the government’s latest decision, approximately 55 percent of the budget amount, i.e. 3,153 billion forints, will be allocated to agricultural and rural development. According to his information, 49 calls for proposals have been published so far, with a total value of 1,524 billion forints. Support for horticulture, livestock farmers, those engaged in agri-environmental or organic farming, the food industry, and young farmers has been prioritized.

The Secretary of State pointed out that special attention is being paid to supporting farmers engaged in horticultural crop production

This sector produces raw materials for the domestic food industry, among other things, and therefore it is a common interest to increase competitiveness and promote developments. In this spirit, a call for proposals with a budget of HUF 50 billion was published among the first agricultural and rural development tenders announced in 2024, aiming to support developments related to horticultural greenhouses and cold storage facilities. The first support decisions will be made in the coming days, followed by further ones in September, he said. He explained that they consider it important to encourage generational change, which is why the start-up support for young producers will continue, which, in addition to the freely usable flat-rate support, will also be supplemented by their investments. The call will support the start-up of young farmers with HUF 39 billion in order to support generational change, and will help implement their investments with HUF 40 billion. The call for proposals entitled Support for Economic Transfer Cooperation, which has been available for applications since Thursday, also serves rejuvenation, he pointed out.

Imre Hubai also spoke about the continuation of support for participation in agricultural cooperation

The budget of the tender published to support the development and establishment of short supply chains is 1.6 billion forints. He pointed out that irrigation development is essential for maintaining and further increasing the competitiveness of Hungarian agriculture, and supporting this is a key goal. In the Rural Development Programme, more than 1,300 producer water management projects were supported, worth 168 billion forints. Of this, the irrigated area was expanded by 32 thousand hectares, and many old infrastructures were also renovated. In the new programming period, within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan, the application of water-saving farming practices will be further encouraged, he stated. He said that this is why two calls were announced: the budget for the call for applications for larger, more complex irrigation development investments exceeds HUF 49 billion, and the budget for the call for applications for smaller-scale investments is HUF 16.5 billion. In the first two stages, a total of 308 applications were received for these, with a total support request of HUF 91 billion. The processing of applications is ongoing, and the first support decisions for both calls are expected to be made in the last quarter, he added. In order to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change and for the sake of cost-effectiveness, water retention and water resource management have been in focus, to which the government has regrouped HUF 4.7 billion of additional state resources. Thanks to this, the costs are not borne by farmers, water managers, or water users. According to a government decision, the central budget will cover the water fees of the affected water users this year as well after 2023 and 2024 – the state secretary reminded.

Finally, he spoke about domestic pepper production

He highlighted: In Hungary, fresh market pepper is primarily grown in greenhouses, while the product used as an industrial raw material is primarily produced in intensive open-field production. Currently, 100-105 hectares of glass are being produced home cultivation, all greenhouse surfaces are heated, 98-99 percent using thermal water. In winter production, due to the lack of light and heating costs, cold film cultivation is expected to be the most economical cultivation method in the long term, but greenhouse production offers the opportunity to stretch out the production period, thereby expanding domestic supply, and also opens up greater opportunities to increase export markets.

AM/MTI