The government supports the grape and wine sector with targeted subsidies

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

Imre Hubai added that here, in the vineyards of the Somogyi Hills, in the Balatonboglár wine region, the grape varieties grown on approximately 3,000 hectares are competitive, and wine-producing enterprises implemented technological development with a total cost of 6.8 billion forints in the Rural Development Program of previous years. Regarding the support for the grape and wine sector, he said that calls for restructuring, wine investments, by-product distillation, and promotion on the foreign and domestic markets have already been published within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, and many of these titles are still open or will be announced again this year. In the case of grape restructuring, replanting after felling for plant health reasons is also eligible – underlined Imre Hubai. This is particularly important in order to curb the golden yellow disease affecting vineyards that appeared in the fall of 2025 and to replant the affected production areas.

The State Secretary explained that the government adopted a seven-part national action plan in the fall of 2025 to reduce golden yellows

The program includes intensive detection of infected plantations, increasing laboratory capacity, a national pesticide protection program, and expanding the range of available pesticides in this regard. He added that the control of propagation material is a priority task for the authorities, and infected and abandoned plantations that pose a threat will be cut down in coordination with the mountain village system. Speaking about the new applications for the sector that will be published this year, he said that in the first quarter of 2026, support can be requested for innovation and interprofessional services – including consulting, market knowledge education, and wine tourism. Encouraging generational change is also of paramount importance in the grape and wine sector, so this title can be applied for this year, the State Secretary added. Depending on the size of the farm, support can be requested between 4 and 20 million forints – underlined Hubai Imre.

AM