Producer workshops have started to support the preservation of water in the landscape

By: STA Date: 2024. 10. 24. 10:45

On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Economics Institute (AKI), the National Water Directorate General (OVF), the Irrigation and Water Management Research Center of the MATE Institute of Environmental Sciences and the village farmer network of the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) conducted a national survey in the spring of 2024, the aim of which is to determine the willingness of farmers to retain water and it was learning about deep-lying areas suitable for water retention. The survey was related to nearly 40,000 hectares of low-lying areas potentially suitable for water retention, and 80 percent of the more than 10,000 affected producers consider water retention in the production area to be important.

(Photo: Pixabay)

Based on the results of the survey and the technical recommendations of the water department, NAK experts selected 5 different types of sample areas: one each in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hajdú-Bihar and Békés counties, and two in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county. In these sample areas, professional workshops organized by NAK have started among the concerned owners and land users. At the events, the AKI provides information on the results of the survey, the experts of the OVF and the regional water management directorate present the details of the selected sample area and the technical documentation prepared for it, and the NAK presents the expected subsidies of the common agricultural policy (KAP), which are non-productive for the purpose of water protection investments and their maintenance. At the first stop, the proposal related to the Sárrét-Ásványsziget sample area in the county of Hajdú-Bihar was received by Földesen on October 22, 2024 with great interest from farmers, and the participants formulated many questions. Additional workshops will be held at the end of October and beginning of November.