Watering will be easier this year as well

By: STA Date: 2024. 03. 01. 09:30

The government will fully exempt farmers from the fee for the provision of agricultural water through state-owned water facilities this year as well, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy announced on his social media page.

(Photo: drnagyistvan.hu)

The head of the ministry reminded that irrigation is a public interest, the basis of a safe food supply. That is why the government is giving farmers all the help they can to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change and to increase the cultivation of crops with higher added value. As before, producers can count on the government to ensure production conditions and preserve their competitiveness. These goals are also served by the fact that, like last year, the government is taking over the financial burden of the agricultural water supply this year. The water service fee is related to the use of water provided through state-owned water facilities – even through intermediate service providers – so the discount is available to those producers who, with the cooperation of a state agricultural water provider, receive the water needed for irrigation from surface water, i.e. from a river or canal, added the minister.

The Ministry of Agriculture pays special attention to the development of irrigated farming through its programs that are already running and the tenders that will be announced

The goal is for the size of irrigated areas to approach 350,000 hectares by 2030. István Nagy highlighted that, within the framework of the Rural Development Program, 962 agricultural irrigation development projects were supported in the country in the amount of almost HUF 83 billion.