Drought situation receives special attention

By: STA Date: 2025. 05. 08. 10:00

The government is preparing a coordinated action plan to prevent drought damage. Thanks to this, actors in the water sector will receive special attention and funding to manage the drought situation, said Imre Hubai, State Secretary for Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture at the conference entitled “The Future of the Countryside, the Public Benefit of the Countryside” in Orosháza.

(Photo: Pixabay)

At the event, the State Secretary spoke about how the Ministry of Agriculture is strengthening the competitiveness of agriculture and the food industry with targeted support within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Out of almost 5,400 billion forints of CAP funds, 2,900 billion will go to the rural development pillar. Particularly important areas within this are economic development investments, the processing industry, irrigation development, and the encouragement of generational change. More than 38 calls for proposals have been published so far, with a total value of 1,389 billion forints. These include, for example, the afforestation program, the development of short supply chains, irrigation investments, and the development of crop storage facilities and seed factories. In addition, special attention is paid to supporting young farmers. A budget of 79 billion forints is available for them, with investment support of up to 75 million forints, he added.

Imre Hubai highlighted that there is unwavering interest in agricultural investments

The support requests received for applications often exceed the available budget several times, which proves the intention and commitment of the farming community to develop. The financing of planned investments is also facilitated by facilitations, such as collateral-free advances and interest subsidies. In addition, further calls for tenders are being prepared, including in the field of farm development and support for irrigation communities. He also mentioned that developments and modernization are ongoing in Hungarian agriculture and the food industry, thanks to which the creation of added value is also increasing. Hungarian agriculture has embarked on a development path: the goal is to harmonize the balance of new technologies and sustainability, which will also determine the strategic work of the coming years.