Responsible agricultural water management is key during drought periods

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 17. 11:35

It is of utmost importance that Hungarian agriculture can adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, and that we preserve the value and productivity of domestic farmland for future generations. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture is committed to creating responsible and sustainable agricultural water management, for which numerous tools are available – said Imre Hubai, State Secretary for Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, on the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

Climate change, the frequency of drought periods and the ever-decreasing water resources also pose challenges to our country – highlighted Imre Hubai, who reminded that in response to the drought situation, the government established the Drought Protection Operational Team in May, declared a drought emergency and adopted the drought protection action plan, the implementation of which has already begun. In addition, the government will assume this year’s water fee of farmers in the amount of 8.1 billion forints from the 2025 central budget, and has allocated an additional 10.2 billion forints for the implementation of this year’s investments.

The State Secretary highlighted that the Ministry of Agriculture treats irrigation development as a priority, and thanks to the Rural Development Program of the previous period, more than 1,300 producer water management projects were supported, the amount of which amounted to approximately 168 billion forints. Thanks to the measures taken so far, the size of irrigated areas has increased by 32 thousand hectares and more than 130 irrigation communities have received approximately 10 billion forints in non-refundable support. The goal is for the size of irrigated agricultural areas to reach 350 thousand hectares by 2030.

The CAP Strategic Plan continues to emphasize supporting the application of water-saving farming practices. As an example, he mentioned that the call for proposals for “Complex investments within the agricultural holding to improve the efficiency of irrigation development and water use” was published with a budget of approximately HUF 50 billion. In addition, the government supports the filling of dried-up lake beds, backwaters, canals and reservoirs and prioritizes the development of sustainable wetlands. An additional HUF 4.7 billion has been allocated for these purposes, thanks to which 150-200 million cubic meters more water can be available in the affected areas by the end of the summer, he added.