Government regarding fruits and vegetables as key sector

Though the weather has been favourable for the production of fruits and vegetables this year, the prices farmers had dreamt of remained dreams. According to farmers, a HUF 100 billion development project could turn Hungary into the regional centre for fruit and vegetable production within a few years. If the project is successful, this would boost bot the export and domestic sales of Hungarian products. Ease of transport has become a more important criteria for fruits and vegetables than flavour. This is why visually very attractive products are often found by Hungarian consumers to be tasteless. Apart from animal husbandry, the fruit and vegetable sector is regarded by the government as the main source of potential growth estimated at 30-40 percent. In favourable weather conditions, 2.6-2.9 million tonnes of fruits are produced in Hungary annually, which could be increased to 3.5-3.8 million tones in the foreseeable future. The fruit and vegetable sector is regarded as a priority by the New Hungary Program of Rural Development, which could boost overall production by 800,000 tonnes. According to Béla Mártonffy, managing director of FruitVeb, farmers can apply for subsidies amounting to 40-60 percent of the total cost of their projects. One of the key elements of the program is to double the total area covered by greenhouses. Another project is aimed at modernising the processing of fruits and vegetables, which would include the packaging of fresh products, traditional processing activities and the production of frozen goods. FruitVeB promotes an increase in domestic consumption to 0.5-0.6 kilos per dey from the present level of 0.4 kilo per day. The promotion organised by FruitVeB and Spar Magyarország Kft is sponsored by the Agricultural Marketing Centre as well. Regarding export, all major markets with the exception of the UK are within easy reach of Hungarian producers.