János Lázár: rural development is needed, not agricultural policy

According to János Lázár, “this is not an impossible thing, it is a matter of intention”. He said: in 15 years, from nothing, they achieved that the automotive industry now accounts for 30 percent of industrial production – which accounts for 30 percent of GDP; something similar must be achieved in the field of agriculture. The politician explained that to this end, a five-point proposal had been formulated, which included that agricultural technological developments must continue; a career model should be provided for young people who intend to work in agriculture; the water sector should be included in the agricultural ministry; a background raw material support system could be created with public catering, which should be supervised by the National Chamber of Agriculture. Furthermore, everything – from production to processing to retail sales – should be organized into a chain and kept in national hands. János Lázár explained: The population of Békés County decreased by 60 thousand people in 15 years, which is “rare even in Hungary”; strengthening the countryside should be a social interest. According to him, a farmer resettlement program should be launched, as Maria Theresa once did, because even the generational change within the family often causes problems in agriculture. He noted: Brussels does not really want to strengthen agriculture because they know that the voting preference of rural farmers is not left-wing. The politician expressed his pessimism regarding the scope for asserting interests, saying that the EU “decided to bring in Ukraine”; and because of this – and the threat posed by North and South America – it is a question of how long Hungary will remain an exporter. He also said that the issue of sovereignty will be decisive in the coming years, which he believes will be most pronounced in the areas of financial resources, energy and food. In relation to the first, he mentioned that this is why the banking system was aimed at being at least 50 percent Hungarian-owned. In relation to the second, he pointed out that Hungary already produces the most electricity with solar panels. Together with Paks, energy independence can be achieved in the area of ​​electricity production, but we are not there yet in terms of gas and oil, he said. János Lázár indicated that he hears the criticism that all this could have been done in the past 16 years, but according to him, agricultural raw material production brought good profits until the early 2020s, so there was no need for it. At the end of his speech, the politician stated that “no one is interested in agriculture except us, only this political community has ideas about it”. He added that according to surveys, Fidesz is strong in settlements with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, among people over 40, and among those earning moderately or less.

The damage mitigation and insurance system must also be renewed

At the conference, József Viski, the State Secretary responsible for agricultural and rural development subsidies at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that between 2014 and 2025, 146 billion forints were paid out for drought damage, which also occurred in irrigated areas. In his opinion, the drought damage mitigation system established in 2011 is outdated, but the agricultural insurance system is apparently not efficient either. The state secretary expects an upswing in the coming years, with 80 percent domestic co-financing, bringing in 5,600 billion forints from the common agricultural policy (CAP), and 3,150 billion forints from the rural development policy. A decision to support investments worth 800 billion forints has already been made, with another 300-500 billion to be made in the near future, and around 100 billion for irrigation, he explained. József Viski called it important that the EU maintain an independent, two-pillar agricultural support system.

Agriculture faces challenges

Zsolt György Papp, president of the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK), mentioned the new CAP, which would reduce the current budget by 21 percent, among the challenges facing agriculture; would not support the processing industry and would tie subsidies to age. He called innovation and knowledge an opportunity, noting that Hungary could still be strong in seed and feed production “if mass products are not thrown at us”. He also underlined that we must move in the direction of the processing industry. István Jakab, Vice President of the Parliament and President of the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Associations and Farmers’ Cooperatives (Magosz), said that nothing can be done about climate change, but water must be conserved, “otherwise there will be a huge problem in the Great Plain”. He noted that the country lost 1,000 billion forints due to the drought, and that this loss should be invested in development. He also emphasized that one of the great opportunities for bringing domestic products to the market is public catering, “two million people eat lunch every day.” The conference was prompted by the fact that the Mezőhegyes National Stud Farm and Farming Company Zrt. had developed its own brand of corn seed, with which it entered the market.

MTI