Today is World Food Day

By: STA Date: 2023. 10. 16. 09:30

In order to maintain water security and safe food production, our goal is the sustainable development of agriculture, which predicts the expected effects of increasingly extreme weather conditions and keeps pace with them – said Anikó Juhász, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for agriculture, in his speech at the press conference held on the occasion of the World Food Day in Budapest.

(Photo: AM/Tibor Vermes)

The World Food Day is an excellent opportunity to draw attention to the most important challenging topics: problems caused by climate change, drought affecting increasingly large areas, soil erosion and deteriorating soil life, as well as the problem of farmland protection, said the deputy state secretary. Today, on World Food Day, the UN FAO draws attention to the challenges of food and water management through diverse programs in 150 countries around the world. It is important that the entire society in Hungary also understands that one of our most important tasks is to keep it. The grants that started and will start in 2023 also help with this.

Anikó Juhász also spoke about the fact that the protection of water resources has been the central theme of many recent events

For crop safety, it is no longer enough to apply appropriate agrotechnics in crop cultivation, but it is also necessary to ensure the conditions for water retention and water-saving irrigation farming. Thanks to its lucky circumstances, Hungary is rich in high-quality water resources, so we regard clean water as a national treasure.

The deputy state secretary called the role of research, development and innovation in the field of increasing the efficiency of sustainable soil and water use of fundamental importance

As he put it, precision technology enables less and targeted water use, as it adjusts irrigation to the true needs of the plant. In this way, safer and more predictable agricultural production and higher product quality can be achieved without damaging the environment.

Anikó Juhász highly appreciated the joint donation convoy of the Hungarian Food Bank Association and the FAO, which helps to reduce food waste in Hungary and also draws attention to the importance of environmental awareness.

FAO and the Food Bank Association launched the donation convoy for the 18th time this year. The convoy of trucks and lorries transported 50,000 kilograms of non-perishable food. From the HUF 75 million shipment, 13,000 food packages are made for the needy.