One of Hungary’s greatest strategic assets is its good-quality soil

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One of Hungary’s greatest strategic assets is its good-quality soil, and careful attention to its preservation and maintenance is particularly important, emphasized Balázs Szabó, Deputy State Secretary for Agricultural Economics at the Ministry of Agriculture, in his opening speech. Land is the most fundamental factor of production, as 95 percent of the world’s food is directly or indirectly provided by soil. At the same time, soils are at serious risk due to the degradation processes experienced worldwide, such as erosion, deflation, salinization, compaction and acidification. The key issue is therefore a change in attitude and the dissemination of soil-friendly, protective and regenerating practices in farming. He added that this year’s conference – the preparation and implementation of which the National CAP Network was also actively involved – shed light on the problem of soil contamination on the one hand and soil cover on the other, the latter of which means the increasing construction and covering of our soils with paving. Recently, urban and peri-urban soils have been gaining an increasingly prominent role in Europe as a kind of “hidden agricultural reserves”, as soils of outstandingly good quality are often found around large cities. Their professional rehabilitation can greatly contribute to the growth and spread of peri-urban food production, community gardens and green spaces. The event presented a number of innovative knowledge and practical ideas that can be used effectively to improve the health of our soils, thus being of great use to both the scientific profession and farmers.

Soil as a natural resource is extremely vulnerable

Olga Beáta Felkai, Deputy State Secretary for the Food Chain at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that last year’s experiences and the current EU and domestic legislative environment clearly show that soil as a natural resource is extremely vulnerable, and its renewal can only be ensured through conscious intervention. She emphasized that the European Union has a soil improvement strategy until 2030, which is also crucial because intervention is already essential for 60-70 percent of EU farmland to be able to produce in adequate quality, and thus to guarantee food safety and nutrition security. The Deputy State Secretary also drew attention to the fact that the continuous development of the legislative and professional frameworks is still taking place: the Nitrate Regulation and the Farmland Protection Act have been amended, and farmers must draw up a soil protection action plan. He highlighted that several coordinated measures can improve the condition and regeneration of soils together. The temporary chamber exhibition opening as part of the conference will present a detailed presentation of the soil profile monoliths that received the Soil of the Year award, and the Hungarian soil profile from Püspökladány, which was selected as the World Soil of the Year in 2025 by the International Soil Science Society (IUSS).

AM