At the initiative of Hungary, another EU source will help farmers affected by last year’s drought

As a result of the negotiations, the ministry achieved that 10.8 million euros, or about 4.2 billion forints, will be available from the agricultural crisis reserve to support farmers affected by the drought, announced József Viski, State Secretary for Agricultural and Rural Development Support at the Ministry of Agriculture. József Viski said that due to the severe drought situation that developed throughout the country in the summer of 2025, especially in the central and southeastern regions of Hungary, farmers reported damage to more than 550 thousand hectares of land. In view of the extraordinary situation, the Ministry of Agriculture therefore turned to the European Commission last autumn, requesting the opening of the agricultural crisis fund, in order to provide additional compensation to farmers producing the most affected crops in addition to the resources of the domestic agricultural damage mitigation system. The Ministry has started to develop the detailed conditions of the support and prepare the necessary national regulations. According to the decision, a total of EUR 21.5 million will be mobilized from the agricultural crisis reserve to support farmers in three Member States – Bulgaria, Estonia and Hungary – affected by adverse weather events in the 2025 vegetation period. In Hungary, the extraordinary heat and water shortage between June and August 2025 caused significant heat stress in many crops, which adversely affected maize production the most. The aim of the EU crisis support, similar to the compensation provided to farmers who suffered frost damage, is to mitigate the losses of producers and contribute to maintaining the stability of agricultural production. The budget amount must be paid to the circle of producers defined in national regulations by 30 September 2026 at the latest, which will arrive to the affected parties in addition to the subsidies already paid under the domestic damage mitigation system. The State Secretary responsible for agricultural and rural development support also highlighted that out of the 46.5 billion forints in damage mitigation benefits paid last week, 37.4 billion forints went to farmers who suffered drought damage. Thanks to the increased amount of the damage mitigation fund, all approved damage mitigation applications have been settled, so all eligible farmers have already received their damage mitigation benefits.

AM