More people work in Hungarian agriculture than at the time of the system change

(Photo: AM/Tibor Vermes)

According to István Nagy, it is not true that there are fewer people working in Hungarian agriculture, since the rise of mechanization, automation, robotization and the introduction of new technologies have replaced live work in many places, but at the same time, they have also increased the number of people working in agriculture-related industries. That is why the number of workers in Hungarian agriculture has increased – he added. The head of the ministry called it gratifying that our country’s agriculture has been able to respond to the challenges that, for example, droughts, the loss of internal markets or rapid climate and climate change have brought with it in recent decades. This was so successful that the goal set by the Hungarian agricultural industry years ago, that agricultural exports should reach 15 billion euros by 2027, has already been achieved, so the goals must be reworded, he said. Regarding the composition of exports, István Nagy said: in the past, Hungarian agriculture was characterized by exporting raw materials and importing finished products made from them. Currently, however, 72 percent of Hungarian agricultural and food exports consist of processed products, which have significant added value.

The minister also spoke about the fact that, in a unique way in Europe, the government adds the maximum 80 percent of national funds to the EU funds

This tripled the available support framework, so “we can make three advances in one cycle”. He added that this is why new agricultural sites are “growing out of the ground” all over the country, which then “push the Hungarian national economy forward”. István Nagy emphasized: the successes of the past decade mean that living in the countryside makes sense today and that it is worthwhile to work in agriculture.

Gábor Törő, the region’s Fidesz parliamentary representative, praised Tamfarm Kft. its owner, the Tamási family

The family’s vision of agriculture can be a starting point in the future, while providing jobs and creating value locally. Péter Tamási, Tamfarm Kft. its managing director said that their family has been engaged in agriculture for more than 30 years, most of their land is in the Zámoly area, so the need for a central location arose. He indicated that the application was a great help in realizing this. A grant application was submitted to the call for support for the development of crop storage, dryers and cleaners, from which the new site was created as a green field investment. As part of the HUF 1.6 billion project, the family farm built two 6,000-ton crop storages in the first phase, a grain dryer with two cleaners, and purchased the necessary material handling machines. For all this, they won a grant of slightly more than half a billion forints. At the same time, an 800-square-meter agricultural machine repair and service building with the appropriate site infrastructure was completed. The company built it with its own resources and a bank loan, without support. According to public company data, Tamfarm Kft. in the 2023 business year, it achieved a profit of HUF 23 million with net sales of HUF 207.8 million. The year before last, the company realized HUF 131.1 million in net sales and HUF 48 million in profit after tax.

MTI