A new peat humate plant was handed over in Mezőkövesden

István Nagy Minister of Agriculture (Photo: István Fekete)

In his welcome speech, István Nagy emphasized: the technology used here provides a natural supply of nutrients to the soil, promising excellent crop results. According to its description, the peat humate concentrate produced by Agriturf 2022 Zrt. is a preparation rich in fulvic and humic acids, which also contains valuable substances in peat. For farmers, this innovative product is important not only from a sustainability point of view, but also from a cost-effectiveness point of view, as it is able to halve the fertilizer requirement of treated soils, he underlined. The handover of the agricultural investment in Mezőkövesd thus sends a message, among other things, that there is a sustainable solution to the increase in input material prices and the increase in the price of fertilizer, added the head of the ministry. He reminded: Hungarian agriculture faced serious challenges, to which the profession responded with many good decisions. Thanks to this, agriculture is now the first sector that operates in a fully sustainable manner.

He also mentioned that the farming community was not left alone even in difficult times

With the reorganization of the universities, agricultural higher education became farmer-centered. In the current EU budget cycle, the government provides three times more development resources to the sector than in the previous one, in order to make the innovative solutions offered by science that make work easier and improve economy available to those working in agriculture, explained István Nagy. He pointed out: based on agricultural area per capita, Hungary ranks 6th among EU member states and 20th in the world. These are prestigious rankings that show that in our country, farmland and soil are an extremely important environmental resource and also an economic factor. Healthy soil serves not only food security, but also environmental and climate protection, as its carbon sequestration and cleaning capabilities are outstanding, he said.

At the same time, in the last 50 years, the nutrient content of the soil has dropped to 10 percent

Agricultural land is a treasure that will never be used again, so any approach and technology that preserves or restores its nutrient content and productivity is important – emphasized the head of the ministry. In light of this, the government adopted a Soil Protection Action Plan in 2021, which builds on joint responsibility and emphasizes preventive, knowledge-sharing soil protection. The most important element of the change in attitude is the farmer’s soil protection program, which provides specialized help to farmers in their daily work; this is complemented by the strengthening of training and consultancy, as well as the creation of a modern and useful soil protection database for everyone.

András Tállai, the parliamentary representative of the region, reminded us that the investment was carried out at a former military airport

The municipal utilization of this was an important step in terms of the economic rise of the region. For the industrial park created here, the government has provided resources of about HUF 2 billion in two phases within the framework of the Regional Development Operative Program in recent years. In addition to the service infrastructure, the hall in which Agriturf 2022 Zrt. furnished its production base in Mezőkövesd was built from this.

Éva Pénzes, the commercial and marketing director of the company, explained the details of the investment and stated: the annual capacity of the plant is currently about 40 thousand tons

In addition to the production hall, the company has a 3,000 square meter storage hall, which currently employs around 30 workers, but this number is expected to double within a few months. In the following years, their development goals include the creation of a several-hectare model farm, as well as the construction of a research laboratory and a 500-square-meter lecture and conference hall. In addition, a hall and factory expansion with a total floor area of 15,000 square meters is planned in two phases by the end of 2026, he informed.

MTI