Change is needed in Hungarian agriculture

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

We are fighting on four fronts today; in the virtual world, in reality, and on the international and domestic level,” said István Nagy. Speaking about international challenges, he highlighted his meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Tarasz Kacska on Wednesday, at which they agreed that Hungary would continue to keep its borders closed to Ukrainian agricultural products, because if the products were allowed in, the Hungarian market would collapse. Hungary rejects the Brussels budget draft because by accepting the proposal for financing European agriculture, European agriculture would be abandoned and European farmers’ money would be transferred to Ukraine. This draft would make the future of Hungarian and EU farmers impossible, he said. The free trade agreement between the EU and South American countries also poses new dangers for Hungarian farmers, as the European Union would be flooded with new products coming from uncontrolled circumstances, the minister said.

He also mentioned that the fact that uncontrolled false information appears in virtual space also poses a huge difficulty and correcting them takes a lot of time

Among the domestic challenges of agriculture, he highlighted the early spring frost, which caused 80-100 percent damage to orchards, foot-and-mouth disease, which caused the death of almost 10 thousand cattle and the same number of pigs, and bird flu, which caused great damage in the southern Great Plain area. Peste de petits ruminants and equine herpes also appeared, and the African swine fever virus emerging on the southern border was a serious fear – he added, noting that the year did not spare winegrowers either, grape yellows, which are spread by the American grapevine cicada, appeared in 14 wine regions. In addition to the epidemics, drought was the biggest challenge – he said. After forecasts predicted that the hottest summer in the EU was expected, the government formed the Drought Protection Operational Team and regrouped 4.7 billion forints to improve the canals so that as much water as possible can be stored, so there is now 990 thousand cubic meters of water in the reservoirs. The government also decided to take over the water fee from farmers for 10 billion forints. In the driest year of 2022, drought damage was reported on 579,178 thousand hectares, affecting 22 thousand customers, this year, in the hottest summer, this number has not yet reached 400 thousand hectares – he added. So far, through 1,300 successful applications, with 178 billion forints of application resources, the renewal of the irrigation infrastructure has been helped, and there are currently ongoing applications – he said.

He highlighted that the agriculture of the 21st century is now being founded with all its difficulties and there is no better answer to the challenges than development

According to the minister, farmers should calculate that Transdanubia and North Hungary produces the domestic corn requirement, and in the Southern Great Plain, the crop rotation must be planned in such a way that it includes autumn-sown, spring-harvested cereals, and possibly sunflowers, which tolerate heat. Farmers are not alone in this, if they wish to embark on the path of change, the government will provide them with the resources and solutions for this – said the minister. According to the fair director László Vaszkó, the aim of the event, which takes place on a gross area of ​​approximately 4,000 square meters, is for farmers to gain as much knowledge as possible and find connections, but the Farmer Expo is also a mirror of the agricultural economy, which we have to look into every day to know whether there is anything to be done in the sector. Exhibitors came from all over the country, even from Poland, and at the event, which will last until Saturday, interested parties can see about 100 horses, 80 cattle, 60 sheep, and poultry and rabbits, whose number is expected to reach 20,000 this year.

AM/MTI