Seed Association: Organic farming on a growth path

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Péter Mikó, chairman of the VSZT organic seed working group, highlighted in the statement: with EU support incentives and the new five-year domestic support program launched in 2025, the Hungarian organic sector is developing dynamically, and the size of the areas covered by certification already exceeds 300 thousand hectares. At the same time, Hungary is among the catching-up member states in the EU, with an organic area ratio of 6.3 percent compared to the EU average of 10.5 percent. In the case of fruit orchards, however, Hungary is above the EU average – explained Péter Mikó, adding: meadows and pastures dominate among organic areas with 55 percent, followed by arable land (36 percent), then dynamically growing organic fruit orchards (7 percent).

According to the analysis, the main cereals are processed most in the domestic food industry

In addition, the processing of sunflower and soybean, as well as peas, alfalfa and corn among oilseed crops is also significant. Plants that do not require processing are sold primarily on the domestic fresh market, while most of the cereals and industrial crops that ensure mass production are exported. Organic farming strengthens biodiversity, reduces water pollution and the ecological footprint of agriculture, and the sustainable soil management applied here produces a higher organic matter content in the soils – the statement drew attention. According to the seed association, the growth of the domestic organic sector is still hampered by the underdevelopment of the processing industry, the fluctuating market and price competition with imported products. The manual and mechanical labor requirements in organic farming are much higher, while yields are often lower, which puts serious pressure on farmers’ profitability – they noted.

The VSZT highlighted: the area used for organic seed production is currently small

In addition to the reduced seed, farmers almost exclusively use conventional undressed seed. The variety supply is currently considered scarce even for those species that have been regularly found in the Organic Seed Database operated by Nébih for years. Péter Mikó emphasized: the domestic Organic Action Plan represents a sufficient incentive to double the share of organic areas by 2030, which will entail an increase in demand for seeds. In addition, there are only 10 years until 2036, when the mandatory use of organic seeds in the organic sector will be introduced – until the possibility of applying for a derogation to use uncoated conventional seeds is eliminated – therefore, a dynamic recovery of the organic seed sector can be forecasted – he underlined.

MTI