European agriculture is under pressure from green ideology

(Photo: drnagyistvan.hu)

István Nagy believed that there is no reason for over-politicization, simply that the political situation in Europe leaves its mark on farming, thereby making competitiveness impossible. In addition, the EU’s internal markets were opened to cheap Ukrainian agricultural products, which threatens the future of European farmers, he added. After the farmers’ demonstrations organized all over Europe, amendments were made to the bureaucratic rules in the area of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but this is still not enough. When there is a war in our neighbor, 60 percent of European cropland is threatened by drought, food safety is endangered, for example, by the requirement that fallowing must be insisted on, the minister noted.

István Nagy said that it was possible to amend the KAP on issues such as crop rotation, or that these bureaucratic rules should not apply to farmers with less than ten hectares. “The goal is not to stop here.”

European farmers should not be held responsible for climate change, as they are most interested in preserving the quality of our created world, and are not the cause of such damage, but the sufferer. They must be made partners in overcoming difficulties, and for this they must also be given subsidies, explained the Minister of Agriculture. He indicated: farmers must be put back at the center of agriculture, which also benefits society, as this is the only way that cheap, safe food can be put on our tables. István Nagy also reported that the parliament has just adopted the producer protection package, which protects the most vulnerable producers with the fewest opportunities to assert their interests against buyers and processors. Hungary’s long-term goal is to produce food from as many agricultural products as possible, for which it will provide HUF 2,900 billion until 2027 for the expansion of the processing industry and the food industry, but for this it is also necessary that farmers can produce safely. According to the new regulation, it is mandatory to pay the farmers within 30 days, it is not possible that the buyer has already sold the product long ago, but the producer will finally receive the price of what he invested in for months. In the future, the issue of who is responsible if the animals die on the way must also be settled, as this requires joint risk-bearing, he said. He also touched on the need for model contracts that protect both farmers and processors in order to be able to plan with certainty. Anyone who breaks the rules must be banned from their job forever, it is not possible that if someone takes the money of the farmers and then quickly liquidates his company, he can continue the “robbery farming” in the same way with other businesses. István Nagy from Radio Kossuth Good morning, Hungary! in his program on Tuesday, he also talked about the fact that the import of Ukrainian agricultural products threatens the future of the entire European economy. “We are risking the protection of European consumers by using pesticides that have expired 20 years ago, the sowing of GMO seeds is permitted, they are not subject to European animal welfare regulations,” said the minister. “It is impossible for European leaders to take into account the interests of the Ukrainian oligarchs”, European politicians and bureaucrats must keep European interests in mind, just as the Hungarian government does with Hungarian producers. The survival of farmers also means the survival of consumers – said István Nagy.

MTI