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Hungary is part of the largest agricultural and food industry development program since the end of communism (1989), said the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, at the Portfolio Agriculture 2025 conference in Kecskemét.
Sándor Farkas explained that a change of a historic scale is now taking place in agriculture, which will determine our lives for a long time. Those working in the sector can be part of and shape a modernization and development breakthrough, and the Ministry of Agriculture intends to facilitate this process with targeted support.
Agriculture and rural development are not the internal affairs of farmers, but the basis of Hungary’s self-sufficiency, the backbone of the countryside, a continuer of traditions, a force for community formation, and an employment sector of outstanding importance, he emphasized, and pointed out that the government therefore views agriculture and its actors as a national strategic sector.
The State Secretary related that in the second half of 2024, while holding the rotating presidency of the European Union, Hungary proposed an agricultural strategy that focuses on a fair livelihood for farmers, ensuring full food self-sufficiency, and balancing environmental and competitiveness aspects.
He highlighted that Hungary will continue to stand by area-based subsidies in the future: several hundred thousand people signed the agricultural petition launched by the Chamber of Agriculture and MAGOSZ (Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Circles and Cooperatives) last fall.
Analyzing the performance of the sector, Farkas highlighted, among other things, that
in EU comparison, Hungarian agriculture achieved the fifth highest growth in terms of the total productivity indicator and the seventh highest growth in terms of the territorial productivity indicator in the past decade and a half.
The share of processed products within agricultural exports increased from 62% to 74%, he added.
Last year, farmers, rural businesses, and local governments received almost 585 billion forints (1.46 billion euros) in rural development subsidies. The largest amount paid out was related to calls for agricultural investment: the government spent more than 264 billion forints (661 million euros) on this area, the state secretary said.
Farkas highlighted that payments for the 2024 unified area- and animal-based subsidies are currently being processed. By mid-March, nearly 518 billion forints (1.29 billion euros) had been distributed to 159,000 recipients across 27 legal categories, with an additional 300 billion forints (751 million euros) scheduled for disbursement by the Hungarian State Treasury. In the new agricultural support cycle, 35 calls for applications have been published, totaling approximately 1,375 billion forints (3.447 billion euros).
However, for eight specific areas, support requests have already exceeded the budget by four to five times, totaling nearly 1,800 billion forints (4.511 billion euros).
Additionally, Farkas emphasized the significant focus on irrigation in the Rural Development Program, supporting over 1,200 water management projects, expanding irrigated areas by 32,000 hectares, and renovating outdated infrastructure. Water-saving farming practices are also being encouraged in the current cycle of support.
Via kormany.hu; Featured picture: Pexels