This year will test the strength and perseverance of Hungarian farmers like never before.Continue reading
Despite all the difficulties, development projects in the agricultural sector are still going ahead in the current war-torn economic environment, with HUF 88 billion paid out to investors for the implementation of projects in the summer alone, said Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy.
The Minister remarked that between 2021 and 2027, three times as much rural development funding will be available as before, thanks to which the Ministry of Agriculture developed and launched the Renewable Countryside, Renewable Agriculture program in 2021. As István Nagy pointed out,
this program aims at the full modernization of agriculture and food production, which is the backbone of the Hungarian rural economy.
The Ministry of Agriculture published several calls for proposals last year and this year, and farmers submitted more applications for support than expected. The efforts made to implement the projects that have been launched are clearly shown by the fact that payments for the various investments have exceeded HUF 88 billion in the summer months alone, from June 1, 2022 to the present.
István Nagy said, among other things, that more than HUF 15 billion had been paid to the livestock sector for the development and renewal of sites, and more than HUF 5 billion had been granted to applicants implementing developments in the food sector.
The minister also pointed out that the performance of the agricultural sector has been hampered by a number of problems in recent times, from the Russian-Ukrainian war to the drought and the costly financing of loans. “However, without efficiency, infrastructure, and renewed productive capacity, we would abandon our common plans for the future,” he added.
Hungary has been hit by a severe drought this summer, with farmers in some regions reporting losses of hundreds of billions of forints. However, the weather is expected to ease slightly over the weekend, with rainfall that will also somewhat benefit crops.
Featured photo: MTI/Kovács Attila