“One of the fundamental targets of the Hungarian Government is to make rural areas, villages and sub-regions inhabited by Hungarians competitive and for the countryside to become one of the engines of the nation”, Deputy State Secretary for International Relations Katalin Tóth said in Zenta (Senta), Ukraine at an official event organised to mark the 20th anniversary of horticultural engineer training in the city and the 15th jubilee of the founding of the Horticulturalists Association.

“Thanks to its natural capabilities Hungary has been practicing internationally acclaimed agricultural production for centuries, the major part of which is processed by the Hungarian food industry. Hungarian agriculture is on a growth trajectory, as clearly indicated by both production and income indices”, she said.

Ms. Tóth highlighted the fact that Hungarian agriculture sill has major reserves and the even better exploitation of its capabilities could lead to a further increase in its role with the EU’s agriculture.

According to the Deputy State Secretary, people’s wish for a healthier lifestyle, consumer demand for natural and quality ingredients and the increased need for a liveable and healthy green environment significantly contribute to the future success of the horticulture sector. In addition to the cereal and meat sectors, the horticulture sector represents the third pillar of Hungarian agriculture. During the past twenty years the sector was unable to produce the dynamic development that its capabilities would otherwise make possible because of neglected research & development programmes, the lack of a suitably trained workforce and backlog of production area and targeted development projects.

Ms. Tóth highlighted that the Ministry of Agriculture has drawn up a programme to develop the position of the fruit and vegetable sector. The goal of the programme is to facilitate the development of the fruit and vegetable sector into a strong and competitive sector that works in cooperation and is capable of supplying the domestic and foreign markets with quality products.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)