Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stressed the importance of innovation, including within the seed sector, in the interests of achieving sustainable agricultural production, facing global challenges and reducing the effects of climate change.
In his speech at the official opening of the ISF World Seed Congress in Budapest, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted the fact that a global consensus is required to handle the long-term challenges faced by the sector. “Hungary is in possession of outstanding technologies in both the fields of water management and seed production, which have already been used in many parts of the world”, he added.
In his opening speech, President of the International Seed Federation (ISF) Jean-Christophe Gouache said the greatest challenge facing the sector was the issue of how sufficient numbers of quality seeds can be produced for the increasing world population, because without these the food industry itself would not exist.
Mr. Szijjártó stressed that Hungary’s economy is traditionally based on agricultural production and the Government is taking its global commitments seriously, as a result of which it was the first EU country to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change. “Hungary is competitive with regard to the production ad export of healthy and high quality foods, and the GMO-free status of these foods is guaranteed in the Constitution, which is increasing valued throughout the world. Hungarian seed exports of maize, wheat and sunflower have increased by 7, 57 and 34 percent, respectively, during the course of a single year”, he explained.
According to the Minister, “There is huge global pressure on food production and agriculture: during the next forty years we need to produce as much food as we did in total during the past ten thousand years, and we must achieve our quantitative obligations in the midst of the radical increase in the world population, water scarcity, floods and extreme weather conditions”. Mr. Szijjártó said that keeping Hungarian agriculture GMO-free was one of the prime interests of Hungarian agriculture, also noting that the Government is resisting all pressure to authorise the use of GMOs.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Szijjártó said it was the Hungarian Government’s obligation to create equal opportunities for Hungarian farmers in the extremely strong global competition, pointing out that Hungary is the Central European country with the most Chinese import licences, and noting that work is also in progress concerning the commencement of negotiations on the export of Hungarian fruit varieties. “There is increasing demand for premium quality foods in Japan and Korea. Hungarian agriculture is at a competitive advantage with regard to research & development, and if this can be maintained then it will remain competitive in future”, he said.
Mr. Gouache also stressed the importance of innovation in seed production, adding that the most important task was the harmonisation of the seed trade, in view of the fact that seeds often cross seven or eight borders before they reach end buyers from the producer. The ISF President said that another task for the Federation and its member associations was to reduce plant health risks through developing modern prevention methods, as well as harmonising monitoring systems, pointing out that an ISF seed trade standard had been introduced to assure quality.
At the press conference held following the opening ceremony, Chairman of the national organising committee and member of the Seed Association Interprofessional Organisation and Marketing Board (VSZT) Árpád Pavelka said the Congress held in Budapest also indicated the success of the Hungarian seed industry. Mr. Pavelka told reporters that the number of participants at the event had broken all previous records, with 1700 experts from 62 countries arriving in the Hungarian capital to attend the Congress. He stressed that cross-breeding was a century-old tradition in Hungary and learning about new cross-breeding methods was vital and could open new export markets for enterprises. Hungary plays an important role in the world’s seed industry, with Hungarian enterprises exporting 30 percent of the seeds produced in Hungary, some 100 thousand tons, making it the sixth largest seed exporter in the world following France, Holland, the United States, Germany and Chile.
VSZT Chairman Géza Takács told Hungarian news agency MTI that France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia are among the most important importers of Hungarian agricultural seeds. Hungary is producing seeds on 130 thousand hectares this year, and the production area for seeds has been continuously increasing in recent years. 1500 different seeds from some 100 different species are put on the market each year, and the sector’s annual turnover exceeds 100 billion forints (EUR 323 million). Half of this is derived from the sale of maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. There are some 887 enterprises, institutions and private farms operating within the sector, Mr. Takács explained.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
