Hungary hasn't so far suitably exploited the opportunities inherent in ecological farming, said the Ministry of Rural Development's Deputy State Secretary Katalin Tóth at an agriculture conference in Gödöllő.

She stressed that in contrast to European tendencies, the area of land used for ecological farming has not increased to a suitable extent in Hungary, adding that the area used for this purpose is currently just 2.5% of agricultural land. However, she also emphasised that ecological and other conditions are favourable, and that there are increasing numbers of technological methods available to support ecological farming.

Hungary has a favourable climate, good quality soil, and its well-established, traditional plant and animal species make it possible to produce excellent quality foods without the need for artificial agents, she reiterated. This means that Hungary has significant advantages with regard to this form of farming, she added.

The Deputy State Secretary pointed out that that the consumption of organic products and related knowledge may also help improve the general state of health of the Hungarian population, in addition to which it also has favourable environmental effects.

She mentioned that according to research, Hungarian consumers still purchase ecological products primarily for health reasons, in the spirit of leading a healthy lifestyle, adding that many may not even know that their choice also contributes to the preservation of environmental values.

Katalin Tóth also presented the measures planned by the Ministry. The most important of these is the formulation of the action plan aimed at developing ecological farming, which sets down the tasks for the period 2014-2020.
The Ministry is planning to create an almost 200m2 ECO-Island for the National Agriculture and Food Exhibition (OMÉK) in September. In addition, Hungary also plans to present high quality, Hungarian organic products at several international trade fairs and exhibitions, such as the 2014 Biofach trade fair in Nuremberg and the 2013 Natura Foods exhibition in Lodz.

(Ministry of Rural Development)