"Hungary was always at its strongest when its agriculture was flourishing", said Viktor Orbán at the conference organised at the Ministry of Rural Development to present and launch the new Ignác Darányi Plan.
"The output provided by rural areas, their economy – including primarily their agriculture – and their society, are today of paramount importance for the future of the whole country and the whole Hungarian nation", stressed the Prime Minister. Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas emphasised the fact that the realisation of the Plan shows that the Government and the Ministry aim to radically change rural life.
The Ministry of Rural Development finalised the National Rural Development Strategy, in effect until 2020, last year following a broad social debate. The newly launched Ignác Darányi Plan, which covers every area of agriculture and rural development, is a programme set up within the framework of the National Rural Strategy.
Sándor Fazekas emphasised the fact that the social debate on the National Rural Strategy attracted unparalleled attention. According to the Minister, this is not at all surprising, as "none of the governments during the past few decades have made any attempt to elaborate such a comprehensive plan of action." He added that in comparison with earlier agricultural and rural development policies the Strategy is unconventional even in its approach to the issue. It is unconventional because it aims at an integrated rural development policy, because it clearly gives priority to the development of family run farms, and because of instead of monocultural mass production it favours quality agriculture, environmental and soil management. The Ministry of Rural Development aims to renew the whole of rural Hungary. To this end, it determines the tasks to be performed in four major fields: the agricultural economy, rural development, the food economy and the protection of the environment. The goal of the Ministry is for high value, healthy, safe and GMO-free food to be produced in Hungary while at the same time protecting the country's natural resources, its soils, drinking-water reserves, animal and plant life, and the landscape, including the people living in it with their communities and culture. One of the major tasks of the Strategy is to increase job creation and employment in rural areas.
The Ignác Darányi Plan aims to realise all of the abovementioned goals, and its aim is to bring about a decisive change in rural life in Hungary by working on five areas of action resting on five basic pillars.
The first pillar aims at removing obstacles that hinder farmers and producers through the amendment of legislation and regulations. The second plans to reduce bureaucracy through the setting up of customer-friendly offices and by reducing administrative requirements. The third pillar focuses on changing people's way of thinking and on providing training courses. The fourth pillar will support rural areas in Hungary by launching jointly financed European Union and Hungarian tenders for rural development projects. The fifth and final pillar includes the preparation, launching and running of national programmes, including for example the Farmstead Programme and the Demographic Land Programme.
After presenting and explaining the goals and basic principles of the National Rural Strategy, Sándor Fazekas stated that the exemplary life and work of the agricultural politician Ignác Darányi, a former Minister of Agriculture, was proof of the fact: renewal is possible, and so his name is a fitting hallmark for the endeavours of the Ministry. "I trust in the fact that, similarly to Darányi, we will succeed in solving the tasks faced by rural areas and agriculture in Hungary. There is strength in rural Hungary. The stakes are high: the future of rural Hungary and of the Hungarian people within the Carpathian Basin", said Sándor Fazekas, completing his presentation.
"In modern times the security and sovereignty of nations depends on the natural resources they have at their disposal. These are what place the issue of rural strategy within the dimension of national security", stressed József Ángyán, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development. He also stated that 42 national programmes would be realised within the framework of the National Rural Strategy, including both national and regional programmes. He mentioned as an example the Demographic Land Programme, through which young couples who choose a life of farming in the country may attain land for farming. "Rural areas must be reinhabited and renewed, this is of key importance!" said the State Secretary. József Ángyán also took a moment to speak about the importance of local public catering programmes and the organisation of local markets for the distribution of local products.
On the subject of the important role of the preservation of genetic resources, he stated that in the long term, those countries that succeeded in preserving their natural systems and the biological basis of the agriculture would be successful. "We should foster no illusions! There is a biological war going on in the world at present, and so the protection and extension of our gene banks and biological resources is of extreme importance", the State Secretary emphasised.
In his presentation, State Secretary for Rural Development Zsolt V. Németh stated that the Ignác Darányi Plan includes those measured and tools with which the National Rural Strategy may be successfully realised. Intrinsic pats of the plan include the renewal and simplification of the legislative environment, the moulding of people's approach to various issues, and the setting up of a customer-friendly support and service system. The State Secretary drew attention to the fact that until now, legislation in Hungary had been brought "on the assumption of dishonesty". The Ministry of Rural Development has done away with this tradition, and plans to continue basing regulations and legislation on trust in the future. Examples of this are the Act on small-scale producers, and the amendment of the Excise Tax Act to allow the distillation of pálinka at home, both of which have already come into effect.
For farmers to be more content than at present, we must achieve a breakthrough in the simplification of the procedural system and in the renewal of professional advice services – stressed Zsolt V. Németh.
The funding required for the realisation of the Ignác Darányi Plan are provided by the national budget and from European Union support, providing roughly 300 billion HUF until the end of 2013.
The Plan has been named after Ignác Darányi, agricultural political of renowned success at the turn of the 19th century. Thanks to his almost 12 years as Minister, Hungarian Agriculture was among the forefront of Europe at the time. He recognised the prime importance of developing and modernising agriculture, created a network of research institutes, and achieved excellent results in creating a balance between crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Ignác Darányi is remembered for helping the sector emerge successfully from the agricultural recession at the end of the 19th century. He broke with the orthodox economic policy of the era and promoted the significant state support of agriculture. His programme won wide support, as a result of which the bearing of the Ministry of Agriculture within the government increased, as did the budget available for the development of the agricultural sector.
He was convinced that industry and commerce could only hope to achieve greater momentum through the blooming of he agricultural sector. He built the new system up slowly, by stages, and to Darányi's efforts were crowned by success. The successful life's work of Ignác Darányi remains an excellent example today for all those who wish to do something to support the country and the rural areas of Hungary. The conference also provided an opportunity to inaugurate a memorial plaque in honour of Ignác Darányi, and the Ministry's Theatre Hall was also officially named after the prominent agricultural politician. The memorial plaque is the work of the sculptor Katalin Oláh.
The calling of the Darányi Plan is help the hopes of everyone who lives, works and wishes to build a life in the rural areas of Hungary to be fulfilled.
(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)
