The town of Kiskőrös in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary was the last stop of the series of conferences organised by the Ministry of Rural Development to showcase the achievements of the Farmstead Development Programme in 2013. The inter-ministerial Farmstead Development Working Group also held its inaugural session at the meeting. The Ministries involved will work to harmonise the work they are performing to improve the living conditions of people who live on farmsteads.

The venue for the conference, Kiskőrös, has successfully applied five times within the framework of the Ministry of Rural Development's Farmstead Development Programme. 529 winning farmstead development projects were awarded a total of 3.5 billion forints in funding this year, more that ever before.

The conference was opened by Chairman of Parliament's Agriculture Committee Sándor Font, after which the Ministry of Rural Development's Parliamentary State Secretary Gyula Budai gave a speech on current issues relating to the Farmstead Development Programme. The results and future tasks of the Programme were presented by Head of Department József Viski, form the Ministry of Rural Development. Director of the Inter Danube-Tisza region Association of Village Agronomists Katalin Zelenák Csörsz presented a typical day in the life of the Village Agronomist services, while Mayor of Nyársapát Miklós Kis provided information on the realisation of farmstead lighting by local governments.

The Farmstead Development Programme will continue in 2014. One of the Governments goals is to ensure that every farmstead has access to the electricity supply by 2020, and that reads leading to farmsteads are in suitable condition.

(Ministry of Rural Development)