"Parliament is expected to adopt the new Act on the trade of farmland during its spring session; the new law will undoubtedly lead to heated debate, but there will definitely be no change in its basic principles", said the Minister of Rural Development's Deputy State Secretary for Agricultural Economy on Monday in Zalaegerszeg.

At the agriculture forum organised by the Zala County directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agricultural Economy, Zsolt Feldman said that according to one of the most important basic principles of the Land Act, the acquisition and use of farmland will be restricted to those who perform farming as a profession, thus attempting to weed out speculation. The Government's goal through the regulation of land trade is to support family-run farms and small and medium-sized businesses, and also to highlight the interests of local communities.

Providing further details of strategic agriculture policy tasks, he explained that in addition to protecting land, the protection of water is the other most important element of Hungarian agriculture. The National Water Management, Irrigation and Drought Strategy will be developed by 30 June, the Deputy State Secretary said, including concrete plans regarding the technical, human and financial resources required for its realisation.

Analysing the current state of Hungarian agriculture and touching on future plans, Zsolt Feldman explained that the goal of the sector is for the ratio of domestic products in food retail to grow to 80 percent and for exports to increase to 10 billion euros while the ratio of exported finished or semi-finished products rises to 70 percent. In addition, increasing production security, preserving jobs in the agriculture sector, the reinforcement of the family farm business model and the protection of natural and biological resources are also essential.

The Deputy State Secretary told reporters that the Hungarian agriculture sector can expect to receive some HUF 691 billion in European Union and Hungarian state funding in 2013, of which 560bn will come from the EU and the remainder from the national budget. There are separate funds for a pork programme, animal husbandry tasks and beekeeping activities, and "we would like to keep as many of these budget items alive as possible". There is also an opportunity to utilize 10 percent of area-based (SAPS) funding acquired for differentiated agriculture policy objectives, meaning additional funding may become available for sheep and beef cattle breeding, labour-intensive tobacco farming and fruit and vegetable cultivation programmes, or to subsidise insurance premiums, he added.

Zsolt Feldman also indicated that the Ministry would be "drastically increasing" the number of secondary schools that it operates, taking over management of 48 agricultural training institutions and creating the foundations of secondary vocational education that is essential for the training of new, agriculture professionals.

(MTI, Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)