"The members of the Hungarian Chamber of Plant Protection Professionals and Doctors of Plant Medicine, who help farmers be applying the latest scientific results, play a significant role in the production of safe, pesticide-free foods" the Ministry of Rural Development's Minister of State for Food Chain Supervision and Agricultural Economy Endre Kardeván told the participants at the opening of the 60th Plant Protection Science Days event in Budapest today.

The professional conference for Hungarian plant protection, which has a long history and which was attended by important members of the Hungarian plant protection and agrarian research profession, several members of the Academy, representatives of universities, innovative research, commerce, public administration and interest groups, as well as by farmers, is being held in the main hall of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In his opening speech, President of the Hungarian Plant Protection Association József Horváth spoke about the responsibility of the Ministry of Rural Development in assuring the up-to-date role of plant protection and agrarian higher education. It is the priority task of professionals to raise awareness in young people towards plant health and plant protection, which have long-standing traditions in Hungary, he said.

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Minister of State Kardeván spoke about the fact that the Government has adopted the country's Food Chain Security Strategy last October, which is aimed at assuring the supervision of the full food chain and protecting our health and welfare. The goal is to assure that the foods that make their way from farmer to the dinner table are always healthy, safe and high quality. Food safety and the security of the food supply are also the priority tasks of the National Rural Development Strategy, Mr. Kardeván added. The security of agricultural production also includes the long-term preservation of an environment that is suitable for food production, and the starting point for this is the protection of the agricultural environment, and especially the protection of the soil and sustainable, integrated plant protection and plant health.

On the occasion of the 60th Plant Protection Science Days, retied university professor Dr. Ervin Pataki and plant health specialists András Fekete and Csaba Németh received certificates of merit signed by the Minister for Rural Development.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)