The draft of the Ministry of Rural Development’s Ecological Farming Action Plan has been completed and social debate on the draft is expected to begin in early June, the Ministry’s Deputy State Secretary to Parliamentary, Social and International Relations.

Katalin Tóth told after visiting the Hold Street market, temporary home to the Vidék Mustra farmer’s market, which includes produce from several organic farmers, during the reconstruction of Kossuth Square, the market’s usual home under the arches of the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Deputy State Secretary told the press that ecological farming is currently taking place on some 124 thousand hectares in Hungary. 80 percent of the territory required has already been classed as being for use in ecological farming, and classification of the remainder is in process.

According to the Ministry’s plans, the area of land used for ecological farming in Hungary could increase to 300 thousand hectares within a few years. Katalin Tóth emphasised that the fact that Hungarian organic products are easily marketed abroad, and especially in Western Europe, where only organic goods of excellent quality can be sold, is also a testament to the work of Hungarian certification organisations.

The majority of organic products are exported, but we must do everything to change the current practice according to which 80-85 percent of this is exported as basic ingredients, she stressed. The degree of processing must be increased within this sector to enable the highest possible ratio of the profit generated by higher added value can remain in Hungary.

The social debate on the draft of the Ecological Farming Action Plane now prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development is aimed not only at asking for the opinions of farmers, professional and civil organisations and consumers, but also at providing an incentive for the greater promotion of organic farming and increasing consumption of organic products.

The Ministry would like to increase both producer and consumer awareness, and cooperation by producers, as well as to aid the establishment of consumer and producer networks. In addition, the research background that supports ecological farming will also be reinforced so that production can be continually developed within this field, the Deputy State Secretary listed.

The aim of her visit to the Vidék Mustra farmers’ market, she said, was for the Ministry to aid the marketing activities of organic farmers and to help their product reach the market. She also wished to draw the attention of shoppers to the fact that the consumption of healthy foods that are produced using ingredients that are free of chemical residues serve not only to preserve and improve health, but also help to protect the environment and nature. To this end, every two or three weeks the Ministry is supporting the presentation of a different enterprise or farmer involved in organic farming so that consumers may become more aware of their products.