In addition to the implementation of irrigation development investments, in order to prevent and reduce the damage caused by droughts that are expected to recur in the future, farmers must use practical technological solutions that strengthen production security and serve to retain water and preserve soil moisture, said State Secretary Zsolt Feldman in Jászberény, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday.
The Secretary of State responsible for agriculture and rural development of the Ministry of Agriculture called the farmer's adaptation to climate change crucial at the Initial Production Consultation of the Mátragrain and Mátramag Producer Groups, the announcement states.
Zsolt Feldman put it this way: realistically, a maximum of half a million hectares of irrigable area can be developed in the country with traditional irrigation development tools. Compared to this, in connection with this year's drought, which can also be called historic, the size of the country's parched cropland may reach one million hectares, which is twenty percent of all domestic cropland.
Therefore, in addition to irrigation development, all farmers must think about additional solutions: procedures related to water retention, water retention and soil moisture preservation, and maintaining the soil's productivity must come to the fore, he added.
Calling the Hungarian agricultural risk management system a pioneer at the European level, the state secretary reminded: the rising input prices, the drought that occurred, the crisis situation caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war presented agricultural workers with challenges that even the risk management system designed for average years cannot solve.
According to Zsolt Feldman, this is why the government created the Drought Emergency Operational Team , which deploys extraordinary tools for the benefit of producers in this extraordinary situation, the announcement states.
Among them, he highlighted the possibility of an agricultural credit moratorium applicable until the end of 2023 and the settlement of claims by insurers within 14 days. In addition, interest-subsidized working capital financing and advance payments starting in mid-October are available to farmers, which help to carry out autumn agricultural work.
At the same time, he drew the attention of the farmers present at the meeting to the importance of force majeure notifications to be applied in the event of the failure to fulfill the obligations expected or undertaken in the support system, the AM wrote.
Source: MTI
