The drought is brutal – A politician can claim: the government has failed the small farmers, and it will be a big problem

Drought damage is an increasingly serious problem in our country. According to the MSZP, the problem is huge.

Agricultural economist Gábor Harangozó, vice-president of the MSZP, issued an ominous announcement that, as a result of climate change, Hungary is increasingly affected by heat and drought, which is why the degree of drought is also increasing rapidly. In 2022, the drought of the century occurred. Due to the lack of protection and the almost complete lack of compensation, thousands of families were put in a difficult situation.

This year there was also a significant amount of precipitation and there were sudden large thunderstorms, however, due to the lack of investments in water retention, it is not possible to alleviate the drought damage from these this year either. At the same time, there are non-financial reasons for the lack of investments, since investments of up to 1,000 billion could be realized from EU funds, the politician argued.

As he wrote: according to the MSZP, the failure of the agricultural policy and the property policy is the reason for the lack of development, since irrigation investments involve significant costs, so farmers only get involved if the property relations can be calculated and there are encouraging and supportive regulatory conditions.

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The agricultural policy of the government resulted in the fact that only the giant landowners, who are the beneficiaries of the system, were able to implement these investments. According to the MSZP, it’s time for a change! Property policy and regulatory changes are needed so that even smaller family farmers can realize these investments by working together, and it is also necessary to start infrastructural developments that keep water in place.

The creation of irrigation canals, as well as the maintenance of the existing network, as well as water retention investments, would enable smaller farmers to protect themselves against drought damage.

The government failed the rural farmers. The MSZP therefore calls on the government to change its current policy and make it possible for smaller farmers to have the opportunity to protect themselves against drought.

Harangozó argued.