BUDAPEST, Hungary – While the politicians and the people of Hungary are anxious and impatient for the day they can join the affluent and influential European Union, the nation’s farmers are showing some nervousness.
They are not sure they will be ready.
They doubt if restructuring and reinvestment in the sector will have transformed it enough to make it an easy fit with more advanced EU agriculture once the borders are open.
They are afraid European goods will swamp the country.
Last year, the value of food imports, mainly from Europe, increased more than 10 percent. Gyula MŽszaros, secretary general of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, said that was the equivalent of turning 250,000 Hungarian consumers over to be fed by the farmers of the EU.
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“We have lost 2.5 percent of our domestic market just in the last year,” he said. “That is before the border is even opened. If it is, would we become a dumping ground? That we cannot afford.”
There is a lure of access to the large, rich European market, as well as to the multi-billion dollar EU subsidy programs.
But that optimism is tempered by some fears. MŽszaros said he is worried what looks good in theory may not work in practice.
Playing field not level
He said Hungarian farmers are working under significant “handicaps” compared to their richer, more developed European counterparts.
“If we join before we are ready, we could not compete and Hungarian peasants would be victims,” he said. “Our children would be victims.”
The handicaps he cited were:
- Government support for farmers in Hungary is just one-third the level of support in the EU.
- Investments are needed to update the farming sector. The average age of machinery in Hungary is close to a decade and much less advanced than in Western Europe. Use of production-enhancing inputs is at a fraction of the European level.
- Land consolidation is needed to create larger, more efficient production units. In the EU, just 12 percent of farms on average are less than 25 acres in size. In Hungary, it is 58 percent.
“I think the government doesn’t realize how much has to be done before we can compete,” said the farm leader.
“In Hungary, we are 10 years behind the rest of the world. It is very, very dangerous. If we are thrust into that without proper preparations, what will be the outcome?”
