Agriculture Minister: Protection of soil, water reserves joint responsibility
The sustainable husbandry of soil and water reserves is key to global food security, the agriculture minister told a meeting of the European Committee on Agriculture of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Budapest on Wednesday.
Greeting the meeting, Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said that while Hungary was rich in good-quality water, last summer had been plagued by droughts. Preserving water in backwaters and rivers through systematic channelling, reserving water bodies and irrigation is an effective counter-measure against climate change, he said.
Another important factor is quality soil, a key to the production of healthy and high-quality food, Nagy said. Soil improvement and sustainable agriculture are a priority in Hungary, he told the meeting.
FAO’s European Committee on Agriculture is meeting in Budapest on September 27-28, with the representatives of some 40 states discussing the sustainable use of soil and water in Europe and Central Asia.
