My late father-in-law lived and worked for the majority of his life as a doctor in Szeged and Hódmezővásárhely, in southeastern Hungary, but if life had taken a different turn, he would have been a farmer. His father was labeled a kulak (a derogatory Russian word for landowning farmers), and the family was marched off their farmstead on the Great Hungarian Plain at the end of World War II. He eventually got some of the land back under the compensation scheme that followed the change of regime, and loved spending time there. He was also convinced that agriculture played a far bigger part in the Hungarian economy than it actually does. It was one of the few arguments we had. The figure has actually been on the decline since the mid-1990s; in 2024, the share of agriculture, forestry and fishing in gross value added was 3.2%, according to the Central Statistical Office.
Be that as it may, agriculture remains important to the government. You only have to look at the stream of statements from Minister of Agriculture István Nagy, variations on a theme that the Fidesz cabinet will protect Hungarian land and the interests of Hungarian farmers against the “misguided measures” of Brussels. As I have observed in the past, Fidesz is much more a party of the countryside than the city (and especially not a party of Budapest). Its committed voters tend to be older and more rural. When the minister demands the Common Agricultural Policy be maintained, or attacks the EU’s proposed free trade agreement with the Mercosur trading bloc of South American countries, or decries cheap Ukrainian grain imports since Russia’s invasion, Nagy is talking to his base.
As a business publication, especially one based in Budapest, it makes sense that we spend most of our time talking about offices, industry, logistics, hotels and retail. But the world of agriculture has plenty of interest too, as this edition aims to spotlight, whether that’s schemes to connect farmers with urban families, the drive to spread the influence of precision farming to boost competitiveness, the search for added value in rice-based products, calls for structural changes to the produce market, or the wine industry’s battles against the blight known as Grapevine Yellows and climate change. And talking of the latter, we even have a story about the importance of winter snow cover of fields for both crop and soil health. When it was first pitched to me, it sounded counterintuitive, but that is probably just my agricultural ignorance speaking. I am sure my father-in-law would have had a view on it.
Robin Marshall
Editor-in-chief
This editorial was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of February 13, 2026.
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