Socialist MP Gábor Harangozó said the behaviour of the governing side showed that whereas the cabinet supports organic farming rhetorically, in reality it does the opposite when it comes to land lease competitions.

The Kishantos Rural Development Centre was set up under an agreement between the Hungarian and German governments 15 years ago. It operates on 452 hectares of state-owned land and produces the highest-grade organic seeds, as well as offering courses to farmers and carrying out agricultural research.

Hungary’s ombudsman László Székely recently said the farm which faces being divided into smaller plots deserves constitutional protection. Greenpeace Hungary is among other green groups to have staged protests to prevent Kishantos farm in central Hungary from being split up into 10 smaller plots.

The leaseholders of the Kishantos Rural Development Centre in Fejér County, who run the farm, have refused to hand over the area to the land manager by the deadline at the end of October, and filed a complaint with the rural development minister over the termination of their lease.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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