European apple and pear industry conference opened in Budapest

The World Apple and Pear Association’s (WAPA) decision to hold the international Prognosfruit conference in Hungary is a testament to the international recognition of Hungarian apple and pear growers, István Nagy, the agriculture minister, said at the conference’s opening event in Budapest on Thursday.

The growing frequency of droughts, the interests of the horticulture sector and crop security have made it important to prioritise farmer irrigation projects, Nagy said, according to a ministry statement. He said the region’s increasingly extreme climate conditions also made it important to devote attention to technologies designed to protect against frost and ice damage.

These developments, the minister said, required minimising yield fluctuations, optimising crop quantities and improving quality standards among apple and pear growers.

Nagy noted that advancing the development of European agriculture was one of the priorities of Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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