If this is your profession, you’ll get a lot of money from the Hungarian state this month

The Hungarian government is increasing compensation to farmers fourfold to help them offset their losses due to last year’s extreme drought, Agriculture Minister István Nagy said on Wednesday.

Fully HUF 50.6 billion (EUR 129.1 million) will be awarded to around 22,000 farmers by March 31, he said.

Roughly 80 percent of Hungary’s farmland, or 1.45 million hectares, were harmed by the drought, and HUF 49.7 billion (EUR 127.6 million) will be spent on mitigating the damage, he said.

Insurance subsidies introduced in the past decade have also helped, Nagy said, noting that insurance companies paid a further HUF 41 billion (EUR 105.3 million) in connection with last year’s extreme weather.

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The government has set up an operative body to handle drought emergencies, and it has taken measures to ensure the sector’s financial stability, the minister said. The government acted on the body’s proposal to delay farmer loan repayments to the end of 2023, while it also raised European Union subsidy pre-financing to HUF 322 billion (EUR 827 million), he added.

Thanks to such measures and a generally robust Hungarian economy, Hungarian agriculture has weathered the situation, he said.