Organic farm deserves constitutional protection, says ombudsman

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.

The inquiry subsequently launched by the ombudsman sought to establish whether the principle enshrined in the constitution on the protection of the soil had been observed by the National Land Management Agency.

A training centre for organic farming also operated at the farm but this was shut down under the Land Act’s regulations.

Ombudsman László Székely has called on the farm minister to formulate a related action plan.

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.

Photo: Greenpeace

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/