Organic farm environment deserves constitutional protection, says dept ombudsman

Budapest, April 14 (MTI) – The natural environment developed as a result of several decades of organic farming deserves constitutional protection, the deputy ombudsman for future generations Marcel Szabó said on Monday.

New farmers who won land leases in a state-run competition last year on the organic farm of Kishantos, central Hungary, have started work on the fields on Saturday, despite their leases being contested by the old leaseholders.

Szabó said in reaction that an examination of the Kishantos organic farm initiated with ombudsman Laszlo Szekely last December has established that its constitutional protection is justified. The legal regulations on land lease should take into consideration the applicable sections in the constitution, he added.

The fam minister was notified about this and in his response dated February 5, he said he had made the necessary arrangements to rectify neglected procedures and promised to set up a professional body that will be involved in preparing a strategy and action plan to secure the area’s constitutional protection, Szabó said. The minister also invited the ombudsman’s office to be involved in this work, he added.

Szabó expressed concern over the fact that this body has not yet been set up and it is not known what measures the minister has taken to preserve the environment in Kishantos.

Activists of several civil organisations and opposition politicians have protested against the new leaseholders’ actions and said they have already caused damage to the environment.

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: alfahir.hu

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters