The journal of Gazdálkodás (“Agriculture”) enters its 50th year

Csete, László

Hungary was still gripped by the atmosphere and after-effects of the 1956 revolution when a number of experts - learning from the lessons of the past, curious about the future and searching for a way to recover from the situation at the time - arranged the publication of Gazdálkodás, with the intention of smoothing the potential path of development, such as it was under the circumstances. Even the choice of title reflected this; it was obviously no accident that Gazdálkodás (‘Agriculture’), was chosen, seeking to express a fundamental divergence from the previous 15 years. It simplified the fact that agricultural decisions, whether in the operational or management sphere, need to be calculated and weighed, based on facts, rules, coherency and regularity. It was many years, however, before expenditure, the cost of production, income etc., became accepted categories and financial remuneration replaced the labour unit; before the emergence of the “simulated market economy”, before various collaborations, production systems, the integration of collective and household farming and “activities beyond basic activities” began to function, and then the change of regime began, bringing deregulation, liberalisation, the reinstatement of private ownership and the building of markets. In the 15 years since the 1989 regime change, however, there has been no need – as there was in 1957 – for Gazdálkodás to use its title to signal a change in direction, as its previous aspirations are equally valid in the present.

New scientific trends, identifications, procedures, methods and endeavours appear regularly in the journal’s columns, in the hopes that teachers-researchers will pass them on, knowing the importance of scientific education.

As it enters its 50th year of publication, Gazdálkodás’s history, writers, editors and Circle of Friends are a guarantee that it will continue to serve the interests and development of the rural economy, food processing, the countryside and the consumers, effectively, selflessly and with scientific fastidiousness, for many years to come. To what extent this is achieved depends a great deal on the writers and the scientific results of the teaching-research workshops. The past inspires confidence, for it is a fact that Gazdálkodás and its cohort of writers, as well as those whom it addresses, have faced serious challenges in the past decades. It is certain that the challenges, contradictions and risks of the future, coupled with accelerated and continuous change, can only be solved by circumspect, far-sighted agriculture!