HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURE’S MODERNIZATION EFFORTS AND FAILURES IN RELATION TO DROUGHT DAMAGE AND FOOD INVASION

Examining the impact of the 2022 drought on the most important cereals and oil seeds produced in the European Union it was necessary to refute the impression that the extreme climate event left its mark on yields over the major part of the area. Serious yield losses did occur, but basically in the Mediterranean and the Carpathian-Balkan regions, causing a significant loss in GDP, but only in the poorest member states: Hungary (1.5%), Romania (1.4%) and Bulgaria (0.7%).
Focusing on Hungary a paradox became apparent: the high proportion of plants in Hungarian agriculture most vulnerable to climate change and affected by the East European grain invasion has increased more since the changes of 1989 and after. Reviewing the main agro-modernization phases of the country over the last 150 years a repetitive pattern was identified: modernization efforts have resulted in a production structure characterized by a low level of innovation concentrated on producing agricultural raw materials.