Hungary is putting restrictions on Ukrainian ag
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The first stop on this trip around the world in agriculture is Hungary, where the country’s government is limiting ag imports from neighboring Ukraine.
In 2022, the European Union started to allow duty-free imports from Ukraine to support the country after Russia’s invasion.
But this created challenges for other farmers, said Hungary’s minister of agriculture István Nagy.
“Ukrainian products have entered the markets of EU countries in large volume, significantly limiting the sales opportunities of the individual member states,” he said, The Budapest Times reported. “It seems obvious that Brussels and the European Commission have let down European farmers and instead support the Ukrainian oligarchs.”
The Hungarian government is moving forward with a five-point plan to reduce the flow of Ukrainian agriculture.
This includes mandating sellers and other stakeholders to report movement of restricted products into Hungary from Ukraine, regardless of the products’ country of origin.
And processed goods made from Ukrainian grain will also be subject to these new rules.
This plan comes after last year the Hungarian government imposed a ban on 24 Ukrainian products including grain, flour, meat and cooking oil.
In Tanzania, coffee farmers are using technology to improve yields and sustainability.
Cisco installed 65 solar-powered IoT sensors on the Tunasikia Farm in Utengule. These sensors measure soil, sun and other data from the plants, providing insight into what the plants need.
The project is called ConSenso.
“The technology permits us to understand the language of the plants,” Michele Festuccia, senior systems engineer manager for Cisco Italy, said in a statement. “This is amazing to me, and it’s a perfect solution to help the farmers have a more sustainable footprint and the best success.”
In June, researchers will have enough data to share about what the sensors recorded.
And in Uzbekistan, the government is making 60,000 hectares (148,263 acres) available to young farmers to support the local ag industry, local media reports.
Farmers will be able to bid on the land through online auctions to rent the land for up to 10 years. And land distribution will be based on local community needs.
The available acres are suitable for crop and livestock production, and 167 “Agrocenters” will be created to provide access to agronomic services, equipment and inputs.
Ag accounts for about 25 percent of the country’s GDP with cotton and grain viewed as Uzbekistan’s principal crops, U.S. data says.