More than half of Hungary's apple fields, about 15 thousand hectares, are located in Szabolcs County. The fruit is cultivated by between 6 and 8 thousand families and the sector creates jobs for at least the same number of households.
However, due to the lack of capital and/or workforce, as well as other problems, we are seeing a lot of apple trees being neglected nowadays. Production levels are steadily declining, and within ten years, in addition to the loss of foreign markets, Polish apples may well end up taking over the shelves from Hungarian apples in domestic stores.
In order to address this, an interactive stand was set up at the Farmer Expo Hortico, the Horticultural Exhibition of Debrecen, by the ÉKASZ Alma Product Council, FruitVeB and nine production organizations (TÉSZ), with the support of AMC. The stand, which won the Expo's most informative stand award, was designed to promote the once popular world-famous apple and apple products from Szabolcs, as well as to demonstrate the extent of the loss that the world would suffer within ten years if no significant changes are made in the sector.
"The purpose of setting up the Szabolcs and Szatmár apple stand was to raise awareness. The product councils, PO's and producers all hope it will help in saving the apple of Szabolcs," said the statement from the Hungarian Interprofessional Organization for Fruit and Vegetables (FruitVeb).
Source: sokszinuvidek.24.hu
