Organic farming no longer serves a niche market in the European Union (EU). In spite of the global economic crisis, the mainstreaming of organic products has maintained its impressive trajectory: since 2008 there has been an average annual growth rate of 8%; annual turnover has risen to €20 billion; and more than 500...

Imre Hartmann has been involved with agriculture for all his working life. During the communist era he headed one of the sectors of a co-operative farm. As an independent farmer, he started off rearing Hungarian Grey Steppe Cattle in the 1980s, and pork later in the 1990s. After the Restitution,...

In the world, more than 80 per cent of farms are family farms – in total more than 500 million economic and social entities. In Europe 25 million people, 172 million hectares of agricultural land and 12 million farms are involved in EU agricultural production. A vast majority of these...

This report presents the synthesis of case studies analysed by the action-research activity. The aim is to give a description of the practices carried out by farmers, individually or collectively, which can be considered as sustainable ways to use plant genetic resources with the purpose that these practices be spread...

The International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) has uncovered well-grounded resolve to place family farmers as protagonists in addressing a number of challenges we face, from eradicating hunger and poverty to conserving natural resources. Nothing comes closer to the sustainable food production paradigm than family farming. The diverse set of...

Diversity is beneficial not only in everyday life but also in business. A poultry farm, a riding school and agricultural tourism services makes up the business run by a woman farmer in Hungary, as a beneficiary of his project. To develop the business, the beneficiary resorted to EU and national...

The concept of “High Nature Value farming” developed in the early 1990s from a growing recognition that the conservation of biodiversity in Europe depends on the continuation of low-intensity farming systems across large areas of countryside (see Beaufoy et al., 1994; Bignal et al., 1994; Bignal & McCracken, 1996; 2000)....

Family farming is the most common operational farming model in Europe – representing 97 % of the European Union’s (EU) 12 million farms. Thus it is of great importance in the EU. It covers a diverse range of situations, including farms of all sizes. While there are obvious differences across...

12 million farms, 172 million hectares of agricultural land, 25 million people involved in agricultural production – these are some of the key data for the EU farming sector in 2010; but what about the situation of individual farms and how do things differ between Member States and as compared...

It is proved that the Hungarian is a stock It is proved that the Hungarian is a stock-breeding and also a sheep breeding people breeding and also a sheep breeding people for more than 1000 years now The main Hungarian sheep species are the following: Racka, Cigája and Cikta. Hungary...

A total of 14 LAGs, led by the Dutch LAG 'Zuid Twente', from 7 Member States cooperate to exchange best practice examples of production, marketing, distribution and inter-regional trading of local / regional food products between partner countries Regional products are sold by an increasing number of farms and it has...

Being the most common operational farming model, family farming has ensured the growth of Europe’s agricultural sector for centuries. Today’s ambitious European Union (EU) policy  framework is designed to take account of the different models of agriculture existing in the EU, including the diverse types of family farming. It focuses...

Domestic and donor-driven development agendas for African agriculture are spurring smallholder family farming as a catalyst for food security and poverty reduction. Family farms are also the backbone of agriculture in the European Union, although the process of concentration has gone further than in Africa. European agricultural policy reforms now...

The concept of family farming is the recipient of much high-level political capital right now...  The United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming, the primary aim of which is to promote, develop and strengthen all types of familyoriented agriculture - from horticulture and livestock to fisheries and forestry - as a socially...

All businesses need to innovate if they are to thrive, and family farms are no exception. By thinking ahead and developing new approaches, farmers can increase output, develop new and improved products, diversify and tap into new income streams, and remain environmentally sustainable. Innovative farms are more likely to weather...

Despite the increasing attention given to organic supply chains over the past decade, there are still significant market opportunities to pursue. The demand for organic products in developing countries continues to grow and price premiums for organic certified products are available, albeit not comparable with those of a decade or...

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) conducted a general agricultural census (ÁMÖ) in 2010, where enterprises and households performing agricultural activity were surveyed. According to the preliminary results, the number of private farms fell significantly in the last ten years. The present study concentrates on these farms and their labour...

The Hungarian National Rural Network (HNRN) has been active in publicizing the CAP reform process since 2009. The series of events started with a national conference, “The future of the Common Agricultural Policy” organized by the Presidency of the HNRN in December 2009 to discuss the various CAP scenarios. The...

Pollinating insects are crucial for many natural habitats and the production of the majority of food crops. However, the number of pollinating insects has declined significantly across Europe, and the rest of the world, which exacerbates an already insecure food supply. According to a EU-funded research project, pollination services provided...

Bees are the most important pollinators in Europe. We studied bee assemblages on 7 pairs of extensively and intensively grazed sites in three lowland grassland types in Hungary. No chemicals were applied on the grasslands. The bees were collected using sweep net surveys and 1 m wide transect surveys in...