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Some strategic aspects of animal protein production
11-19Views:184The access to food shaped human societies and dietary models throughout the history of mankind. Animal protein consumption became a part of human culture. Data are presented showing the relationship of daily calorie and animal protein consumption as affected by capita GDP changes. Examples are presented how genetic improvement of animal and fodder plants influenced the resource efficiency and the overall environmental footprint per unit product. The two examples presented are: the dairy industry of the USA the 1944 and 2007 situation, and the Hungarian broiler chicken sector considering data relevant to 1930, 1960 and 2010. In both cases, dramatic improvements in resource efficiency could be demonstrated. The agricultural area required to animal feed production was reduced by more than 80% in both cases per unit product. Future possibilities are briefly discussed, referring to the still unutilized land reserves of the Globe, the new evolving technologies in progress inclusive the CASPR/Cas 9 genetic editing methods.
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Chemical residue coming forward in an end product in winery technology
81-86Views:66Although many tasks wait for me yet in the course of my research work, I’ve managed to book successes with a certain degree.
On the one part as a producer I regard it as a positive result, that in the capital end product manufactured by me, - that is the wine - , has no chemical residue in it, and in the rest of the intermediary products has measure dwindling only.
On the other hand, that I hit home in cases demonstrable agent residual one in the must, wine, lees, the tendency indicates it, that in the course of the processing (distillation) or the storage they partly, or whole decay (Table 4. and Figure 3.) and a food safety risk is not caused.
But it’s a question for the future, that the more considerable quantity manifested in the grape pip does or not cause a problem in the course of its use with a cosmetic aim, concerned, that the reason of the agent wandering experienced in the other products is the relative density, or possibly the result of some kind of bond.
So I go on with my research and my aim is to gove the most exact answers for those questions, above. -
Anaerobe degradation of maize infected by Fusarium graminearum
57-61Views:132Last year intense rainfalls and moisture conditions were beneficial for the Fusarium sp. in Hungary. Fusarium strains decrease cereal quality (for example maize), furthermore may cause yield loss. Due to the toxin production, the fungi have a dangerous animal and human pathogen effect (Placinta et al., 1999).The effects of the Fusarium infection and its mycotoxin production haven’t been perfectly eliminated. Fusariumgraminearum
is the most common agricultural pathogen in Hungary. The utilization of infected maize as an alternative biogas raw material may be an efficient and environmentally friendly disposal method. In this case, Fusarium-, and mycotoxin-content of the maize have to be analyzed as well as the impact of these factors’ on the biogas production process. Our experience was based on the raw material basis of a biogas plant. Different amount of Fusarium free and infected maize grits have been added to the regular raw material mixture. The detection of Fusarium fungi has been analyzed
in experimental digesters throughout the different stages of mesophilic digestion. In the biogas liquid end product the Fusarium was detected by breeding and by microscope. According to our results, the Fusarium sp. was not detectable in the liquid end product after 30 days. -
Modern Food Safety and Product Identification
339-345Views:82In the beginning of the 21st century the matter of food safety plays an accentuated role in the food industry. Important issues in this topic are the risk of bioterrorism, impurities in the food chain and the ascendancy of customer needs. The solutions of these problems are the introduction of modern quality assurance systems, traceability and identification of products. I review in this paper the possibilities of these systems, the potential advantages and incidental costs. In the tight frame of this paper – omitting the descriptions of technologies – I discuss the most important criterions of systems, which may be able to solve today’s quality food industry problems.
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Production of novel fermented milks
303-305Views:176The objective of this research was to test the influence of various natural substances on acid production, growth, and viability of characteristic microorganisms in yogurt and probiotic fermented dairy foods. Oligofructose, inulin, honey, and the dried biomass of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis were found to stimulate the growth rate and acid production activity of the major thermophilic diary cultures tested and, in addition to this, the presence of the aforementioned substrates also improved the survival of starter bacteria in fermented milk products during storage. The reduced production time of cultured milks resulted in increased production efficiency. The stimulatory and/or protective effect of oligofructose,
inulin, honey, and Spirulina on Bifidobacterium spp. is probably the most important finding of this study because bifidobacteria do not grow well in milk and they have low survival rates in conventional fermented milks. Some of the bioactive substances tested were also capable of exerting an antifungal effect on spoilage yeasts and molds, and improving the nutritional and sensory properties of the final product, thus providing a new opportunity for manufacture of functional fermented dairy foods. -
HPLC-MS analysis of the active ingredients of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) bee feeding syrup
61-65Views:251Apiarists let prepare by bee honey products containing medicinal drugs. Our aim was to prove that the active ingredients originated from the herbs are also present in the bee products. This publication focuses only to the chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) containing feeding syrup and the difference between the various syrup phases. To fulfil this task, we developed a method analysing the non-volatile components of the syrup using the flowers of chamomile. The method involves a filtration followed by HPLC-MS analysis. The analyses and the data evaluations proved that the non-volatile components of the herb were transferred to syrup. As the characteristic components of certain herbs could be identified also in the syrup, it is obvious that the components responsible for the medicinal effects are also transferred.
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Effect of compost/water ratio on some main parameter of compost solutions
117-121Views:215Composting is an efficient technology for the utilisation of by-products and waste. It is also suitable for treating raw materials to convert fertilisers that are not recommended for application without pre-processing. Such is the case with poultry manure, which is very important to pre-treat due to its hazardous properties. An increasingly common form of compost is compost tea, which is made by soaking compost in water. In our experiment, we made compost tea from a composted and granulated poultry manure product. Three mixing ratios were used (1/5, 1/10, 1/10) and compost teas were set for three different extraction times (24–48–72 hours). After elimination of the experiment, the pH, EC, and nitrate and ammonium contents of the samples were measured. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between each mixing ratio and different extraction times. Based on our results, it can be said that the fluctuation of pH values during the experiment was low. Regardless of the mixing ratio and extraction time, the samples were in the slightly acidic range. The electrical conductivity, nitrate and ammonium content follow a similar trend, the values decrease significantly with the increase of the mixing ratio. Similar tendency was observed at the incubation time. The concentrations of both EC and nitrogen forms increase with increasing incubation time, in most cases significantly.
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Analysis of aerobic biological waste treatment methods especially in the case of composting
33-37Views:142In recent years the regulations of the EU unambiguously determine that the biodegradable wastes should be used in agriculture. The characteristics of the organic wastes in most cases make the direct utilization impossible, they need pre-treatment before use. One treatment solution of these wastes is composting. During composting the organic wastes lose their hazardous characteristics and we gain a final product, the compost, which can be used in agriculture as organic fertilizer. The main conditions of effective composting are the follow and understand of the degradation process. During our research we examined different measuring methods (gas concentration and reflectance measurements, temperature mapping) that makes a cost and time effective possibility to directly analyze the degradation.
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The Possibilities of Futures and Option Hedge in Price Risk Management for GrainProduction
72-80Views:81The greataest risk tograin production is fluctuation in market prices, which is over 50% over the course of a year; and year by year, as well. There are real market circumstances in the grain market, instead of state guaranteed fix prices, which was the norm under the former political system.
According to the general opinion of producers, losses come from their defencelessness against buyers. The real situation is that price risk can be managed by suitable market strategy, and loss production can be avoided.
Hungary has a futures market (which is organized according to the CBOT system) in the grain sector, which is an unique institute in Europe. This organisation is suitable for hedge businesses and it has convenient technical and institutional background.
There are two possibilities to make hedge business. One of them is the short hedge with futures contract when the producer sells his product for long term if an acceptable profit is included in market price. In this case seller can protect himself against low market prices.
This technique can be considered as professional for price risk management, but possibly has financial cost because of the weak financial situation of Hungarian producers this solution seems expensive for them.
There is an other possibility in the Commodity Exchange for manage price risk, that is the option technique. This solution is suitable for insure prices as well, and has an other additional advantage, namely: there is no financial costs in this case. -
Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein (PAF) production in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plant
77-82Views:85Under the „Molecular farming” research program (product vaccines and substances for medical use with gene manipulated plant) in 2007 in UD Centre for Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Faculty of Agricultural Science Institute of Horticulture Department of Plant Biotechnology experiments were launched to transform tobacco plant by PAF antifungal protein. Our aim was to learn the transformation technics. We chose the
Nicotiana tabacum and PAF as model systems.
Our work was to express several different paf constructions in plants with nuclear and plastid transformation too. After that we confirmed the presence of paf gene in the level of DNA and RNA. -
Application of the SDS-PAGE method for the characterisation of winter wheat flour quality
112-118Views:103The principle, development and importance of the SDS-PAGE method are presented in this article. The SDS-PAGE method has become one of the basic methods of molecular biological research, because it is widely applicable and its sensitivity is excellent in the separation of wheat storage proteins.
We have shown the application of this method with a concrete example. It was also tested whether, it was possible to obtain a better baking quality product from a large amount of poor quality less valuable wheat by fractioning the flour according to particle sizes after grinding. We studied the rheological properties of flours with different particle size fractions from the original flour. The baking quality of the original flour was B2. The 125-90 and 90-63 μm fractions have significantly better baking quality (B1) than the original flour. The protein contents of these flour fractions were also significantly higher than the protein content of the original flour. We had a question: what has influenced the baking quality: the protein content or other factors? We searched for an explanation on these results in the protein composition of the flour samples. We studied the distribution of glutenin-fractions by SDS-PAGE method and evaluated them. We found with correlation analysis that the amount of LMW-Glutenin D-group (52-60 kDa) is in a strong, negative correlation to the baking quality (r = – 0.855*). Therefore, the baking quality of flour samples was influenced by this glutenin fraction. -
Identification and biological examination of some inland Monilinia species
27-29Views:122The aim of this study was to identify and biologically analyse some Monilinia species from Hungary. 146 M. fructigena and 28 M. laxa species out 174 infectious fruit from all over the country were used for the study. For further study 10 isolates were used and apple fruit was inoculated with them according to Koch postulate. 1–2 mm ochre exogen stromas were observbed on infectious plant parts and growing signs on culture of all isolates were identical to M. fructigena. To affirm classical identification, isolates with molecular biological method were also prepared using PCR reaction. Control isolates of M. laxa, M. fructigena and M. fructicola were used. The size of PCR product showed that all isolates had a 415 bp band which was typical of M. fructigena. Results support the previous observation that M. fructigena and M. laxa species occure all over Hungary.
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Data supporting the quality of sheep milk for processing
67-73Views:88Although the volume of ingredients in ewe’s milk is substantially higher than in cow’s milk, its hygienic quality is lower. The weak quality of raw ewe’s milk limits the possibilities of processing and results in bad quality products. In our investigation we analysed the state of ewe’s milk processing at a typical medium size dairy firm. We investigated the collection, the amount and the quality of milk and the level of ingredients in milk throughout the purchasing period (lactation period).
The purchasing of ewe’s milk was limited to 5 months (from April to September). Although meat (lamb) provides the major source of income to sheep breeders the extension of the period of ewe’s milk production can be beneficial to shepherds and dairy firms. The amount of ewe’s milk ingredients found corresponded to published findings. However, the hygienic quality of ewe’s milk was varied greatly in the different milk samples and these deviations meant bad quality on average. Physiological factors, the circumstances of sheep breeding and milking, the slow cooling of the milk, the little amount of daily milk and the long storage before transportation to the dairy firm together cause poor hygienic quality. The main problem is the long storage time of milk, but our results raise the question of reconsidering the quality classes. Investigating the effect of the hygienic quality of raw milk on product quality, we can get correct data that can be really authoritative. -
The examination of relation between the C/N ratio and the biogas yields in the Regional Biogas Plant of Nyírbátor
63-68Views:95The Regional Biogas Plant of Nyírbátor was built by the Bátortrade Ltd. The biogas plant contains 6 mezophil and 6 thermophil fermentation tanks, because the biogas production is based on mixed compositions. The regional plant is a multifunctional system. It produces agricultural products and biogas with high methane content. The utilization of biogas is also accomplished here; gas-engines transform it to electricity and
heat-energy. The product electricity is used by the local plants, the surplus is sold.
The aim of the research is the examination of the quality and quantity of the input materials that put into the mixers and follow the seasonal, periodical and optional changes of the input materials. The analyzation of the quality and quantity data can give an answer to the optional changes of biogas production because the input materials determine the composition of the examined recipe. The C/N ratio was between 11-13, the maximal value of the biogas yield was observed by 12.35 C/N ratio. -
Status and Prospects of Integrated Pest Management in Apple Production in Hungary
307-316Views:84Farming methods supporting the ecological function of agriculture will play an even more dominant role in the near future than they do now, as much in Hungary as in the rest of the EU.
Several farming techniques supporting sustainable development have already evolved, and in this essay, I deal with integrated production i.e. integrated fruit production in Hungary and its perspectives. I analyze both European and Hungarian regulations on integrated production and their development.
It is obvious that in the orchards of Europe, integrated production is gaining ground. We can expect the increased spread of this western trend to Hungary, too, because one of the conditions for remaining on the market will be a product from integrated production. However, we cannot expect any rapid increase in the future. In my opinion, there are three ways to propagate integrated production:
− changes in the approach of farmers;
− vocational training of farmers because of the greater „knowledge-demand”; improving the consultant network;
− strict monitoring of the production process. -
Using the principles of precision animal husbandry in fishbreeding
283-287Views:188Aquaculture species such as fish, crayfish, molluscs and plats are a wide range of products, with continuously growing demand worldwide. The reasons for this is that they are cheap and easy-toraise protein sources, thus having significance in food supply especially in developing countries in tropic regions, moreover, the premium category foodstuffs in developed high income countries are also belonging to this category. World annual total production of 164 million tons (2009) are made up of two sources: 1) marine and inland fisheries landings that are stagnating for several years and 2) aquaculture which is growing dynamically with annual 6% rate between 2000–2009. The latter is accounting for nearly 45% of the total supply due to the depleting marine stocks caused by overfishing. Aquaculture is growing continuously also because the production is safe and can
be planned well.
Intensive fish production systems are the representatives of precision animal production, several types exist and widespread worldwide. The modern computerized temperate water recirculation plants with several thousand m3 capacity are widespread also in Europe because they make it possible to produce even the most valuable species whole year round. A key issue in the technical/feeding outlay is to meet the demands of the cultured species the best and the operation of the system is to be safe and cost-effective. One condition for this is intensification: enable to produce more product per unit resource input or effort. The facilities need significant amount of energy, thus renewable energy sources are to be favoured for which Hungary has comparative advantages. -
Influence of 17-alpha methyl testosterone on the production parameters of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) fry
37-43Views:241During our research we aimed at finding an answer as to what extent the different concentrations of 17-alpha methyl testosterone incorporated in the diet of common carp fries can influence the production parameters of the species, as well as how efficient their sexreversal can be with the use of this method. To this end, an aquarium experiment was conducted in the course of which four different hormone treatments were set and monitored. The fish feed was enriched with 17-alpha methyl testosterone in 50 ppm, 75 ppm, 100 ppm, 500 ppm dosages.
The obtained figures revealed that the hormone treatments had no influence on the production parameters and conservation of the common carp fries. Further on, our team is to determine the sex of the fish through the examination of gonads during autopsy when they reach the 500 g average weight.
Furthermore, a male specific test method which was supposed to be of great help in our attempt to select the sex-reversed specimens in the subsequent processes was also put to the trial. During the experiment the DNA-isolation of different sample types (muscle tissue, fin, mucus) of common carp with identified sex was successfully carried out. The extracted PCR product was examined with agarose gel. Our results indicated that the ccmf2 marker was applicable, however, the obtained figures were not reliable.
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Economic policy strategy of UNITAB
83-90Views:72Under the leadership of the International Association of Tobacco Producers – UNITAB – there is a struggle going on for stabilizing the situation of European tobacco growers. UNITAB unites the tobacco associations and tobacco growers of all EU countries.
Tobacco production ensures economic stability for more than 100 thousand small- and medium-sized farms in the rural areas of 10 EU countries. In addition, its social importance in the survival of rural communities is emphasized by the 400 thousand direct or related seasonal jobs.
Within the framework of the CAP reform, the European Union is gradually changing the regulations of production. This is based on the decoupling of subsidies, which will be implemented in two phases. Between 2006 and 2009. the decoupling will be 40% and then after 2010, 50% (the other 50% will be used for restructuring within the second pillar). The question is raised, how will the second 50% be restructured to the second pillar. Between regions and how it can be ensured that this support would go to tobacco production.
With its participation in the principles of the European Tobacco Charta, UNITAB targets for production under economically-balanced conditions, the production of products meeting the customer requirements, consideration of the working conditions (especially for seasonal workers) and adherence to the health regulations related to the consumption of the end product already in the production and environmental protection. They aim to ensure the survival of the sector via tobacco growing with sustainable development and high quality. To maintain the continuity, there is a need for the support of regional, national and EU authorities. Future of the sector is dependent upon adaptation of tobacco growers and upon meeting the social expectations.
According to UNITAB, efforts should be made to modify the decisions so that the majority of the funding could be used by the grower. The tobacco industry has been able to effectively fight for its survival. -
Regional economic achievements and reindustrialisation in Hajdú-Bihar county
65-74Views:190The North Great Plain region is one of the backward regions of Hungary. The low level of economic development is mainly due to the lack of industrial development. The region is poor in natural resources, its main resources are land, natural gas fields, carbon dioxide, thermal water and the clay mineral stock.
The structure of GDP per capita of the county is different than the country average mainly because of the high proportion of agriculture.
The proportion of the industry and the building industry is not significant. Of the various service provider sectors, trade, transport and telecommunications have a small proportion, while financial and economic service providers have even lower share, which is due to the fact that these sectors are mostly concentrated in Budapest. The share of public and human service prodivers is higher than average due to the University of Debrecen.
The GDP which expresses the economic development of the county in a complex way increased four times its previous value in nominal value between 1995–2009. However, if the real value is considered, the increase is less than 25%, as opposed to the country average, which was less than 40%.
The most complex index of the development level of an economy is GDP expressed either in nominal or real value. If expressed in dollars, GDP is suitable for international comparison with the correction based on the purchasing power parity per person.
The county represents 4.3% of the people employed in the industrial sector in Hungary, while its share in industrial production is only 3.3% which is lower than the regional and population share of the county within Hungary. As regards industrial production per person, Hajdú-Bihar was the 10th county in Hungary; therefore, it is considered to be a less industrialised county.
The product structure of GDP is suitable for drawing useful development conclusions, but the result is more reliable if the income creation ability is also analysed on the basis of the employment structure. -
Economic Aspects of Winter Wheat and Sunflower Production Under Organic Farming Methods
256-261Views:86On the basis of data from selected organic crop producing farms around Hortobagy and a significant conventional agricultural enterprise, the efficiency calculation of two important crops, winter wheat and sunflower were compared to each other, according to the organic and the conventional farming methods. The analysis was carried out on the basis of data of the year 2002, helped by the calculation and the comparison of the efficiency indexes. According to the results, the organic winter wheat was more highly profitable in 2002 than the conventional one, and this is because the price ratio of the two was quite high, however the yields and the production costs per hectare were almost on the same level. Considering the sunflower, organic farming was less productive than the conventional one in 2002, as the average yield in the examined organic farms was significantly lower than under the conventional farming method, and this was not compensated by the extra price for the organic crop product.
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Survey on energetic short rotation forestry systems – Possibilities of spatial development and job creation
7-11Views:77Both the European and the Hungarian rural areas suffer multi dimensional problems. Beside infrastructural under development the most important difficulty is employment. Unemployment is significant in the rural areas, while other structural characteristics like education, profession, work circumstances and seasonality worsen this unfavourable situation. It can be stated that the challenge with the highest priority in rural and spatial
development is to create jobs and to strengthen local employment. The authors examine the job generating possibilities of energetic biomass of agricultural origin in a structural point of view. The aim is to develop spatial biomass product line models that permanently support the raise of employment by utilizing the possibilities of the European Union support policy and the popularity of this branch. -
Biomethane production monitoring and data analysis based on the practical operation experiences of an innovative power-to-gas benchscale prototype
399-410Views:367Power-to-gas (P2G) is referred to technologies that convert carbon dioxide into methane. Both bio- and chemical catalysts may be used for conversion purposes. One of the most disruptive biotechnologies was developed by the University of Chicago (IL) (publication number: EP2661511B1), using a robust, highly selective, patented strain of Archaea. Electrochaea GmbH has developed an innovative bench-scale P2G prototype unit, which uses this highly efficient Archaea strain, specialized components and specifically developed control strategies. The structure and the components of the prototype are equivalent with the functional parts of the currently largest commercial scale biomethanation BioCat plant located in Avedøre, Denmark (www.biocat-project.com). Power-to-Gas Hungary Kft. has committed to further develop this innovative technology. The first steps of this development have been taken by operating the benchscale unit and analyzing the data of the operating periods.
The prototype is operated based on weekly campaigns. During continuous operation, H2O is generated as a by-product of methane. Therefore, approximately 200 ml of biocatalyst is discharged each day and concentrated media containing macro and micronutrients are injected into the reactor to maintain media composition. The laboratory staff records all gas composition data each morning. The gas composition is measured every 12 minutes by an Awite AwiFlex Cool+ gas analyzer. Within this article, we analyze the collected datasets containing more than 12 000 records and present the first practical experiences of the operations of the innovative power-to-gas bench-scale prototype.
The analysis of the collected gas composition data of the product gas already provides important data for modelling the commercial-scaled processes. The average value of VVD was about 40 l/l/d in the period under review. Further increase of the methane content can be achieved by introduction of higher mixing energy and by increasing pressure levels in the bioreactor (as demonstrated in the BioCat plant – data not shown here) – both of which are strategies envisioned for the commercial plant. In routine activities (turn on, shut down, continuous operation) we could verify the high robustness of the biocatalyst and the base connection between the registered datasets and performed test results.
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Young-making of sour cherry cultivars and examination of their regenerative characteristics
102-105Views:89Although a high portion of domestic orchards is cultivated extensively, quality Hungarian sour cherry is a highly demanded product throughout Europe. Trees are slightly pruned, or not pruned at all. Thanks to the unique character of the species, older wood parts are pilling up. Thus, the interior of the canopy is inactive, fruits and shoots confine the exterior layer of the canopy.
We established pruning treatments in the sour cherry plantation in the Horticultural Exhibition Garden of the University of Debrecen, involving two age groups in two spacings. The trees are standing on seedling rootstock. The involved varieties were: Érdi bőtermő, Debreceni bőtermő and Kántorjánosi. We examined how to encourage shoot formation and the regeneration of older, pilling wood of the interior canopy parts.
Applying strong rejuvenating cuts, the most shoots were generated on the 3rd and 4th year laterals. Wood parts older than the 3rd year shall be removed by leaving short (2-3cm) stubs. This way, older, passive woodparts can also be made to burst out. From the examined varieties the Kántorjánosi showed the most favourable regenerative ability. Due to summer pruning, more shoots regenerated on the axis of the trees, than on those rejuvenated in the dormant season. -
Characterization of Hungarian touristical turnover 2006-2009 – focus on health tourism
47-50Views:125Tourism is one of the biggest and mostly increasing branch all over the world. Since it is getting more and more significant in Hungary as well in this article I analyze the turnover of Hungarian tourism on the basis of guest nights spent on commercial lodgings. I examine its changes in time and its territorial spreading. Finally I explore the health touristic volume, because it is one of the most important touristic product of Hungary and the North Plain Region and the infrastructure based upon preserves unique opportunities both for health and wellness tourism.
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Special Investment Support Under the Agricultural Reorganisation Programme 1995-2000
64-73Views:72Since the political changes in Hungary, agricultural businesses have worked in a declining economic environment and hectic market situation, with a widening price gap between agricultural and industrial products and low profitability. A declining export comes then by no surprise. The sector has not been able to even benefit from export opportunities provided in the European Agreement. The area least benefiting from quotas is animal products (beef, mutton, lamb, slaughtered chicken, cheese, egg). The ministry of agriculture was lagging behind in responding to these problems, and it was as late as in 1995 when it launched a reorganisation programme for export stocks fund build-up (5).
The author has conducted empirical studies on agricultural enterprises in Csongrád county to see what results the special investment support delivered under the reorganisation programme produced. The fundamental aim of the reorganisation programme for export stocks fund build-up was to boost exportable Hungarian animal product stocks in a bid for businesses to better benefit from the preferential quotas set by the European Agreement. The author examined how the special investment support scheme succeeded in its aims, whether livestock grew considerably in its wake, whether farmers were able to attain exportable quality and what development funds enterprises were able to raise.