The European Commission’s recent approval of the Hungarian government’s strategic plan in connection with the Common Agricultural Policy provides the country with a “historic opportunity”, István Nagy, the agriculture minister, told a press conference on Tuesday. The minister called the agreement on agricultural subsidies for Hungary for the period until 2027 “favourable”, adding that the EU monies together with domestic funding would help renew the country’s agriculture sector and the food industry in the next few years. Zsolt Feldman, the ministry’s state secretary, said the EU funds could help increase Hungary’s agricultural production by 50% and double its value-added by the end of the decade. He added that over half of the funds for rural development, nearly 1,500 billion forints (EUR 3.7bn), may go towards developments in the sector and 1,000 billion forints may be used to finance sustainability projects.