New Opportunities and Ideas in the Rural Development and Development Policy

Magda, Sándor – Szűcs, Csaba – Holló, Ervin. – Koncz, Gábor

Keywords: research, rural development, rural policy, Common Agricultural Policy, local development JEL: Q18, R11

The rural development policy is increasingly gaining value. We believe that rural development should not only be viewed from an agricultural approach. The EU takes the problems of people living in rural areas seriously and strives to raise the standard of living. The CAP reforms help the rural development policy to gain ground and rapid and positive change in the development of the countryside. Nowadays, we can talk about global competition. Its characteristics are as follows: the internationalization of trade, the worldwide increase in production and capital flows, and the globalization of innovation processes. According to Lengyel (2003) these are the main characteristics which can be used in global competition. We are convinced that we can only be successful on the development path of a knowledge-based society. Hungary’s development is based on the use of natural resources. In addition to small scale production by primary producers, energy crop production, integrated and ecological farming are also conceivable. The development of fruit and vegetable production and animal husbandry is justified. It is very important to increase employment and retain the population. The role of rural development varies in location and time. It is important to review the changes, so that the development of rural areas can continue with greater momentum in the possession of knowledge. The factors affecting competitiveness have been analysed by many authors, noteworthy examples include Csath (2019), Szűcs – Marselek (2019), A. Chikán (2017), Holló – Marselek (2016). During the development of villages important aspects must be taken into account. In our brief overview we refer to only a few research-related areas e.g.:the issue of land use, the situation of the agricultural and rural economy, agricultural competitiveness, environmental protection, irrigation and water protection, the green economy, the circular economy.