Seed Today - Q2 2008 - (Page 8)

Freedom But No Money Twenty years after the fall of Communism, Hungary is working its way forward On the 25 minute taxi ride from Ferihegy Airport to my hotel in downtown Budapest, the Hungarian capital, I asked the driver if life was better before or after “the change” in 1989 that marked the end of Communist rule. He thought for a while and then said, “It depends. Before the change, we had money, but no freedom. After the change, there was freedom, but no money. “If you were lucky to have connections with the government, maybe you had money after the change, then it was good. But for many, we have no money after the change. Maybe life was better for many before, maybe it is better now for some,” he told me. “Without money, life is hard.” Throughout my five-day visit, I was reminded of the taxi driver’s explanation of Hungarian life. Before the change, everyone had a job (whether or not everyone worked is a different story), there was money. Poverty was rare, welfare was unknown. Farmers had money to purchase inputs. After the change, the jobless rate soared and many rural people lived on meager incomes. Fertilizer usage plummeted from 250-300 kg/ha in the 1980s to less than 50kg/ha in the early 1990s. There was no money to purchase inputs. Nearly 20 years later, Hungarian agriculture is still pulling itself up from six decades of state control that offered few incentives. Before the change, labor was abundant, technology was inefficient and innovation had few rewards. Gradually —slowly but steadily—rural life is working its way to having both freedom and money, but it is a slow and difficult journey. Joe Funk, editor 2007 Hungary Visit Itinerary September 9 Sunday 6:00 pm: Depart for Hungary with stops in Detroit, MI and Amsterdam, Netherlands. September 10 Monday 2:25 pm: Arrived Budapest, Hungary. The clock here is seven hours ahead of Seed Today’s Decatur, IL office. September 11 Tuesday Meet with Szabolcs Ruthner, Director, Hungarian Seed Association in Budapest. September 12 Wednesday Visit Syngenta’s Seed corn production facility at Mezõtúr, a two-hour drive southeast from Budapest. September 13 Thursday Morning: Visit Mezömag Ltd in Lepsény, a village 90 minutes southwest of Budapest near Lake Balaton, aka the Hungarian Sea. Afternoon: Visit the Agricultural Research Institute office and laboratories for its wheat and corn breeding program in Martonvásár. September 14 Friday Morning: DPMG, Cegléd Afternoon: IKR Bábolna seed division, a two-hour drive northwest of Budapest followed by a brief visit to Hungary’s largest agricultural trade show being held in Bábolna. September 16 Sunday 7:00 am: Depart Budapest, arrive home at 5:30 pm. The Chain Bridge over the Danube River in Budapest. IKR DPMG Syngenta Seed Hungary Mezömag Ltd. Right: The Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Maize and Wheat Breeding Division administrative offices. They are shared in an old castle with a Beethoven Museum in Martonvásár. 8 Second Quarter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q2 2008

Seed Today - Q2 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Cover Feature IKR BÁBOLNAMAG AOSA/SCST Gary Biel Bill Latham According to ASTA AOSCA Origin AgriTech Ltd. Pipeline Auditec Power Seeds, Inc RSI Systems LLC Mill & Elevator Supply Co. Agronomix Software, Inc Green Age® Products and Services USDA Crop Projections Buyers’ Guide Ad Index

Seed Today - Q2 2008

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