Hungary

Towards a resilient agricultural supply chain

LENs Hungary is being implemented in the Western Transdanubia region of Hungary. The landscape in this region has a long history of intensive agriculture, with farmers facing multiple challenges, including moisture retention, waterlogging, soil loss and nutrient depletion. Nestlé Purina, an important purchaser of crops in this region, currently forms the sole demand party and trade facilitation is provided by Preferred by Nature, with support from the central LENs team.

The 2025 trade saw €1.9 million invested in 13 different types of regenerative measures, with 28 farms involved across the region and more than 28,514 hectares worth of measures contracted.

Popular measures include:

• Reduced cultivation or no-till: to improve soil health, increase organic carbon content and support soil biology development, which leads to better soil structure and water infiltration. This helps deeper plant root penetration for better access to water and nutrients, leading to more stable yields in challenging conditions, like drought.
• Summer and winter cover crops grown between two primary cash crops: to increase soil organic matter and fertility, reduce erosion, improve soil structure, promote water infiltration, and limit pest and disease outbreaks.
• Soil pH management: reduced cultivation practices and residue retention on the topsoil, to increase pH and create a favourable habitat for beneficial soil life and aggregate formation. Soil pH management is crucial in Western Hungary due to predominantly acidic, clay, silt and pebble soils with weak structure. Soil acidity can lead to nutrient deficiency and hinder microbial activity, resulting in reduced crop yields and decreased legume nodulation. LENs supports regular application liming at low rates with the aim to boost fertilisers’ efficiency and reducing fertiliser expenses and environmental pollution.
• Plant grass or wildflower strips in arable fields and/or in margins: to provide habitat for pollinating insects. Wildflower strips may also provide habitat for predatory insects, which can contribute to in-field pest control, as well as acting as buffers to help reduce the quantity of sediment, nutrients and pesticides washed into waterways by runoff.

A Farmers Network facilitates experience and knowledge exchange around regenerative agriculture. LENs Hungary provides regular training sessions to the farmers online and in person, facilitated by Preferred by Nature.

Our Measurement, Reporting and Verification programme, looks at the impact of measures implemented. It supports farmers to collect data, which tracks progress against targets, measures the impact of investments, and provides a clear picture of farms’ sustainability. Read our Impact Report.