A Revolution in Crop Production Began with the Opening of the AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. Plant

On 9 March 2023, AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. inaugurated its plant in Mezőkövesd, which produces the sapropel-based AGRITURF Concentrate. The opening marks the start of a new era in plant nutrition and clears the way for more economical, environmentally friendly crop production, the foundation of healthier food. The new technology also supports the goals of the Green Deal, since half of the fertiliser can be left out.

AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. is a Hungarian-owned company. It was founded to serve crop production, and through it food production. The company primarily manufactures and sells high-quality sapropel-based products.

The AGRITURF technology, built on the sapropel-based AGRITURF Concentrate, is revolutionising plant nutrition. It allows half of the fertiliser to be saved, using an environmentally friendly method. According to trials, the product's high humic and fulvic acid content leads to abundant, good-quality yields. It reduces the plant stress caused by drought and so limits the damage. It also helps to preserve and improve the fertility of the soil.

The AGRITURF technology starts with seed treatment and continues with two foliar sprays of the crop. The first spray is usually applied at the few-leaf stage, so some of the active substance reaches the soil as well. The second spray has to be applied before flowering.

A major investment has created a modern plant in Mezőkövesd for processing sapropel and humic acid. The manufacturing process represents state-of-the-art technology and operates in an environmentally friendly way.

The plant can currently produce 160 tonnes of AGRITURF Concentrate a day, which gives an annual output of 42,000 tonnes. With the planned expansion, enough will be made to treat 1 million hectares of arable land a year, meaning about a quarter of Hungary's arable land can be supplied with AGRITURF Concentrate.

The plant currently provides a living for 12 families, and this number will double after the expansion. The production plant and storage halls now cover 3,000 m².

Because the product is used in line with the growing season, production has to be ready for orders that arrive from farmers almost all at once. For this reason, four underground storage tanks of 150 m³ each will be installed behind the plant in the first half of 2023.

To demonstrate the effect of the product, the company is setting up a model farm of about 3.5 hectares, where the results of the AGRITURF technology can be seen on several crops.

The plans also include a research laboratory that will measure quality parameters and support product development. In addition, from 2024 a lecture hall suitable for conferences, demonstrations and training programmes will complete the facility of nearly 500 m².

To keep up with growing production and serve foreign partners, a 10,000 m² hall and factory will be built in 2025. Further expansion is expected in 2026 with another 5,000 m² production plant and hall.

The plant was built by the municipality of Mezőkövesd through a grant-funded investment of one billion forints. AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. invested nearly 700 million forints of its own funds in the supporting infrastructure, the complete production line, the equipment and the logistics assets.

The opening ceremony of the AGRITURF plant in Mezőkövesd was opened by Dr. Éva Pénzes, Sales and Marketing Director of AGRITURF 2022 Zrt.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

In his speech, Tibor Zászlós, National Vice-President for Agriculture of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, welcomed the new AGRITURF technology, which is a great help to farmers and offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution. He gave special emphasis to education and the importance of passing on knowledge, which AGRITURF Zrt. plans to deliver through the multi-hectare model farm and the lecture hall.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

Tamás Petőházi, President of the National Association of Grain Producers, stressed that the plant was created at the right time and in the right place. He is certain that Hungarian agriculture and Hungarian farmers will be able to benefit from the new AGRITURF technology.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

Dr. Zoltán Fekete, Mayor of Mezőkövesd, said in his address that he can already see the results of the investment of nearly 2 billion forints handed over in the summer of 2022, as AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. is the first investor in the industrial area.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

The mayor added that this has created not only a plant but also a new technology that supports crop production and a new product, the AGRITURF Concentrate, which agriculture has long been waiting for.

Deputy Minister András Tállai, the area's Member of Parliament, stressed in his speech that this is a day of historic importance for Mezőkövesd. He recalled that before the change of regime an airfield operated on this site of more than 600 hectares, and that after 1991 it lay fallow for 15 years. In 2007 the land passed into the joint ownership of Mezőkövesd, Mezőkeresztes and Miskolc, and from 2016 investors began to show interest in it.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

András Tállai added that AGRITURF, a young Hungarian company, has created something revolutionary, because it makes a product that keeps crop production easier and more successful even in difficult conditions. In his view, AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. is a forward-thinking company with a strategy, and within a few years it could play a very significant role in Hungarian agriculture.

The ceremonial speeches were closed by Dr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture. He said that at a time when agriculture is being hit by the surge in energy prices, the rising cost of inputs such as fertiliser, and the effects of the war, the new technology represented by the AGRITURF Concentrate made in the new plant has "arrived" at just the right moment. He underlined the importance of protecting farmland and increasing its capacity to supply nutrients, which the new AGRITURF technology also serves.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

The creation of the AGRITURF 2022 Zrt. plant also shows that agriculture has good answers to the difficulties and challenges of recent years.

The minister pointed out that the technology used in the plant gives soils a natural nutrient supply that promises excellent yields. For farmers, this innovative product matters for cost-efficiency as well as sustainability, because it can halve the fertiliser requirement of the treated soils.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

According to Dr. István Nagy, the creation of this plant proves that there is a sustainable solution and answer to rising input prices and more expensive fertiliser.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

Dr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, András Tállai, Deputy Minister and Member of Parliament, Dr. Zoltán Fekete, Mayor, and András Dovgál, Director of AGRITURF, officially handed over the plant with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

The official opening programme ended with the blessing of the plant by the Reverend Dr. János Medvegy, parish priest, asking for God's blessing on the operation of the plant, on the people who work there and on the work of their hands.

Photo: Agrár Média Iroda

We are building the future for the renewal of agriculture.

According to the plans, the investment will be completed in 2026, with continuous expansion expected until then.