Ernő Süli is cultivating melons on eleven hectares at Kunágota (Békés county), where most of the locals have a similar occupation. He hopes that participants of Rural Adventures Programme will become more conscious consumers as a result of the programme.
In Kunágota, which is situated in the south eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain near the Romanian border, the major income source is watermelon cultivation. Almost every family makes a living out of this, and Ernő Süli, who grows this kind of Cucurbitaceae on eleven hectares, is no exception. At the young farmer, two participants of Rural Adventures Programme had a taste of the agriculturailists' daily life. Dividing their weekly work, the participants arrived for three days, since they approached two fields of work during the programme: husbandry and plant cultivation, so they were able to master the nuts and bolts of both growing melons and keeping cattle. “By my side, they were able to get familiar with cultivating and harvesting watermelons, and they really took their part in the tasks. The two young participants had to face different situtations, since on of them had to spend his days in forty degrees here, while the other helped with the work while the weather was wet” – told Ernő about the adventures, adding: “from the unpredictable weather to the market situtation, a lot of factors are having an influence on our daily lives. We started to work at six o' clock in the morning – occasionally at five because of the heat –, and sometimes work didn't stop until 10 PM. The young ones were pleasantly tired, but despite of this, I think they really perceived their stay as a rural adventure” - told Ernő. Besides helping with working tasks, the programme in which the youth participated has a deeper meaning. The time spent on the farm makes them more conscious consumers, and they will know the everyday life of rural people, being able to acknowledge the value of their work. The young farmer emphasized that if they enter a mall, they will now feel in every bit of their body what a great deal of effort is behind a piece of a fruit or vegetable that they grab from the shelves.
