Hortobágy (Puszta)

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in the few towns and villages. From the 14th C onwards the region - especially that part which enjoyed the protection of the town of Debrecen - developed a pastoral system involving the rearing of gray cattle and sheep, together with the breeding of horses. When the course of the River Tisza was changed a part of the Hortobágy region became noticeably barren and depopulated now that the land no longer benefited from the deposits of natural fertilizer previously found in the mud deposited when the river flooded its banks every year.

In the late 19th and early 20th C, attempts were made to develop the Hortobágy to meet the needs of large-scale agriculture. After the Second World War various melioration measures brought at least localized improvements in soil quality. Two canals running parallel one to the other and working in conjunction with the little Hortobágy river helped to irrigate fields.

Present day

Traditional pastoral life has gradually disappeared from the Hortobágy and now remains only in the form of folk-lore and simple tourist attractions. Large agricultural combines, formerly state-owned, which are concerned with the production and sale of greenstuffs and the rearing of livestock (mainly Hungarian cattle and sheep) as well as the breeding of horses, are gradually being returned to private ownership following the collapse of Communism. In some places rice-cultivation and fish-farming are playing an ever-increasing role.