A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Ethnographica 4. (Szeged, 2003)

Fodor Ferenc: Az öttömösi spárgatermesztés

PALUGYAI Imre 1853-1855 Magyarország történeti, földirati legújabb leírása. Pest PLINIUS, Caius Secundus 1987 A természet históriája. A növényekről. Budapest RIMÓCZI Irén 2001 A csengeleli homok kincse a spárga. Kertészet és Szőlészet 2001. május 3. SIMON András 2002 Mentatermesztés egy bánsági magyar faluban. In: Test, lélek, természet. Tanulmányok a népi orvoslás emlékeiből (szerk. Barna Gábor-Kótyuk Erzsébet) Budapest-Szeged 208220. SURÁNYI Dezső 1985 Kerti növények regénye. Budapest TANÁCS István 1996 A csengelei spárga Németországban. Népszabadság 1996. június 13. UTASI István 1998 A gazdasági élet és a társadalmi szervezetek krónikája 1961-1989. In: Öttömös. A település Földje és népe (szerk. Juhász Antal), Öttömös 179-195. Asparagus cultivation on the sand-hills in the area between the Rivers Danube and Tisza by FERENC FODOR Up until the 20

th century asparagus was grown exclusively in the vegetable gardens of the Hungarian aristocracy in Hungary. Quality asparagus grows only in loose, sandy soil. Mihály László, a farmer who studied agriculture, was the first to grow asparagus in the late 1930s in the village of Öttömös, in the south-east part of the sand-hills, in an area between the Rivers Danube and Tisza. The farmers from the neighbouring farms soon learned his skills and followed suit. After the 1960 forced collectivisation, asparagus production became centrally planned. Members of agricultural co-operatives also grew asparagus on their own plots of land around their houses. Relying on an organised and guaranteed market, asparagus producers achieved good incomes. Those who had lived on farmsteads bought building plots in villages, erected houses there and moved in. As a result, the majority of the farmsteads fell into disuse and collapsed. After the system of agricultural co-operatives fell apart, wealthier families, to whom land ownership had been restored, planted new crops. Seasonal day labourers were hired to assist with harvesting the crops. Sales are ensured even now, but prices today are generally set by merchants. In order to prevent such pricing practices, farmers in the area joined forces and formed their own co-operative in 2003. Asparagus production is also becoming increasingly common. So much so that a new farming area with Csengele as its hub seems to be in the making. Owing to the availability of new species and rapidly developing technology, asparagus cultivation on sand-hill farms is becoming evermore popular. 128