Act No. CXXIX of 2007 on the protection of arable land.

This Act must be applied to land and to real estates classified other than arable land. It lays down provisions regarding land management, land protection and evaluation, and soil conservation. The provisions regarding land must be applied also to urban lands taken into agricultural or forestry production. The Act establishes a hierarchy where the highest quality soils are granted the most robust protection, often making their conversion for non-agricultural purposes legally difficult or significantly more expensive through a system of land protection fees.
The Act mandates that landowners and users fulfill a "utilization obligation," meaning they are legally required to cultivate the land in accordance with its registered branch of cultivation, such as arable land, vineyard, or orchard. If a party wishes to use the land for a different purpose, they must undergo a formal "land protection procedure" overseen by the relevant real estate authority. This process often requires the preservation and salvage of the topsoil layer (humus), ensuring that the biological value of the soil is not permanently lost even if the site is built upon.
Administratively, the Act integrates land protection with the National Land Registry and sets the rules for land valuation and classification based on the "Golden Crown" (aranykorona) system. It outlines specific sanctions and fines for unauthorized land use or the failure to maintain land in a productive state. Recent updates to the Act have increasingly focused on contemporary issues, such as regulating the installation of "agrophotovoltaic" systems—solar panels that allow for continued farming underneath—and managing the agricultural reuse of treated silt and compost to improve soil fertility.