The message that the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and the government are next to the Cypriot farmer and producer and will support him in these difficult times he is going, was sent today by the competent Minister Costas Kadis.
The Minister was speaking at the potato packing plant in Avgorou after a tour he carried out on potato plantations that were recently hit by hail and heavy rain in Ormidia, Xylofagou, Liopetri and Avgorou.
During his tour, Mr. Kadis was accompanied by officials of the Ministry, while present during the visits were MEP Lefteris Christoforou, Famagusta MP of DISY Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, President and General Secretary of Panagrotikos Andreas Papapolivos and Tassos Giagos O Tassos Potato Producers Andreas Karyos.
In his statements after a discussion with the producers about the problems left behind by the intense weather phenomena lately, the Minister of Agriculture said that "today we had the opportunity to see for ourselves the extent of the damage suffered by our producers, but at the same time to send the message that we are next to them ".
He added that "there is a gradation in terms of the extent of the damage", explaining that "we have seen crops that have been completely destroyed, crops that with a lot of work can be completed, however, will have an impact on overall production, in these cases it should be proportionate ".
Acknowledging the difficult situation in which our producers have found themselves, he noted, "what we will seek in the coming days is to give an advance payment for the compensation they will receive in total, in order to give them breath. It will be a tonic injection for them, possibly to complete their cultivation afterwards and after the cultivations are completed and it is finally determined what the real extent of the damage was, to pay the appropriate compensation, which will take into account, not only the reduction of the production but also the additional costs that will be incurred by our producers in order to complete their production ".
Mr. Kadis sent again "the message that the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and the government are next to the Cypriot farmer and producer and will support him in these difficult times he is going through."
For his part, MEP Lefteris Christoforou expressed the assessment that "the EU has as its priority the preservation and protection of the European farmer. To date, despite the intense efforts of both the Minister and us by the European Parliament, there has been no practical, immediate and effective response from the Union. "
He added that "we will intensify this effort because we believe that when an entire region is destroyed, when crops are destroyed due to extreme weather events, which are due to climate change for which Cyprus is not responsible - and the EU has funds in this direction "then the Union must respond positively and additionally support our farmers so that they can remain on their land."
Mr. Christoforou also said that "here the stake for our farmers is whether with these disasters and other suffering they will be able to remain on their land and produce agricultural products. It is heroic today to be a farmer in Cyprus under these conditions, but with the support of the Minister and the Ministry and the EU, which is required, we hope that we will keep our agricultural sector flourishing ".
For their part, the producers sent the message to the Minister that the damages to the potato crops are very big, since as they explained they are not only the ones that appear today, but they are also the ones that will be visible after 15 days, while there will be damages from marketing of the product.
They also said that the satisfaction from the beneficial rains that fell this year in various areas of Cyprus, was a loss for the potato growers, adding that since 2015 the producers are in debt and damaged due to the drought that has existed on the island for the past three years. disaster occurred as a result of floods and hail.
Famagusta.News / KYPE
