We will support potato producers to the maximum extent we can, stated today the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Dr. Maria Panayiotou, adding that at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers, assistance will be provided for damage caused by the hail.
In statements after a visit to affected potato plantations in the Larnaca and Famagusta districts, the Minister said that "the last few days have been nightmarish for our farmers. We have had such prolonged cold for a long time and the reality is that this is happening for the first time in Cyprus, according to the Meteorological Service."
He added that "out of the 52 Meteorological Stations we have, only 9 recorded temperatures above zero degrees. All of this reflects the difficult conditions we had for our farmers who were in the fields and used water as protection from frost."
Despite all this, he continued, "we had damage. The Department of Agriculture has been out since Monday recording damage, while today we have posted the Damage Declarations on the Department of Agriculture website and in the District Offices where farmers can go to declare the damage they have, and the procedure can be followed."
Referring to the meetings she had with farmers, Ms. Panayiotou said that "seeing the problems they have, four steps were decided. The first is that farmers need support for crops that do not seem to have such significant damage so that they can apply fertilizers and some vitamins."
He noted that "for this matter, I have instructed the Department of Agriculture to immediately develop a plan so that we can help, outside the framework of the Risk Management Branch, to provide them with direct income, an aid so that they can put the materials they need into their plots."
As the Minister said, the second step that was decided to be taken concerns the Risk Management Sector and "we have said that as soon as the findings are finished and the damages and their size are recorded, we will proceed with advance payments of compensation so that they can have additional support there as well. The third step is that a meeting will be held today so that the Agricultural Organizations and the organized groups of potato producers with the Officials can decide together how this first emergency support will be provided, while a second similar meeting will follow to see in the context of the Risk Management Fund, since there were some complaints about how it works, so that we can see the improvements that are needed."
Regarding the fourth step decided with the potato producers, the Minister of Agriculture said that at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers "we will move forward to provide some support that we owe to our potato producers, for the damage they suffered from the hail. We have co-decided with our farmers on these steps to move forward quickly with some extraordinary compensation but also in the entire process that the support framework allows us."
When asked whether there is an initial picture of the affected areas, the Minister of Agriculture replied that "the registrations have begun", noting, however, that "before all the registration is finished it is too early to say numbers and figures and before the findings are published it would not be right to say anything. We are already out there, registering and in contact with our farmers".
In response to a journalist's remark that it seems that the farmers of the Famagusta district have suffered the most damage because there are more of them, Ms. Panagiotou said that "where we have potatoes, we have seen these phenomena. The damage is all over Cyprus, but here (Famagusta district) we have several potato producers." She noted that this is why she made her visit to the affected areas today.
In another question regarding the financial assistance to be provided by the Council of Ministers, the Minister replied that "this is within the framework of DeMinimis, this is what I requested a meeting with the organized groups of potato producers, the Agricultural Organizations and the Officials today to demonstrate the maximum support we can provide." She added that this will "be a result of the agreement that will emerge today" from this specific meeting.
Ms. Panayiotou was accompanied on her tour by the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Head of the Risk Management Branch and the Provincial Agricultural Officers of Larnaca and Famagusta.
Source: KYPE
