Farmers slam government over low drought compensation

Agricultural organisations on Monday slammed the government’s decision to allocate just €4.6 million in EU funds to partially cover the impact of drought and soaring temperatures on crops in 2025, saying the amount left a significant number of farmers out of the planned support. The organisations claimed the government had not made use of the European regulation allowing it to complement up to 200 per cent of the amount to offer substantive support, and complained that whole sectors had been left out, such as potatoes, vines, fruit and other crops. In September, the organisations had sent a letter to the president requesting an increase in funding to cover all crops. “Unfortunately, it appears that our suggestions have not been taken into account, leaving a significant part of the rural population outside the planned support. In a period of rising production costs and serious financial pressure, the government should exhaust every available possibility to support the farmers,” the organisations said. PEK, EKA, Panagrotikos, Nea Agrotiki and Euroagrotikos said not fully utilising available resources and excluding producers facing serious financial difficulties was “unacceptable”. They called on the government to reassess its decision and expand the scheme – or add to the existing one – so that all sectors could be included. “The agricultural population is not asking for privileges, but fair treatment, equal support and the utilisation of every available means to secure the viability of Cypriot agriculture,” they said.