Troodos vine growers sound alarm over future

Vine growers in Troodos have sounded the alarm over the future of vineyards in the Pitsillia area, calling on Monday for financial support from the state to counterbalance the damage caused by extreme weather conditions and plant disease. The growers, who gathered in a vineyard in Kyperounta, said the mavro and xynisteri varieties had been hit the worst. These two varieties had suffered 85 per cent of the damage, one grower said. General secretary of the union of Cypriot farmers Panicos Hambas spoke of a “tragic situation”, explaining that a low grape yield would impact the production of wine and traditional products, such as grape sweets soutzouko and palouze, distilled spirit zivania and wine-cured delicatessen meats. Hambas said the growers should be supported financially and that this support should cover both the large wineries and the small producers who are “the heroes that protect the oxygen we breathe, because it is they who protect Troodos from fires, by planting vineyards”. He added that the organisation had sent a letter to President Nikos Christodoulides and would be following up later this week for answers. “Because Cyprus is often hit by drought, the president should implement what has been announced in Brussels, tailored to the conditions on the island,” Hambas said. Panagrotikos district secretary for Limassol Evgenios Eleftheriou said “we are sounding the alarm” because “things are getting worse.” “The state, either with EU funds or anything else, must support our producers financially,” he added. Choice of crops in mountains limited Representative of Troodos growers Theocharis Theocharous said that every year the output drops “dramatically”, while “our income never increases, despite the government’s promises”. Theocharous pointed out that the options for crops in the mountains was limited. Kyperounta community leader Michalis Hadjimichail said the state should especially support the young people who decided to make a living in Troodos and Pitsillia, thus keeping the communities alive. “If this time the state does not support them […] then it will be the end for rural life and our villages,” he warned. Grower and winemaker Christodoulos Xenophontos said that due to the weather conditions of the past few months, the vineyards have been destroyed by humidity and disease. Grower and winemaker Yiorgos Christodoulou said vines were a plant that had much to offer, including acting as a firebreak. Elam MP Polys Anoyiriatis and chairman of Agronomos Andreas Christofi, who both attended the gathering, called on the state to support the growers.