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Farmers from Paphos staged a protest on Saturday morning on the road between Amargeti and Statos in solidarity with demonstrating European farmers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Farmers from across the continent have descended on Brussels in recent days, incensed by new environmental regulations and trade agreements<\/strong> allowing for cheap imports of produce to undercut European farms, particularly the agreement with South American common market Mercosur.<\/p>\n Protests have extended across Europe, with the Dutch-Belgian border being blocked on Friday, while roads in Greece were occupied, and Polish farmers made plans to close border crossings with Ukraine.<\/p>\n Farmers\u2019 union Pek\u2019s Paphos district secretary Charalambos Pittokopitis said \u201cthe agricultural world of Cyprus, and in particular of the Paphos district, is on the brink of destruction.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have very high production costs and very low retail prices,\u201d he said, adding that delays in payments have exacerbated the losses farmers have suffered in recent years.<\/p>\n Additionally, he said, inclement weather in April and May last year had a serious impact on fruit producers in Paphos, while the government said they will not reimburse them for their losses until Easter this year.<\/p>\n \u201cProducers cannot support their families without income for a year,\u201d he said, calling on the government to act to save Cypriot farming.<\/p>\n Herodotos Antoniades, Paphos district secretary of farmers\u2019 union Eka, said farmers across Paphos are \u201cleaving the profession one by one<\/strong>\u201d due to ever stricter environmental regulations and increasing production costs.<\/p>\n He added that young farmers are \u201cnot being incentivised to stay in the profession\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, local farmer Nikos Iakovou said Cypriot farmers are \u201cfacing the same problems European farmers face\u201d, while another, Photis Pisiaras, called on the government to increase farming subsidies to keep farming sustainable.<\/p>\n Statos farmer Marios Kolios explained, \u201cwe feel completely abandoned<\/strong>, we are experiencing difficult living conditions and the cost of producing our produce is very high.\u201d<\/p>\n With this in mind, he said, farmers are planning a meeting with Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou.<\/p>\n On Friday, farmers\u2019 unions had put out a joint statement, saying \u201cthe situation has gotten out of hand. The cost of production is unreal<\/strong>. Green taxation is imposed on water, land, animals, trees, plants, seeds and in general on the whole food chain.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, the EU is proceeding with a trade agreement with Latin American countries for the import of agricultural products that do not meet European quality standards, also promoting unfair competition,\u201d they lamented.<\/p>\n Additionally, a further national protest is planned for next week at between the Paphos villages of Koilinia and Galataria, with Saturday\u2019s protestors calling on farmers and sympathisers from across the island to join them.<\/p>\n Follow the Farmers from Paphos, Cyprus, staged a protest on the road between Amargeti and Statos in solidarity with European farmers. The protests across Europe are a response to new environmental regulations and trade agreements, particularly the agreement with the South American common market Mercosur, which farmers believe allow cheap imports to undercut European farms. The Paphos district secretary of the farmers’ union Pek, Charalambos Pittokopitis, stated that the agricultural sector in Paphos is on the brink of destruction due to high production costs, low retail prices, and delayed payments. Inclement weather in April and May of the previous year affected fruit producers in Paphos, and the government will not reimburse them for their losses until Easter of the current year. Herodotos Antoniades, the Paphos district secretary of the farmers’ union Eka, mentioned that farmers in Paphos are leaving the profession due to strict environmental regulations and rising production costs, with young farmers not being incentivized to stay. Local farmers are calling for increased subsidies to sustain farming. Farmers are planning to meet with Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou and have announced a further national protest for the following week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[764,426,3,203,765,379,201,407,746,121,250,415,747,148,130,463,577,470,453,17,339,18],"class_list":["post-2841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-agriculture","tag-competition","tag-cyprus","tag-environment","tag-environmental-regulations","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-farmers","tag-farmers-protest","tag-featured","tag-google","tag-government","tag-greece","tag-local","tag-paphos","tag-protest","tag-protests","tag-road","tag-roads","tag-ukraine","tag-weather","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n
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