Combine harvesters take to the highways

DOZENS of tractors and combine harvesters lined the highways and major roundabouts yesterday as wheat growers distributed leaflets arguing their case for state support to save their trade.

The government met with farming organisations and representatives of wheat growers yesterday in what was described as a “positive climate”. The two sides submitted a number of scenarios, which will be examined in the following days. Agriculture Minister Timis Efthymiou pledged to meet with the wheat growers again on Thursday to discuss ways to find a compromise solution.

President of the wheat growers association Andreas Theophanous called on all demonstrators to remain on standby with their tractors until Thursday.

Theophanous said the meeting was held in a positive climate and asked wheat growers to remain on standby to maintain that climate until Thursday when the minister could respond to the various solution scenarios submitted. The wheat growers’ president informed protestors in Nisou and Kalo Chorio of the meeting, after which the decision was taken to stay put until Thursday. He told protestors that Efthymiou had pledged to discuss their demands in Cabinet and work towards finding a solution.

For his part, the minister said after the morning meeting: “There is good will from both sides to find a compromise solution.” He added that both sides had submitted various scenarios, which would be studied in the following days to find a solution to the problems faced by the sector.

According to state radio, between 50 and 60 tractors lined up on the hard shoulder of the Nicosia-Limassol highway near Pera Chorio-Nisou yesterday, while around 75 tractors and combine harvesters parked near the Kalo Chorio roundabout, again on the hard shoulder, giving out information leaflets explaining their problems.

The leaflets highlight that Cyprus was the only new EU member state which saw a drop in farming income in 2004 compared to 2003. According to Eurostat, Cyprus agriculture saw a 1.4 per cent decrease in income compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, the wheat growers claim that agricultural income counts for only half of the income of the average employee in Cyprus. Just over seven per cent of the working population works in agriculture, and counts for 3.2 per cent of the country’s GDP, said the leaflet.

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