WHEAT growers have decided to give talks with the Minister of Agriculture Timis Efthymiou and the House Agriculture Committee another try and will be pulling back their tractors from the roads and highways.
The exact outcome of the emergency meeting was kept under the hat by all parties but wheat growers reportedly came out of the meeting smiling. The chairman of the wheat growers’ association, Andreas Theophanous, told reporters that as of today, farmers would be retreating their tractors from the highways where they have been parked in protest during the past week. He added that he was glad that finally a practical and productive discussion was being conducted for a future in which the wheat growers would now have their rights preserved, but refrained from commenting on the exact points of the proposal his association accepted.
Efthymiou said the wheat growers finally understood that their increased subsidy demands could not be met and that he had assured them that other measures could be made to satisfy them without going against EU legislation.
“We are ready to discuss any other option that is in accordance with EU legislation. This measure does not include the total amount demanded for the previous harvest of last year and the increased subsidy that they are demanding. It has been proven that what we have been saying all this time is the reality of the situation and that is pleasing because it hands us the opportunity to offer other measures of support other than the ones being initially demanded.
“The negotiations started today and will continue until the wheat growers has been satisfied. I am also pleased that the wheat growers have decided to not to carry on with their hard line measures.”
Also upbeat after the meeting was the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Christos Mavrokordatos, who told state radio that they were now all finally on the right track to finding a solution.
“After the seven-hour emergency meeting of the House Agriculture Committee and the lengthy discussions which came about out of the meeting, I believe the situation is finally on the road to a solution. The Minister made superhuman efforts to try and assist the wheat growers, who accepted our proposals and at the end of the day I firmly believe that the wheat growers will be satisfied.”
