AGRICULTURE was the backbone of the Cyprus economy in 1960. By the late 1970s, its dominant role was challenged by the growing manufacturing and service sectors. Today, its importance has declined emphatically, while its share of the GNP and workforce employment is now a fraction of what it once was.
Despite this, the government continues to support agriculture, even when economic sense dictates otherwise. And Cyprus is not alone in this. The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) accounts for almost half of the EU budget. Billions of euro are spent yearly on propping up farmers’ living standards, improving the quality and safety of food and keeping fair prices.
Given that we can now eat out of season fruit and veg brought from half way across the world, why do we bother to support struggling local farmers? Globalisation has changed eating habits and increased world trade so why not let market economics dictate the survival of agriculture?
For the simple reason that ensuring food supply is as vital to a people as is breathing. There is no guarantee that food transport will remain affordable. Nor can we predict the effects of a growing dependence on genetically modified food. The patented GM seeds are weaning many farmers off traditional farming, with unknown consequences for global agriculture and public health. We also have a slowly emerging market for cloned livestock products, the long-term effects of which remain inconclusive.
In a nutshell, consumers (and taxpayers) have more to think about than economics. For one, the carbon footprint left by non-locally produced products. Then there’s the danger of unforeseen circumstances breaking a country’s food supply. Equally important is the need to know with certainty what we are eating and the effects of eating it. These are just some of the reasons for supporting local agriculture, even when the weather and economies of scale suggest otherwise.
However, local livestock and crop farmers would be forgiven for thinking that this is not their decade. The “do we, don’t we” fiasco over foot and mouth saw the loss of thousands of animals as a precautionary measure. The constantly recurring aflatoxin scare is driving dairy farmers to the brink, while the worst drought in years has left many farmers crying all the way to the bank.
The spokesman for livestock and crop farmers, Georgios Kamilaris, earlier described the continuing drought situation as disastrous for Cyprus.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say the situation is tragic. Local production of hay and straw was zero this year. We had to import animal feed for the first time ever at three times the price.
“Livestock farmers are ready to slaughter their animals and close up farms. Wheat farmers have had no income this year, potato farmers have suffered greatly from water cuts. It’s destroying us,” he said.
The farmers are putting up a united front to seek over €60m in compensation from the government, which they accuse of dragging its feet since March. The farmers have given the agriculture ministry until September 15 to come up with a concrete rescue package.
The Sunday Mail spoke to two farmers in Athienou to gauge the measure of the problem facing Cypriot agriculture.
Kyriacos Kailas owns a pig farm along with his three brothers.
“One day in 1981, we decided to have pigs,” said Kailas.
The brothers then set about educating themselves on the best techniques and standards for producing the finest quality products. Now they have around 950 sows.
“Cypriots want a perfect taste, with very little fat. Russians, for instance, like four, five centimetres of fat on their pig. It all depends on how you breed them. You have to mix and match to get what you want. If they ask for a Mercedes, you can’t give them a Volkswagen,” said Kailas.
The pig farmer was adamant that EU accession had brought better quality food to the table.
“It’s amazing the tests they do nowadays. The animals are checked for everything. And you can’t feed them whatever you want anymore. But at the end of the day, the producer realises that this is correct and doesn’t complain.”
Kailas argued that the farm went out of its way to give the best quality products and yet was unable to reap the benefits.
“It’s not like in Europe where you get A, B and C categories of products. We get the same price for our products as every other farmer on the market. There needs to be incentive for both old and new farmers.
“We are educated in these matters but you can’t be treated the same as a 70-year-old who still feeds his pigs by hand. The government provides no support or seminars for improving standards,” he said.
Kailas gave as an example the biological processing station they were building.
“This will take all our waste, treat it and produce biogas. This will then be used to create electricity for our needs, while the surplus will be sold off. It will cost us €1.2m and within nine years we’ll get a return on our costs.
“Some guys still don’t get it that it pays to modernise,” he added.
Apart from goat and sheep farmers, pig breeders had a tough time of it during the foot and mouth saga. The quarantine left hundreds of pigs inside their pens. When the quarantine was finally lifted, the overproduction left farmers selling below cost.
More recently, feeding costs have gone up by a third, due to the Cyprus drought and the jump in world cereal prices.
“Barley prices have gone through the roof because the Chinese are eating more bread while every plot of available land is being used for biodiesel. We were paying £80 per tonne for barley and it’s now gone up to £140. Same with corn.”
The Kailas farm grows its own barley throughout Cyprus to help meet the 1,500 tonnes needed to feed its pigs. The fields depend on rainfall to come up with the goods.
“On average we produce 130,000 to 140,000 tonnes of barley and around 15,000 tonnes of wheat a year in Cyprus. This usually covers around a third of pig farmers’ needs. After that we have to import,” he said.
This year, because of the drought, Cyprus only produced 1,000 tonnes of barley and 2,000 tonnes of wheat, and that was only in Paphos. Barley producers are seeking €23m in compensation from the government just to cover the costs of maintaining the dry fields, not for their loss of income. For the pig farmers who have to buy the more expensive imports, there is no compensation.
“The drought has destroyed a lot of sectors. There was zero production of cereal crops, not one bail was produced. We’ve never had to import hay and straw before. I’m 50 and have never lived these conditions before, apart from once when we came close in 1973,” said Kailas.
Georgios Lytras and his two brothers own the largest cattle farm in Cyprus, and according to some, the Middle East.
“We started in my parents’ yard in 1954 with artichokes. Then we bought some cows, which produced calves and continued from there. We now have 1,350 cows and produce around 450 tonnes of milk a month,” said Lytras, adding, “Not a year goes by when we don’t make a new investment.”
The Lytras’ brothers have land all over the Cyprus, including the occupied north. They got zero production of cereal crops from all their land, including the extra rented land.
“Not one bail. Since 1956, I’ve never seen such a drought. We never had to import before. We lost all our green fodder too.
“We are spending between twice and seven times the price of what we normally pay for our animal feed. Cattle farmers initially asked for €11m in compensation but that’s because we expected the increased production in Europe to bring costs down, but it didn’t. Our losses are more like €15-20m now,” said Lytras.
The farm also had one quarter of its water supply cut as a result of the drought, which is being replenished by water from a borehole.
Lytras also spent thousands on a water retention system to collect rainfall. He has a water deposit capable of saving up to 5,000 tonnes of water.
“The government should promote this kind of thing. We didn’t get a cent for it.”
But without a drop from the skies, the system remains idle.
Asked what would happen to the farm if this winter fails to bring the rains, he said: “I prefer not to talk about it, I don’t want to panic. I cannot fathom what will happen. No one will survive another year like this.”
“If we don’t see water, all will be black. Already, those who have fields for collateral are getting themselves in debt up to the eyeballs just to stay afloat,” said Lytras.
