Organic farming workshop

A NEW bicommunal initiative takes Cypriots on both sides of the divide back to their traditional roots.

An organic farming workshop organised by the UNDP’s Action for Cooperation and Trust in Cyprus (ACT) has been held over the last two days to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices on the island.

The “Organic Farming – Methods And Practices” workshop is part of the Cyprus Organic Advisory Group’s (COAG) campaign to promote communication between various associations involved organic agriculture, and between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

The organisation put together the awareness campaign after a questionnaire distributed to both communities last year, and discussions with the farming community, showed interest among farmers in engaging in more sustainable farming methods.

The first day of the workshop yesterday involved a field trip to Pissouri to see organic practices in olive and grape orchards. A seminar titled “Sharing experiences” is being held today at the old Nicosia airport in the UN buffer zone.

The workshop is aimed at the general public, in particular environmentalists and agriculturalists from both Cypriot communities as well as foreigners, with simultaneous translation in Greek, Turkish and English.

It is one of six thematic workshops planned by COAG to increase awareness of the benefits of organic farming for environmental preservation and waste management. It is also aiming to stimulate dialogue between the two Cypriot communities through the exchange of techniques and ideas related to organic farming.

COAG was established in 2005, is an independent bi-communal network of organic farming stakeholders. It hopes to establish itself as a channel of bi-communal exchange as well as a sustainable independent provider of organic farming services in both communities, in collaboration with International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC) and other agricultural experts.
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