HUNDREDS of grain growers gathered outside the Presidential Palace yesterday, refusing to go home unless President Tassos Papadopoulos gave in to their demand to meet with him.
Around 300 grain growers with over 100 tractors from all over Cyprus gathered outside the Presidential Palace at 11am. The vehicles were parked alongside each other, blocking off a large portion of the road between both entrances to the building.
Leaders of all four farming unions, PEK, EKA, Panagrotikos and Agrotikos, as well as their own Grain Union, represented the farmers.
The peaceful demonstration was aimed at airing their demands and insisting on meeting with the President, who had been given a list of their demands 10 days ago.
Wheat and barley grower, Panayiotis Iosif, explained the demands were mainly financial and that if they were not met, most farmers would go bankrupt and be forced to give up the profession.
In the past farmers, had been heavily subsided by the Grain Commission, said a second farmer, Eleftherios Nicolaou. But, as from May 1 when the island joined the European Union, these subsidies had been banned and the Grain Commission dissolved. Overnight, the farmers were expected to adjust to the new circumstances, he said.
“We used to be paid a fixed price of £132 per tonne produced. This year the price was reduced to £78 per tonne because the market is liberalised and we have to compete. But this is not enough to cover our costs or to pay the rent for our fields.”
According to Iosif, as a compromise the EU had agreed to subsidise the farmers with £12 per 1,000 square metres of farmland.
“We want this increased by another £5, because £12 do not cover our costs,” he said.
“We also want to be paid for last year’s ruined crop production and to receive the EU subsidy which we haven’t yet been given. But the government has said we have to wait until January to receive the money, which means by then the interest on our bank loans will increase even more,” said Iosif.
A large number of the men present said they owed a lot of money, with farming debts running into the hundreds of thousands.
“We are not in debt because of houses we’ve built or cars we’ve bought. Instead we have to get loans to rent our fields, buy the seeds, buy fertiliser, pay for the diesel to run our tractors, make the necessary adjustments to our farms to keep in line with EU regulations. This can cost anything up to £150,000,” said Loucas Raspas.
The farmers believe the delay in receiving the subsidies is because of bureaucracy, which has slowed down the process.
But one of the grain growers’ main gripes was with the president himself.
Grain Union secretary Andreas Spathkias said: “During his presidential campaign, the president said that he would take care of our farming debts. We were told that for farmers who had incurred those debts before 1998, the government would cover 25 per cent of cost and the remaining 75 per cent could be paid off interest free for 10 years. He said this would be taken care of by 2003. It is now 2004 and he still hasn’t done anything.”
The farmers said more and more people were leaving the profession and that younger men had no incentive to join.
“In Geri there are only two of us that are young,” said Panicos Chtorides. “I put myself £100,000 in debt eight years ago to start the farm and am struggling pay it off. I think I took up the wrong profession, but what am I going to do about my debt?”
Eleftherios Stratigos is married with four young children to support. He said the grain industry had suffered six years of drought, followed by last year’s torrential rains, which destroyed the crops. However, rain is not covered by the Farming Insurance Organisation and so last year they received no compensation for loss of profits.
“We sow the seeds and then mow the fields but there is no harvest. How are we supposed to survive under conditions like those?” he asked.
Other farmers said that if the unfavourable circumstances continued they would be forced to stop working. This in turn would result in a loss of locally grown grain and an increase in imports. “Then we won’t know what is being given to the animals for feed. At least when it’s local we know that it’s good quality and healthy,” said another 34-year-old farmer.
According to one man the only solution is to give up the profession and receive compensation. “It’s either that or have a stroke.”
But PEK Secretary-general Michalis Lydras said: “Some are going to survive, some are not. We have to adjust to the new circumstances. Farmers that reduce their costs and focus on quality will survive. Farmers that mass-produce will go under. Consumers want to buy quality and farmers that produce quality always sell.”
