Agriculture director highlights issues faced by farmers at EU council

General Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Andreas Gregoriou on Tuesday reiterated Cyprus’s support for any EU initiative to export food from Ukraine and strengthen food security at the EU agriculture and fisheries council meeting held in Brussels.

As far as monitoring stocks, the director of agriculture supported the need for data collection and timely measures to ensure the smooth operation of the market, transparency, and the existence of equal conditions of competition.

Regarding the Commission’s proposal for plant protection products (PPPs), Gregoriou stated that there are still serious concerns about sustainability of agricultural production as a result of their reduction and restrictions placed on their use. He emphasised it was important to make alternatives readily available, practical, and economically viable.

While he thanked the commission for recent agricultural support measures, Gregoriou noted that the amount allocated to Cyprus is not sufficient to effectively solve the problems of its agricultural sector.

He highlighted the country’s high dependence on imports which increases the cost of production significantly burdening farmers. Gregoriou noted that grain production cannot be safely predicted due to weather conditions and increased cultivation costs.

The council discussed the commission’s recent proposals for regulation of new genomic techniques and proposals for plant and forest reproductive material.

Regarding the proposal for the new genomic techniques, Gregoriou stated that Cyprus is approaching the proposal positively, but safeguards should be examined and determined to protect farmers and small businesses.

As far as the proposals for plant and forest reproductive material, Cyprus supports the effort to modernise the existing EU legislative framework for the circulation and marketing of such material.