The strengthening of the primary sector is of great importance, not just for agriculture itself but also to deal with the consequences of climate change, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday night.

He added that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and the funds that will be allocated by it will be high on the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency of the EU.

He was speaking at the 9th Festival of Rural Culture organised by the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation, in Lofou, which was among the villages hit by July’s devastating fire.

He said so far the government has paid out around €80 million for properties destroyed in the fire and assured “the state is here and will respond”.

Lofou, he announced will also benefit from a €200,000 state injection to cover the cost of repairing its roads.

“The strength, vigour and determination of the inhabitants of the community are a practical example – a model, that in the countryside one encounters the dynamism that characterises the Cypriot farmer and the Cypriot farmer, who fights to keep our land alive,” Christodoulides added.

He pointed out, at the same time, that the practical and substantial support of the agricultural world is not a matter of choice or political priority, but “it is a minimum obligation of the state that must ensure a secure future without any dependencies on external factors”.

At the same time, he said it is sad and the government recognises the fact that the primary sector only accounts for 1.7 per cent of GDP, which once had a double-digit percentage.

“If there was no strengthened primary sector, we would not be able to deal with [climate change] phenomena, as we have seen recently, which, unfortunately, will become even more frequent,” Christodoulides said.

Government support for the sector includes €454 million from the CAP for the years 2023-27 and a government plan to support young farmers to the tune of €67.5 million.