Potato farmers are asking the state for a subsidy to cover damages they suffered in 2025 from heatwaves, frost and drought, while also requesting additional water to irrigate their crops at night during freezing conditions, potato producers’ association president Andreas Karyos said on Saturday.

Karyos said the low temperatures and frost seen in recent days prompted the association to request water from the agriculture ministry for producers with large potato crops, enabling nighttime irrigation to avert frost damage.

“However, because of a water shortage, they informed us that water cannot be provided,” he said.

He urged the state, amid ongoing drought challenges, to treat water allocations for potato growers with utmost seriousness should freezing temperatures persist in the coming months, sparing plantations from frost damage on chilly evenings.

He said the agriculture minister made it clear on Friday that farmers, specifically greenhouse operators, tree crop growers and banana producers, will receive 30 per cent less water than last year.

Meanwhile, open-field and potato crops, which got no water at all last year, “not even half a tonne”, have been told they will receive none this year either.

On the issue of state subsidies for potato farming, Karyos said 2025 “was one of the worst years we have had” as costs rose sharply for producers.

While potato prices have been reasonable for consumers for the past eight months, they have not covered producers’ expenses, he said.

“For us to be able to produce potatoes, maintain our exports to various countries, and satisfy Cypriot consumers, we must have the state’s support since producers cannot bear the increased costs created for their crops by the weather conditions of recent years on their own,” he added.