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- Ελληνικά
Plants are life. We depend on them for 80% of the food we eat, and 98% of the oxygen we breathe. It is for this reason that it is with great pleasure that I address today's event organized by the Department of Agriculture of our Ministry to inform and raise public awareness of the importance of plant health.
Today has been established by the United Nations General Assembly as International Plant Health Day. A day dedicated to highlighting the key role that each and every one of us has to play in this area, which is directly linked to the sustainability of our environment and food security.
Plant health plays a central role in improving the quality of life both in Europe and worldwide. Recognising this vital importance, governments and international organisations are collectively investing in initiatives to protect it.
As Member States of the European Union, we are working with the European Commission to develop policies and strategies and to set new targets across the agri-food chain, with the precise aim of ensuring plant health. We are promoting sustainable rural development, food security and animal welfare on the one hand, and the protection of flora and biodiversity on the other. At the same time, the aim is to ensure that consumers receive safe agricultural products on their tables and that the quality of life is maintained at a high level for all citizens of the Union.
Today's International Plant Health Day underlines the value of the World Health Organization's holistic "One Health" approach, which calls for action at national and global level to achieve optimal health for people, animals and ecosystems, and optimal use of our planet's existing resources. It stresses that the key to the sustainable development of agriculture and the preservation of life on Earth is healthy plants.
The organization by the Department of Agriculture of an event like today's is precisely to emphasize once again the need to protect agriculture, forests and our flora in general. The need for quality production of Cypriot agricultural products and sustainable development of the environment. Targets, which are included in the governance programme of the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, with the ultimate goal of the well-being of our citizens and the safeguarding of our natural capital.
With the message "keep harmful pests and plant diseases away from our island", we mobilize the information of citizens. Prevention is better than cure.
As part of this effort, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment stresses the importance of adopting preventive measures, ensuring that harmful pests and plant diseases are kept as far away as possible through cross-border protection and safe trade.
We therefore urge the public to avoid importing plants and plant products from abroad, as well as buying them online, as they may not have been subjected to the necessary tests. Even if they appear to be healthy, it is possible that plants and/or plant products may be harbouring serious harmful organisms that pose a risk to agriculture and our natural environment. The introduction of new pests and diseases could potentially cause incalculable economic damage to our agricultural world, urban greenery and the environment in general. Often diseases are impossible to eradicate and their management can become time-consuming and costly.
With this I would like to close by thanking young and old for your presence here in this beautiful park. It is our desire through opportunities such as today's event, and the actions we have planned, to convey the message that: By protecting plants, we protect the source of life.
Thank you.
(Ephys/NYAN/EATH)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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