-
.
- Ελληνικά
Through the new strategy for the development of the primary sector, the aim is to give farmers the tools to access infrastructure and technologies that will allow them to exploit them, in order to become independent from external unpredictable factors, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Dr Maria Panayiotou said today.
The Minister, following meetings with groups of producers, farmers and professional fishermen in Famagusta province, toured the Paphos province.
In a statement to reporters, the Minister informed that her visit to Paphos is part of a series of visits she is making across the free Cyprus "up to next week".
"These tours are part of our consultation that we are doing with our farmers for the new strategy that we are preparing, for the updated strategy that is being done for the primary sector," she said.
He added that the strategy "requested by the President of the Republic himself, has been prepared in collaboration with farmers' organisations, but also with other bodies, to be able to increase the primary sector."
The aim, he noted, is to increase the primary sector as a contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. "We want it to grow, to increase our production," he said."
He went on to express the desire for more young men and women "to enter the profession."
"We are here to make sure that the measures that we have put in place are ones that satisfy, to see what more our farmers are asking for. We are here to listen to them, but also to provide solutions, as far as possible, to the problems of the country."
Asked if the intention is to give more incentives from the state to either new farmers or existing ones, the Minister replied that the intention "is to create a framework that will allow the development of the primary sector, whether it is called incentives, whether it is called infrastructure, whether it is called a series of other tools, which will achieve the purpose for which it is done."
Asked if the intention is to give more incentives from the state to either new farmers or existing ones, the Minister replied that the intention "is to create a framework that will allow the development of the primary sector, whether it is called incentives, whether it is called infrastructure, whether it is called a series of other tools, which will achieve the purpose for which it is done.
"We have already recorded a lot of requests from our farmers and we have incorporated them to a large extent," the Minister said, adding that she is in the process of finalising the new strategy for the development of the primary sector once the tours are completed.
Asked by a journalist whether there are external factors, such as climate change, which are affecting, Dr Panagiotou stressed that this is a major feature of agriculture. "What we can create, to respond substantially to all the unstable factors that we cannot control, is to provide the tools so that our farmers can have access to the infrastructure, the technologies that will allow them to use them to become independent, to the extent possible, from exogenous factors, such as weather conditions, for example," the Minister concluded.
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
