Rising production costs threaten to crush the agricultural sector Immediate and substantial support measures are needed

Statement by AKEL MP Giannakis Gavriel and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, after the Committee’s meeting

31 May 2022

Despite the support announced so far for the agricultural sector, the common conclusion of MP’s and farmers’ organisations, but also the Ministry of Agriculture itself is that it is far from satisfactory to be able to address, even in the slightest way, the enormous problems facing the primary sector due to the unprecedented increase in production costs.

Unfortunately, it has also become apparent that the Ministry has not elaborated any plans whatsoever to deal with the situation other than those already announced.

Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the European Union is providing member states with a wide range of tools for support to be provided for both farmers and society in general.

The government must make immediate use of this range of tools with targeted and effective measures if it really wants the agricultural sector to survive.

It must also at long last promote policies to confront long-standing distortions that operate to the detriment of farmers and their income.