The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Environment is taking immediate action to address the challenges posed by prolonged drought conditions and water scarcity in Cyprus.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, presented a set of measures to the Cabinet aimed at mitigating the impact on farmers and ensuring water availability.
Cyprus is currently experiencing a prolonged period of drought, resulting in significantly reduced water reserves in dams and a decision to grant reduced water quantities for irrigation, averaging 33.7% less than the approved quantities for 2023.
This reduction in water allocation for irrigation poses challenges for agricultural production and negatively affects the agriculture sector. To address this, a total budget of €6,065,000 will be utilised for new and enhanced measures.
The new measures announced by the Minister are as follows:
- Utilisation of boreholes to benefit farmers.
- Installation of five water treatment systems to process brackish water from the aquifer for irrigation purposes.
- Reducing network losses and water wastage in collaboration with the Water Development Department and Water Supply Authorities.
In addition, it was decided to reinforce existing measures:
- Strengthening legislation to curb uncontrolled water use and wastage, with increased penalties and improved enforcement.
- Subsidising the installation of small private seawater processing units for irrigation by farmers and producer groups.
- Enhancing or restoring water supply to communities to meet urgent drinking water needs due to drought.
- Intensifying public awareness and education campaigns to reduce water consumption.
- Subsidising investments in smart irrigation systems for water conservation.
- Improving the infrastructure of Irrigation Departments and reducing losses.
Furthermore, the Ministry will also provide targeted training programmes for farmers on rational water management and will utilise all available tools related to adverse climate events to support farmers.
To permanently address the issue of water scarcity and drought in Cyprus, the Ministry is also working on the Revision of the Strategic Study for Water Management and Drought Mitigation.
This comes amidst the announcement of two simultaneous protests that are to be held next Monday July 22, in the area of the ammunition depot in Xylophagou and in the Paphos district, as farmers mobilise due to water cuts.
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