Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou is due to meet with representatives of farmers’ unions on Friday to discuss their demands.
Farmers in both Nicosia and Paphos had taken to the streets on Thursday, incensed by new environmental regulations and trade agreements allowing for cheap imports of produce to undercut European farms.
In Nicosia, farmers gathered outside the European Union House, handing out fruit to passersby, and submitting a note with their demands to the European Commission.
Panayiotou had said on Thursday that the government “stands together with farmers and not against them,” adding that they are “constantly exchanging views with farmers’ unions”.
Additionally, she had said €354 million of government funds had been allocated to support farmers.
She had later said farmers’ demands will be “taken into account” after their demands were also submitted to President Nikos Christodoulides.
“The government, through its participation in various EU institutions, is submitting the positions of our farmers – the positions we have as the Republic of Cyprus – while holding the common goal of safeguarding the European farmer,” she said.
Farmers’ association general secretary Tassos Yiapanis had said at the protest that demonstrators were demanding “substantial” financial support to be able to deal with increased production costs.
His words had echoed those of farmers at a protest in the Paphos district on Saturday, when farmers’ union Pek’s Paphos district secretary Charalambos Pittokopitis said “the agricultural world of Cyprus, and in particular of the Paphos district, is on the brink of destruction.”
“We have very high production costs and very low retail prices,” he said, adding that delays in payments have exacerbated the losses farmers have suffered in recent years.
Herodotos Antoniades, Paphos district secretary of farmers’ union Eka, said farmers across Paphos are “leaving the profession one by one” due to ever stricter environmental regulations and increasing production costs.
He added that young farmers are “not being incentivised to stay in the profession”.
Farmers’ unions had earlier out a joint statement, saying “the situation has gotten out of hand. The cost of production is unreal. Green taxation is imposed on water, land, animals, trees, plants, seeds and in general on the whole food chain.
“At the same time, the EU is proceeding with a trade agreement with Latin American countries for the import of agricultural products that do not meet European quality standards, also promoting unfair competition,” they lamented.
The protests in Cyprus reflect a wave of disquiet among farmers across the European Union, with farmers from across the continent having descended on Brussels and also taken part in various protests across multiple member states.
The Dutch-Belgian border was briefly blocked, roads in Greece were occupied, and Polish farmers made plans to close border crossings with Ukraine