Cyprus’ agricultural organisations Pek, Eka and Panagrotikos on Wednesday expressed their concern over persistent water shortages, saying that problems continued despite recent rains, potentially affecting the upcoming potato planting season.

“Instead of irrigating right now, we are conserving water, whether that would come from government or irrigation projects or from our boreholes,” said Pek president Christos Papapetrou.

He explained that some areas had received sufficient amounts of rain, resulting in them not needing further irrigation and saving water from boreholes and reservoirs.

Mild rains, he said, if not accompanied by hail or other extreme weather, are particularly beneficial for tree crops, such as fruit, olive and citrus trees.

Papapetrou said that the amount of rainfall in August was greater than usual for the season. He said that he expected an inflow into some reservoirs but warned that additional water reserves might be needed for planting new potatoes.

“If the necessary quantities of water are not provided, there is a risk of losing markets,” he said, adding that planting for the winter season was about to begin.

He said that the issue would be raised at next week’s meeting of the agricultural organisations with new Agriculture Minister Christos Senekis, stressing that particular emphasis would be laid on the provision of additional quantities for potato planting. 

Meanwhile, Eka leader Panikos Hambas described the rains as “very beneficial”, but at the same time cautioned against premature optimism.  

“We should not get carried away now, because we had some rains, and consider that the problem has been solved,” he said.

Regarding the new potato planting season, Hambas said that the meeting with the minister would provide answers as to how much water from the Southern Pipeline will be provided to potato growers.

“We cannot continue with reduced production, because we will lose our markets abroad,” he said, advocating for the continuation of Cyprus’ desalination policy to ensure water security independent of persisting weather conditions.

President of Panagrotikos, Kyriakos Kailas, highlighted the beneficial impact of the recent rains on the crops.

“Even a little rain, no matter how little, helps,’ he said.

He said that the rains benefitted trees, as well as permanent and seasonal crops and had a particularly beneficial impact in mountainous areas, where they were more intense, leading to more water ending up in reservoirs.

“If we didn’t have these rains, we would definitely be in a worse situation,” he said, while also warning that evaporation was much higher due to persisting high temperatures.