And while the crisis caused by foot-and-mouth disease in the livestock industry has not yet subsided, a new front is opening up in the primary sector.

The last straw has come for potato farmers—and others—who are adamantly declaring that the agricultural world is collapsing.

They are lashing out at the government, accusing it of leaving them helpless in the face of the worst crisis and warning of massive protests.

“We have many problems, but we’ve identified three that are the most serious: forestry issues, Turkish Cypriot land disputes, drought and water shortages, and rising costs. They haven’t provided us with any support, neither for 2025 nor for 2026. “We had been promised that since they wouldn’t be providing us with any water at all, they would help us.”
_{^{Andreas Karyos – President of the Potato Producers’ Organizing Committee}}

Next Tuesday evening, they will convene for an emergency meeting in Liopetri and subsequently announce their decisions.

They made it clear that this time they will not back down.

“Because in the consultations we’ve had with the ministries on all three issues, the government’s decisions have all been negative, we’ve decided to hold a rally. We have no other option. We will drive our tractors to a location where all of Cyprus can see us, block roads, and take legal action.”
_{^{Andreas Karyos – President of the Potato Producers’ Organizing Committee}}

The producers complain that, for the second year in a row, no water has been allocated for open-field crops, and are asking the Minister of Agriculture to utilize water from the southern pipeline that runs from Athienou and Kiti to Paralimni, with the potential to serve other areas as well.

They warned that if immediate solutions are not found, the primary sector faces the threat of extinction.

Watch Katerina Ioannou’s report: