Farmers' union warns of "tragic" water shortage
Farmers' union warns of "tragic" water shortage
Cyprus Saturday, 05 April 2025 | 14:15
Cypriot farmers are affected by "tragic" water shortages, said the leader of the farmers' union Panicos Hambas on Saturday, warning that if no efforts are made to ensure water security, "we will soon no longer be talking about expensive food, but food insecurity".
Cypriot farmers are affected by "tragic" water shortages, said the leader of the farmers' union Panicos Hambas on Saturday, warning that if no efforts are made to ensure water security, "we will soon no longer be talking about expensive food, but food insecurity".
He said that many growers who sow hay as animal feed find that their crops turn yellow before they can grow. They are therefore forced to harvest earlier than before, which leads to a "much lower" yield.
The rain that fell over the island on Friday could be beneficial for some crops, he said: "For those who had already brought in their harvest or whose crop had already turned yellow, it was already too late."
"Soon we will no longer be talking about expensive food, but about food insecurity. We will look for food," he added.
Against this background, he said that the government's goal must be to "make farmers independent of weather conditions". He called for more investment in the maintenance of water reservoirs and at the same time demanded that farmers be given priority in the event of water shortages.
"You can't deprive farmers of water and give it to golf courses," he said, adding that it should be mandatory for hotels to have their own desalination plants.
Cyprus' reservoirs were only 24.1 percent full at the last count on Friday.
A total of 70.2 million cubic metres of water are currently in Cyprus' reservoirs – equivalent to 24.1 per cent of the total capacity. This is slightly more than half of the previous year's figure, when at the same time there were 135 million cubic meters of water in the reservoirs and they were 46.6 percent full.
The reservoirs in Paphos are only 24.5 percent full, after they were 54.6 percent full a year ago. The Mavrokolympos reservoir was completely emptied at the beginning of the year due to a corroded vent in the dam.
The reservoirs near Polis Chrysochous are currently 26.1 percent full, less than half of the previous year's figure of 54.3 percent. The largest difference was found in the district of Nicosia, where the reservoirs are currently only 19.8 percent full – just over a third of the previous year's figure of 54.2 percent.
In particular, the Vyzakia reservoir in the district of Nicosia has only 48,000 cubic meters of water and is therefore only 2.8 percent full. A year ago, it contained 14 times more water.
Author: Tom Cleaver
