Newsroom
A wetter year has given Cyprus’s farmers a little more water to work with. But the government is planning for the years when the rain does not come: four permanent desalination plants are being taken forward, with a combined planned capacity of 180,000 cubic meters a day.
For households, the idea is a more dependable supply from the tap. For farmers, it is less pressure on the reservoirs they rely on to keep crops alive. The plants are planned for eastern Limassol, Ayia Thekla, Polis Chrysochous, and Dhekelia. They are planned capacity, however, not water already flowing into the system. The September Cabinet decision approved three of the plants alongside the previously approved eastern Limassol project.
Agriculture Minister Christos Senekis laid out the plan at the Olive Festival in Anglisides on Saturday. This year’s improved water situation has already allowed the government to release an extra 3.5 million cubic meters for irrigation, including through the Southern Conveyor Project, he said.
That is welcome news for growers, but Senekis called it breathing room, not a lasting answer. “Our aim is to reduce dependence on rainfall and strengthen water security,” he said. The government’s program for 2024 to 2030, worth more than €200 million, also includes making greater use of treated wastewater, reducing water lost through leaks, and upgrading supply networks.
There is a financial side to the farming challenge, too. Senekis said farmers have applied for around €210 million in subsidies for investment and support for people starting out in agriculture. That figure is the amount requested, not money already paid out. He also said the government has developed a financing tool with interested banks to help farmers borrow on more favorable terms.
Farmers will get a chance to weigh in on what comes next when an open consultation on Cyprus’s next EU agricultural policy begins October 8. For now, the message from Anglisides was straightforward: one better year of rain helps, but Cyprus still needs a water supply it can count on in a dry one.
