The message that the staff of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food is determined to work for the many, “who in most cases are also the weakest”, was sent from Thessaloniki by the FSAAT, Lefteris Avgenakis, adding “we will prove it with initiatives and movements, absolutely visible and perceptible to the individual, producer, farmer, breeder, beekeeper and fisherman”.

The people of the primary sector, “let everyone know individually that the government and the HYPAAT are here and we are here for them. We serve all the producers of our country and not part of them”, he pointed out during the meetings he held today with representatives of agricultural and livestock associations of Central Macedonia, as part of the four-day tour carried out by the ministry’s staff in the region, which will end in Friday 1/9.

During the meetings today, the problems and prospects of animal and plant production in our country were discussed and there was a wide discussion about financial tools that can boost production.

The necessity of completing the Grazing Management Plans, dealing with bureaucratic issues for the participation of livestock units in European programs and the possibility of their participation in the development law was underlined. Regarding the issue of Hellenization, the FSA described it as “Lernaia Hydra” and underlined that its goal is, by strengthening controls, to strike at their base the underground economy circuits that promote them.

Among other things, the meetings discussed the modernization of the operation of OPEKEPE and the revision of the ELGA regulation, the incentives for new farmers and breeders to enter the primary sector and dealing with the consequences of the climate crisis, especially through the management of water resources and the irrigation projects of the “Water 2.0” program, with a budget of 4 billion euros.

In his presentation, the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis, underlined the importance of the cooperation of all the involved bodies with the primary sector, characteristically saying “together we can achieve much more and take the primary sector higher”.

He described the proposals put forward by farmers and breeders as very interesting and expressed his satisfaction with the “unprecedented maturity from all sides, which did not come by itself”, as he characteristically said. In this context, he noted that the maturity that exists in the primary sector was positively affected by the fact that “fresh blood entered the field, different minds also within the production groups, but also in the cooperatives. It’s what we say we “experienced and learned” and now all of us together are determined to move in a different direction and take the primary sector higher, where it really deserves.”

For ELGA, he reiterated that by the end of this year, it is expected that the new operating regulation will be passed so that it can be implemented next year, and he noted that the organization’s new digitization program is running rapidly. He added that for OPEKEPE, the rationalization, its proper operation, in terms of transparency and synergy, is “running” and he concluded by underlining that “many and multi-level efforts are being made, inside and outside the organization.

Regarding the effort of the HYPAAT to have the primary sector chosen by young people, Mr. Avgenakis emphasized “we have set a public goal to succeed in having at the end of our four-year term, 60,000 young people who will consciously decide to deal with the land.

We sent this message in practice, when with 77m. In addition, we have included all the runners-up of the Young Farmers programme. About 2,100 new producers are being strengthened and they are also joining the Young Farmers programs”, he pointed out.

The meetings took place in the building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki and were attended by the deputy ministers Stavros Keletsis and Dionysis Stamenitis, the general secretaries Kostas Baginetas, Giorgos Stratakos and Dimitris Papagiannidis, the ELGA president Andreas Lykourentzos, the deputy regional governor of Agricultural Production Giorgos Kefalas, the deputy president of the Association of Greek Cattle Breeders Christos Tsobanos, the president of EAS Thessaloniki Christos Tsichitas and representatives of livestock and agricultural organizations and associations from Central Macedonia.

A team of the Ministry of AAT, under Lefteris Avgenakis, visited the innovative business of Costas Kravas, in Chalastra, who, using the possibilities provided by precision agriculture in rice cultivation, managed to increase his yield by 16% while simultaneously reducing production costs by 20%. Also, YPAAT visited the new breeder Vassilis Goudzenis in the area of ​​Soho, who has joined the Young Farmers program of the Rural Development Program (RDP).