The Minister of Rural Development and Food, Konstantinos Tsiaras, expressed his position that the annual organization of an event for the awarding of awards to people in the primary sector is a great challenge, but also an excellent pedagogical example, awarding 33-year-old Savvas Kilatzidis as Farmer of the Year 2025 , from the Kokkinogeia of Drama.

He expressed his belief that it is very important to recognize the effort, effort and direction for innovation and modernization that people in the primary sector are doing “thus getting into the logic of what the industry needs now in order to reach that high point that everyone we wish and aim”, he pointed out. In this context, he congratulated all this year’s nominees and awardees and expressed his satisfaction that this year he had the possibility and the opportunity to be part of “a unique event that I did not have in mind and I want to be honest about it”, he emphasized.

The event is a great challenge and educational example

After all, as he admitted, at some point we must all find the time and place to express ourselves, to raise the concerns that concern the primary sector, to submit proposals and “obviously in a society that is evolving and progressing, with common decisions to we outline the next steps and act with a specific plan,” he noted.

Mr. Tsiaras concluded by saying that the primary sector “is a big challenge for our country and it’s a shame not to take it warmly and not get to where we really deserve”.

The Farmer of the Year 2025

A graduate of the American School of Agriculture, 33-year-old Savvas Kilatzidis from Kokkinogeia, Drama, cultivates 12,000 acres with maize, wheat and sunflower, with a ratio of 50%-50% between irrigated and non-irrigated crops. Its annual production exceeds 8,000 tons, with 5,000 tons being maize, 2,000 tons being wheat and 1,000 tons being sunflower. The 32-year-old mainly markets his production himself, with most of it going abroad.

In the last 10 years, it has made significant investments mainly in technological equipment, “smart” systems, machinery and infrastructure, while it has another Project in progress through Improvement and Development Plans.

He puts special emphasis on the application of precision agriculture and as he emphasizes “if you don’t love the primary sector you can’t be a farmer. You have to have an emotional connection with the land,” he argues.

The Cattle Breeder of the Year 2025

Livestock Farm Award and Livestock Breeder of the Year 2025 went to the 42-year-old from Dravisko Serres, Achilleas Dimatakis who raises 2000 sheep and 1000 calves. In total, he has invested 1.8 million. euro equity capital in his unit, his daily production is two tons of milk and his goal is to double his animals, while as he pointed out “if a program comes out in which he can participate, he will do it in order to proceed with new investments ».

An award in the category of Collective Effort was received by the Agricultural Cooperative of Olive Producers of Asterousia under the name “Familia”, which was founded in 2016. It has state-of-the-art facilities that are another cog in the production process of its quality olive oil and has tanks with a capacity of 550 tons. Initially the cooperative had 33 members and today they amount to 140, who cultivate 140,000 sq. with olive trees, with the method of integrated management and organically.

Haroula Spinthiropoulou from Rodochori Naoussa received an honorary distinction. The boutique winery “Argatia” has been operating since 2000, a title that means “collaboration” in the Pontic dialect.

At the start of the 2025 Farmer of the Year Awards ceremony, a video was broadcast in memory of people who are no longer alive and who along the way followed their own vision for the primary sector, leaving their mark. The video included ten such people, the first being Yannis Boutaris and labeled “the man who truly honored life”. They were followed by Christos Papadimitriou “the man who conquered 30 countries with the raisin of Kalamata”, Dimitris Katsaros “the man who entered the pantheon of the greats of Greek wine”, Stavroula Kourakou Dragonas “the man with the precious legacy of the lady of the vines”, Giorgos Ladopoulos “the fellow traveler in the open shop called “field”, Pantelis Papadopoulos “the man who was not afraid of challenges in agricultural technology”, Nikos Argyriou “the man behind the vineyard of Parnassos”, Euripides Thymelis “the “nestor” of cheese-making” and Kostas Diallas “the man who connected his existence with the anxieties of the rural world”.

As pointed out at today’s ceremony, since 2018 the Farmer of the Year institution has established objective criteria for the selection of winners in the three categories in conjunction with the investigation of the evaluation committee, chaired by Athanasios Tsautaris.