There are 14,627 beneficiaries who will participate in training programs for young farmers of the Rural Development Program of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, which ELGO-Dimitra implements nationwide, “with the aim of enabling young people in the primary sector to respond to the role of farmer-entrepreneurs and to increase their ability to assimilate digital and technological developments”, the chairman of the institution, Prof. Serkos Haroutunian, points out to APE-MBE.

In his statements to APE-MBE, the president of ELGO-Dimitras points out that among the important challenges facing the primary sector of Greece, the question of the aging of the rural population occupies a prominent position.

As he explains, based on age statistics, 61% of farm leaders in Greece are over 55 years old, “an element related to the reluctance and reluctance of young people to join the primary sector, due to the reduced attractiveness of the profession farmer. As a result, collateral problems are created such as the gradual abandonment (and change of use) of agricultural land”, he characteristically notes.

An additional challenge, according to him, concerns, on the one hand, the change in the character of agricultural work, since now agricultural holdings have taken on the character of a business, and on the other hand, the need to integrate new technologies and innovations.

“Today, young farmers should have both the necessary knowledge to respond to the role of farmer-entrepreneur, as well as the ability to assimilate digital and technological developments,” he underlines. He notes that in the aforementioned sectors Greece has a significant disadvantage, due to the particularly low rate of education of farmers, since only 6.8% of all of them have received full agricultural education, compared to 24.2% which is the average in the EU. He adds that a large percentage of farmers do not have the knowledge background to use the new technological and digital equipment, while he points out that a large portion of people in the primary sector “are not trained and do not have the appropriate educational background to incorporate new technological developments”.

The 819 programs that will “run” until the end of 2025

The training of young farmers in the framework of the programs started nationwide on 29/1 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025, according to Mr. Haroutunian. As he explains, a total of 819 training programs will be implemented that will cover the entire territorial territory of the country and concern plant, animal production and beekeeping, “offering the 14,627 beneficiaries – in addition to the significant financial support they will receive from the Rural Development Program (RDP) ) – training of a total duration of 150 hours, of which a significant part is implemented in the field’.

Of course, at the same time, ELGO-DIMITRA, in collaboration with local government agencies, creates and implements new training programs that cover modern sectors of agricultural production, such as – among others – precision agriculture for the more efficient use of natural resources, the green certificate for the integration of pro-environmental sustainable practices in agricultural holdings and methods for the rational use of plant protection means. In fact, “an important advantage of the above programs concerns the fact that the implementation of a large part of them takes place in the field”.

In addition, ELGO-DIMITRA is currently preparing new specialized programs for land workers, depending on the productive sector they have joined.

Regarding the field of training and education of the Agricultural Advisors, Mr. Haroutunian emphasizes that “for the success of the institution, it is considered necessary to keep them constantly informed about the new directions and regulations of the EU, the new technological innovations and the achievements of technology, as well as economic data for the financing of agricultural holdings, or the demand, trade prospects and promotion procedures for agricultural products’.

Activities of the last two years

In the field of agricultural education, Mr. Haroutunian points out, during the last two years, the six post-secondary agricultural training schools (level 3) of ELGO-DIMITRA developed into post-high school DIEK-Public Vocational Training Centers (level 5). The main objective was to upgrade their study programs, by integrating new technological and innovative developments, while at the same time new laboratories were created and their logistical infrastructure was upgraded.

The aforementioned actions, combined with the fact that from 2021 the DIEKs participate in the ERASMUS+ program, giving all students the opportunity to transfer and stay in corresponding structures in the EU countries, “ensure the possibility for ELGO-DIMITRA’s DIEKs to offer modern vocational training for those who wish to join the primary sector of the country”, concludes ELGO-Dimitras, the president.