In Greece, olive growers and oil producers they gathered in front of the government buildings asking for financial support to cope with the extremely poor olive harvest of this campaign. The protesters demanded that all olive growers in the country receive 200 euros per stream (a traditional Greek unit of measurement, equivalent to 0,1 hectares and therefore 2 thousand euros per hectare) of olive trees to strengthen their income. “We can't make ends meet because we have produced so little olive oil,” he stressed Dionysios Gonis, member of the agricultural association of Argolis.
The olive growers also asked measures to reduce production costs e add olives to the crops eligible for compensation by ELGA (the Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization) after natural disasters.
“The lack of fruiting in our area varies 80 to 100%, while the olive trees do not benefit from any compensation” he stated Thanasis Halatis of the agricultural association of Kalyvia, during a protest in front of the regional government building in Thessaloniki.
“This year olive producers in Halkidiki, where the region's characteristic green, oval-shaped table olives are grown, are expected to harvest only a fraction of last year's bumper crop of 160.000 tonnes.”
Other olive growers present at the protest underlined that the soaring production costs threaten their business. "With production costs at 800 euros per stream compared to 600 euros last year, it becomes obvious that not only will we not break even, but we will find ourselves in debt,” they said.
While Greek table olive producers are bearing the brunt of this year's poor fruiting, the country's olive oil producers are also affected, with the overall olive oil yield expected to increase from 340.000 to around 200.000 tonnes.
Adapted from Olive Oil Times. To find out more click , here
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