Agronomy

Maximos Charakopoulos, a Member of Parliament for New Democracy, is urging the cancellation of electricity charges levied on farmers affected by severe flooding, particularly those using power for irrigation wells.

The province of Almeria in Spain was known as “the desert of Europe.”

Hollywood producers had used its arid and treeless landscape for filming in westerns and even “Lawrence of Arabia”.

Today the area is dubbed “the garden of Europe”, as it is covered by hundreds of greenhouses that produce food in all seasons and are exported around the world.

Bulgaria has formally requested the activation of funds from the European Union's agricultural reserve due to extensive damage caused by the ongoing drought, announced Acting Minister of Agriculture Georgi Takhov, according to the ministry's press release. The request highlights that the country has also been severely affected by fires in July and August.

The agricultural sector faces many problems but also challenges, and not only in Greece.

Establishing financial incentives is a positive step, but it must then be combined with an overall strategic plan for the sustainable reconstruction of the primary sector, its reorientation to new crops and its adaptation to the conditions of the climate crisis{

NEA SILATA - Six weeks before harvest, there's no water left in the ground for farmer Dimitris Papadakis' olive grove in northern Greece, so he has started a new morning routine.

Joined by his teenage son, he uses a truck to bring water from nearby areas. Using a small generator, he connects the vehicle to irrigation pipes to save what's left of his thirsty crop.

Due to an extended period of drought and high temperatures, sunflower and corn yields in Bulgaria are expected to be half of what is typical this year. In the Yambol region, sunflower harvesting began nearly a month earlier than usual, with yields plummeting to between 50-60 kg per hectare, and only a few farmers managing to achieve up to 100 kg per hectare.

The price of Bulgarian vegetables has risen by nearly 15% compared to the same time last year. Currently, domestically produced cucumbers are the most expensive, with prices reaching 4 leva per kilogram.

In the heart of sun-soaked Morocco, scientists are cultivating a future where tough crops defy a relentless drought, now in its sixth year.

"Look at these beautiful ears of wheat," said Wuletaw Tadesse Degu, the head of wheat breeding at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).

In a sign of the changing climate's impact on agriculture, Bulgarian farmers are gearing up for an early start to the wheat and barley harvest this year as soaring temperatures hasten crop ripening.

Just in time for International Women's Day, Türkiye's agricultural scene blossoms with the empowerment of over 300,000 women farmers registered in the Farmer Registration System (ÇKS).

Amidst this growth, women entrepreneurs take the lead in cultivating plant production, cultivating not just crops, but a future of equality in agriculture.