Farmers in central Greece have been unable to work for months. Last year’s torrential rains turned the fields into lakes. The situation triggered an uprising among farmers who, like many across Europe, saw their livelihoods threatened by rising costs and climate change.
In a small motor boat, farmer Babis Evangelinos glides over the land he once cultivated on the plain of Thessaly, in central Greece, passing the trunks of his fruitless almond trees submerged by flood waters.
His small plot, near Lake Karla, is among tens of thousands of hectares of cotton fields, almond trees and pastures that were devastated by unprecedented floods last September, in a region considered one of Greece’s main breadbaskets.
Five months later, much of the area – and much of the expensive equipment – remains underwater. A pumping station designed to prevent flooding is abandoned in the middle of a lake. Pelicans and herons, previously disinterested in the once dry plain, now fly over the region.
The revolt of European farmers
The situation triggered an uprising among farmers who, like many across Europe, saw their livelihoods threatened by rising costs and climate change.
Farmers from France to Portugalin Spain in Poland have taken to the streets in recent weeks, criticizing unfair competition, the lack of government support and low prices.
In Athens, thousands of farmers took their tractors to the center of the capital and spent the night in front of Parliament on February 20 demanding more help.
In response to farmers’ protests over rising costs, Greece’s government offered discounts on energy bills and extended a tax break for diesel.
In Thessaly, farmers have so far received 150 million euros in compensation for the floods. The government said that another 110 million euros will come in July, but many say that it is still not enough to cover the losses.
Fires, storms, extreme heat
Greece has been hit by extreme weather: wildfires ravaged the north last year and then Storm Daniel dumped the equivalent of 18 months of rain over four days in September, raising questions about the Mediterranean country’s ability to cope with severe weather. increasingly erratic.
It is also a warning about what other countries further north may face in the future.
Storms Daniel and Elijah flooded another 14,000 hectares near Lake Karla, on the Thessalian plain, which represents 25% of Greece’s agricultural production and 5% of GDP. Around 30,000 farmers were affected across the province.
Lake Karla was drained in the 1960s to increase agricultural land and some was recovered in recent years, but during the September floods 450 to 500 million cubic meters of water entered again. The area near the lake has a small artificial outlet and HVA, a Dutch agricultural company hired by the government to assess the damage, said it could take up to two years for the water to recede.
Evangelinos had just harvested a ton of almonds when the rain came and washed away the rest. Normally, he would collect 10 tons during the season, worth around 20 thousand euros, but he only managed 40%. Now he’s not sure how he’ll pay for his two daughters’ college expenses.
Local authorities have proposed speeding up recovery by using floating machines to pump water in an area as early as April, said Thessaly governor Dimitris Kouretas.
“There are a few thousand families living here. Do we want them to leave?”
Some have already done so. Evangelinos will stay for now. He says when the ground dries out, he hopes to be able to rip out damaged trees and plant new ones.
Tags: Almond trees flowers cotton fields devastated orchards fruit water Greece
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