Questions like these, which quite literally bring the issue of climate justice to our plate, are raised by Alterthess’ research project “The Climate Was Already Bad…”, which began in February 2025 with the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – Greece Branch.

Food today is treated as a commodity, like everything else under capitalism. Yet, it is also a universal human right. It is an essential prerequisite for a healthy body and mind. At the same time, food embodies memories, culture, and social relations. Undeniably, what we eat is a deeply political matter. And, as the disruptions to the agri-food chain following Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have reminded us, food security can never be taken for granted.

Climate change is striking the agricultural sector with particular intensity. Its effects are now being felt worldwide, but also at the very heart of rural Greece, threatening both the livelihoods of producers and our very ability to produce food.

The new Alterthess study examines the consequences of the climate crisis on Greek agriculture, focusing on the region of Central Macedonia, home to the country’s largest plain. According to scientific data, Central Macedonia is among the areas warming the fastest in Greece, a reality that translates into rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and changes in rainfall patterns.

How are crops affected by these transformations, and what adjustments are producers forced to make in response?

Do farmers have the government as an ally in this struggle? Or perhaps the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy?

Alterthess’s research also addresses the opposite question: what role does industrial agriculture play in exacerbating the climate crisis? Today’s dominant agricultural model, based on monocultures and heavily dependent on pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and fossil fuels, is not only unsustainable for farmers but also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, further intensifying environmental problems.

This reveals a twofold crisis: on one hand, agriculture suffers from climate change, and on the other, it contributes to it.

Alterthess investigates ways to break this vicious cycle. The study highlights initiatives that embrace sustainable farming practices, such as organic agriculture, as well as alternative distribution networks that promote local products while reducing the carbon footprint of our food.

To identify and map both the problem and potential solutions, the Alterthess team conducted extensive field research, meeting producers directly where they confront the challenges of the climate crisis every day, out in their fields. The study focuses on emblematic products of Central Macedonia: wine, honey, peaches, olives, mussels, and buffalo. At the same time, Alterthess carried out interviews with climate scientists, agronomists, economic analysts, institutional representatives, and environmental organizations, seeking strategies that could contribute to a more resilient and climate-positive agri-food system.

In its final stage, Alterthess will organize two hybrid events. The first will bring together representatives of alternative initiatives from Thessaloniki, while the second will host participants from Balkan and Mediterranean countries. The aim is to foster the exchange of best practices in sustainable agriculture, strengthen dialogue, and perhaps lay the groundwork for future collaboration.

We hope that “The Climate Was Already Bad…” will serve as a modest contribution to how we think about the climate crisis, the agricultural sector, and, ultimately, the very food we eat.

Research, text editing, podcasts scripts: Stavroula Poulimeni-Georgia Anagnou

Video: Theofilos Kalaitzidis

Sound engineering–graphics-Podcasts Production: Menelaos Exioglou

Photos: Afroditi Michailidou

Up next: Agriculture at Risk: Climate Change Threatens Our Food Supply

The Research “The Climate was already bad…” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office In Greece. Read the Complete Research here 

Το άρθρο The Climate Was Already Bad… εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

Watch the video: Agriculture at Risk

The catastrophe in Thessaly, the country’s agricultural capital, after Storm Daniel in September 2023 is a traumatic reminder. However, the consequences are also painful due to the gradual change in the climatic parameters on which agriculture depends, such as rainfall, drought, and temperature. “This gradual change is occurring in a way that does not attract interest or the spotlight; it is as if we do not see that it is happening, yet it is happening and it radically affects agricultural production,” emphasizes Elena Danali, Greenpeace’s sustainable agriculture campaign coordinator. She also underlines that the systematic study of climatic parameters is necessary as the basis for the decisions and measures the government needs to take, both to stem the worsening of the climate crisis and to restructure the agricultural sector.

Along with the field research it carried out, speaking with producers in Central Macedonia about the effects of the climate crisis they are already observing in their fields, Alterthess met with the scientists most qualified to speak about the new climatic data and how it affects agriculture, either directly or in the longer term.

Rising temperatures and torrential rain

Kostas Lagouvardos is Director of Research at the National Observatory of Athens. He also coordinated a team of scientists commissioned by Greenpeace to study changes in Greece’s climatic parameters over the last 30 years. The results of this study were presented in March 2025 in the report “Climate and Agriculture in Interlinked Crisis.”

Alterthess met with Mr. Lagouvardos, who informed us about changes in critical climatic parameters, beginning with temperature. “According to the data we have from all sources, over the last 30 years the average temperature in Greece has increased by about 1.5°C,” Mr. Lagouvardos notes. As he stresses, “this is a very significant increase because thirty years is a relatively short period.” The increase is not uniform across the country. Regions such as Central and Western Macedonia have recorded a thermal rise exceeding 2°C. In contrast, areas such as Crete or the Aegean islands show a smaller increase due to their proximity to the sea. “This does not mean that it is hotter in Central Macedonia than it is in Crete. However, the rate of temperature increase in northern Greece is faster than in the south,” Mr. Lagouvardos clarifies.

The rise in temperature concerns not only the land but also the sea, with northern areas warming more rapidly once again. “In the Thermaic Gulf, temperatures approached 30 degrees during the major heatwaves we had in ’21 and ’23,” Mr. Lagouvardos reports, adding that these “marine heatwaves” burden marine ecosystems as well as crops connected to our agri-food sector, such as mussel farming in the Thermaic Gulf.

“In general, long-lasting heatwaves are becoming more frequent, especially over the last ten years. A heatwave is a very dangerous weather phenomenon, insidious, as we say among ourselves. Even though it does not create the commotion of a storm or a downpour, it ultimately kills and affects more people and puts enormous strain on the agricultural sector,” Mr. Lagouvardos tells us. In 2023 the country recorded its longest heatwave, with 15 consecutive days. The record was surpassed the very next year, in 2024, with 16 days.

The rise in temperature is, of course, only one of the parameters that show how climate change manifests. Changes in the intensity of rainfall or in snowfall have significant negative effects on the hydrological cycle.

Mr. Lagouvardos explains that, over a thirty-year period, rainfall totals have not changed significantly; they are more or less the same, with some good and some bad years. What has been observed, however, is a qualitative difference, as torrential downpours are now more frequent. “As you can understand, this creates a major issue, because on the one hand a torrential downpour causes destruction, and on the other hand, in a torrential event we may measure that a great many millimetres of rain fell, but the water does not have time to be absorbed; it runs off in torrents to the sea and is lost. We obviously prefer slower, soaking rains,” Mr. Lagouvardos stresses.

The reduction in snow is also an indication of thermal change. There has been a significant decline both in snow depth and in the number of snow-cover days on the mainland. This affects the hydrological cycle, since snowmelt is vital for the gradual replenishment of groundwater. “Less snow also means fewer water reserves at the end of the day,” Mr. Lagouvardos notes.

“The other aspect,” he continues, “is drought. We saw this, for example, in Thessaly. In September ’23 we had major floods with enormous rainfall totals, and by October ’24 a severe drought; October ’24 was a very dry month across the country, even though it is an autumnal month, people could not plough because the fields were completely parched by the drought.”

Overall, in 2024 most regions of Greece experienced an increase in the number of dry days compared with the 1991-2020 average, according to the climate assessment for Greece in 2024, as recorded and presented by the scientific team Climatebook, of which Mr. Lagouvardos is also a member.

Thessaly as a climate victim: Desertification risk after the disaster

Another parameter of the climate crisis concerns extreme weather events. Kostas Lagouvardos notes that they have always existed and that we cannot attribute everything intense that happens to climate change. “Sometimes it is used as an alibi,” he stresses.

He adds, however, that climate change has not created extreme weather phenomena, but has made them appear more often and become more intense, thus causing greater destruction. “At the Observatory we systematically record severe weather events in our country and we see an increase from one decade to the next. Looking at the last 20 years, we have roughly a 50% increase in the frequency of very strong weather events. They are becoming stronger and therefore more destructive,” Mr. Lagouvardos reports.

“The climate crisis contributed to the intensity of the phenomenon that affected Thessaly,” Mr. Lagouvardos notes characteristically. As he explains to Alterthess, both Storm Daniel in early September ’23 and Elias in late September ’23 were systems that would have occurred regardless. However, scientists found that the very warm sea, due to the very high temperatures in the summer of ’23, contributed to producing more rain-bearing systems. “Why did this happen? Because when the sea surface warms, evaporation increases, more, faster, and more easily, the surface water turns into water vapour, that vapour feeds the clouds, and these in turn give rain. Therefore, the systems that affected Thessaly would have existed in any case; they simply became more intense and more rain-laden, which is why we had intense rainfall totals, also due to the very warm sea.”

The direct consequences of such a disaster are, of course, immediately perceptible. In Thessaly, 17 people lost their lives within the first 24 hours after Daniel. More than 1 million stremmas were flooded, 25,000 farmers saw their fields destroyed, while more than 110,000 animals and 135,000 birds were lost.

There are, however, long-term consequences with disastrous results for agriculture. Agronomist and soil scientist Christos Tsantilas, former director of the Institute of Industrial and Livestock Crops at ELGO Dimitra, explains, for example, the effects of extreme rainfall on the soil on which agricultural production depends.

In sloping areas, Mr. Tsantilas clarifies, soil erosion occurs. “When water falls with great intensity and large volumes move at high speed, it carries away enormous quantities of soil. This means that the fertile topsoil is removed, the subsoil remains, which is barren, and many times we reach the so-called base rock. All the soil goes.” To understand what this means, he invites us to consider that it takes 500 to 1,000 years to form one centimetre of fertile soil on base rock, while with a single extreme downpour one or two metres of soil can be lost within two or three days. “We can therefore understand the damage done to natural processes; the destruction is immense. These areas are now barren and, if very serious measures are not taken—which are difficult to implement and economically burdensome, they will become desertified,” Mr. Tsantilas underscores.

Despite scientists’ persistent requests, in Thessaly no state survey was carried out concerning soil loss after Daniel. Mr. Tsantilas, who traversed the entire region, has the impression that “all the hilly areas of Thessaly, and there are many, have been affected to such a degree that one could say they cannot be cultivated again.” Among these are very fertile areas in terms of the production of basic agricultural products, such as cereals. “For example, the area from Larissa to Farsala, which is hilly and had a large output of durum wheat, we do not know whether it will be cultivable again,” Mr. Tsantilas notes.

In the flat areas that were covered with water for months, or even for more than a year, such as around Lake Karla, destruction came in another way. “There the soils died; whatever biodiversity existed in the soil was lost.” Mr. Tsantilas explains: “Soil is not a sum of simple materials; it is a vast biochemical laboratory. In a handful of soil there are billions of micro-organisms and macro-organisms. One quarter of the planet’s organisms, large and small, exist within the soil, even though we do not see them. All this biological activity died, as organisms submerged under water no longer had oxygen.”

“The issue is that, in order for soils to become productive again after the waters recede, it is not enough simply for them to dry out; this soil biodiversity, these micro-organisms, must be recreated, and they do not arise from one day to the next, they need time,” Mr. Tsantilas notes.

Shift in cultivation zones: Central Macedonia as a hot spot

Even if extreme weather events with their destructive consequences draw public attention and provoke some state response, there are other impacts, equally serious for our food production, which escape notice.

“The fundamental impact of the climate crisis on agriculture is that cultivation zones are changing, in other words, the types of crops that can thrive in each area,” Elena Danali, Greenpeace’s sustainable agriculture campaign coordinator, tells Alterthess.

In Greenpeace’s report “Climate and Agriculture in Interlinked Crisis,” we read that the first effects of these changes are already evident. In 2024, in several regions of the country, high spring temperatures combined with drought affected both the quality and quantity of annual crops (cereals, pulses).

For annual crops (e.g. cereals, vegetables, pulses), this may mean a gradual shift of cultivation zones further north, something that could lead to the economic and social ruin of entire regions that have cultivated them for centuries. For existing tree crops (olive, vine, stone fruits, pome fruits, etc.), such a scenario would also be disastrous, since they cannot be moved. The first effects have already appeared, as mild winters have brought a reduction in differentiated buds that produce flowers and subsequently fruit.

Christos Tsantilas, agronomist and soil scientist and former Director at the Institute of Industrial and Livestock Crops of ELGO Dimitra, explains in more detail how climate change affects plants: “The following happens: not all plants have the same thermal needs; they have various peculiarities in this regard. For example, in order for certain plants to be able to produce flowers and then fruit in the next season, they need in winter a fairly long period of low temperatures, around zero or often below zero. If winter temperatures are not low, as has been the case recently, the number of cold days required for plants to form flowers and fruit in the following period is not accumulated, and the result is an automatic reduction in plant production.”

It is mainly tree crops that face this problem. “For example, we have seen this phenomenon in recent years in olive production, where yield has decreased because winters were warm and the chill days needed by the crop were not accumulated,” Mr. Tsantilas notes.

Central Macedonia is one of the areas in Greece most threatened by a shift in cultivation zones. Eighty percent of the country’s deciduous fruit trees are grown in its soil, such as peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, and other tree crops, which thrived in the region thanks to its transitional climate, ensuring the chill days these plants need to bear fruit. “With climate change, these crops that could not be cultivated further south because it was not cold enough will no longer thrive here. As Central Macedonia warms, production will be taken over by northern countries; it will leave Greece,” emphasizes Athanasios Saropoulos, president of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (GEOTEE) for Central Macedonia, stressing the need for comprehensive planning by the state.

The medium, or long-term effects on agriculture from the gradual change in climatic parameters are not limited to the shifting of cultivation zones.

“There are also impacts on cultivation practices, such as irrigation or disease management; there may also be impacts on the development of crops and plants and on their yields. In other words, there are effects at all stages and aspects of cultivation,” notes Elena Danali.

Professor Katerina Karamanoli, Professor of Plant Physiology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, points out further reasons for concern in her comments to Alterthess. “For example, many micro-organisms, plant pathogens and phytophagous insects, have more life cycles within the year precisely because temperatures are higher, or they may spread over larger areas and thus pose problems for cultivation. We may also have issues of synchrony: pollinators and flowering, which, as you understand, need to match up, may fail to coordinate due to temperature, humidity, or other environmental conditions. All these issues affect agricultural production,” Professor Karamanoli emphasizes.

Food security concerns are looming

Scientists once again sound the alarm about the trajectory of climate change. “When we are currently observing an increase of 1.5 or 2°C in some areas, the projections for the coming decades are much more disheartening. We may see a 3 or 4 degree increase in temperature, which will be catastrophic. If we do not take drastic measures quickly, we will face even more significant problems in the future,” stresses Kostas Lagouvardos, Director of Research at the National Observatory of Athens.

For her part, Professor Karamanoli notes that, due to the effects of the climate crisis, issues of food adequacy are now arising. One way we can already grasp the problem is by observing the higher prices of products on the shelf. “We already faced, two years ago, the major reduction in production in Thessaly due to the floods then, during Storm Daniel. In the same year we had olive production decrease and we remember well the increase in the price of olive oil in that period. Last year we had a major reduction in honey production, especially on the islands of the eastern Aegean. These are some examples of reduced production and thus reduced product availability, which may be even greater in the future,” Professor Karamanoli notes.

According to Eurostat data, agricultural production in Greece in 2023 decreased by 16%, a negative first place by a wide margin among all EU member states.

“Research and projections indicate that by 2050 we will have reduced production in basic foodstuffs,” continues Katerina Karamanoli. “For corn, a reduction on the order of 25% is expected. Reduced production is also expected for rice and potatoes, while cereals are expected to shift further north; thus we will see localized reductions in production and possibly food insufficiency among specific populations,” she notes.

Science now has abundant data to monitor and analyze climatic changes. The major challenge, as Mr. Lagouvardos points out, is “to use the data correctly so that we draw the right conclusions and make the right decisions.”

“The climate crisis puts at risk our ability to feed ourselves. At the same time, it strikes the productive fabric of the country, which, of course, has direct consequences for the social fabric,” notes Elena Danali.

For his part, Christos Tsantilas emphasizes: “Climate change affects the heart of human needs, our food. And if we reach that situation, the problems will be uncontrollable.”

Up next: The climate crisis in the field, Farmers have been reading the signs for years

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

Το άρθρο Agriculture at Risk: Climate Change Threatens Our Food Supply εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

“These were not usual events for Central Macedonia and Halkidiki,” says GEOTEE president Athanasios Saropoulos, emphasizing that concern over damages caused by extreme weather events led GEOTEE to organize the first conference on the climate crisis in January 2022.

At the second conference held this year, three years later, to formulate proposals for addressing the impacts, it was confirmed that for at least the past decade, there have been significant consequences for agricultural crops due to climate change. Unfortunately, despite the fact that, according to GEOTEE’s survey of 200 farmers in Central Macedonia, where 91% of respondents stated that they know what climate change is, only 8% said they had sufficient information about it, 25% stated they had no information at all, and 67% said they need more.

From the survey data, only 4% of respondents do not believe that climate change will have serious effects on their profession, while 62% consider it a threat to the survival of their farms, even believing they might have to abandon agriculture altogether. Only 34% said that the effects could be managed. What is certain from the survey is that crop damages are caused by a combination of extreme phenomena related to climate change: 37% by prolonged heatwaves, 30% by other causes, and 15% by floods. It is also important to mention that in Central Macedonia, apart from the rapid rate of climate change, the agricultural profile requires a transitional rather than Mediterranean climate, as Saropoulos notes, due to the presence of crops with deciduous trees.

In our research, we went to the field and spoke with farmers and scientists to examine more specifically the impacts, as they are reflected in five characteristic products of the region: honey, olives, peaches, vineyards, and mussel farming. At the same time, we also visited a buffalo farming unit at Lake Kerkini.

Read the whole research on the field:

And Then… the Bees Left

Olive, the ancient tree at risk

Imathia Peaches: Seeking balance in the era of extreme weather

Wine gladdens the heart, but the climate crisis wounds it

Mussel farming in the Thermaic Gulf: Is there still time to avert disaster?

Prolonged Heat Strains Livestock, Kerkini’s Buffalo Struggle for Water and Relief

Up next: Industrial Agriculture and the Climate Crisis: A Vicious Cycle of Dependence and Destruction

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

Το άρθρο The climate crisis in the field, Farmers have been reading the signs for years εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

This is noted by the Federation of Beekeeping Associations of Greece in the July-August 2024 issue of the magazine Beekeeping Forum, declaring that the bees are starving.

What this means for the colonies and for the food chain in general becomes clear when one considers that bees make up over 80% of the world’s pollinating insects.

We visited the Laboratory of Apiculture-Sericulture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), one of the few university laboratories that is accredited and which, in addition to field research and teaching, provides hive analyses to beekeepers, among other services.

As stated by Chrysa Tananaki, Associate Professor in the Department of Agriculture at AUTh and Director of the Apiculture Laboratory, “Unfortunately, when we come to evaluate the bee, we only focus on honey, and few people appreciate its work as a pollinator. There are many pollinators, not only the bee, of course, but consider that in beekeeping, Greece is the third country in Europe in terms of the number of colonies. It has around 2.5 million hives. Beyond the large population, these colonies contribute to wild vegetation as well as to agricultural crops through targeted hive relocations. For biodiversity and for our diet, the bee is essential,  we cannot live without it.”

When asked what would happen if the species of bees were to disappear, she responds: “I believe that many of the things we have to eat would no longer exist, and many of the things our eyes see today, we would no longer see.”

Watch the video: The Climate Crisis threatens the bees

The Bee is Dependent on the Climate-Effects on Honey Production

“The bee, and especially the domesticated bee that lives in hives, has never been truly domesticated in the way we think of other animals. Humans have simply adapted to the way bees live and have made appropriate interventions to be able to produce more honey. The bee is directly dependent on the climate, whether it concerns temperature or, more importantly, its food,” explains Tananaki, stressing that “there is nothing that can replace natural food, which is the pollen and nectar collected from plants.” This alone, she says, shows the bee’s dependence on climatic conditions.

The climate crisis affects bees and colonies, given that in recent years we have experienced much higher temperatures and for much longer periods. Flowering has been limited to spring, which means there are no plants, especially in lowland areas, for bees to collect what they need during the summer. This results both in reduced honey production and in bee deaths. The latter is also due to the fact that the effects of the climate crisis on crops lead farmers to apply more pesticides, which in turn causes further bee losses. At the same time, according to Tananaki and other experienced beekeepers, the climate crisis has led to outbreaks of many diseases in hives. An example of this is Varroa destructor, which is not so much due to prolonged summers but rather to mild winters. This is a mite that parasitizes bees, and its population decreases when the brood in the hive decreases. High winter temperatures keep the brood active, and thus the Varroa population remains at high levels, circulating throughout the year.

“Survival is difficult when practicing professional beekeeping because every year is challenging in terms of weather conditions and colony production. Colonies can no longer find pollen like they used to, and I believe this is due to climate change,” says Alexandra Sotiraki, former president of the Thessaloniki Beekeeping Association, who spoke to Alterthess during the Ecological Agriculture and Handicraft Festival held in Thessaloniki in May. According tο Sotiraki, the effects have become visible over the past five years as colonies fail to develop. “This has brought us to our knees. It is difficult to grow and multiply our colonies, and it is difficult to collect honey and other products bees produce.” Drought seems to be the biggest problem, as Sotiraki reminds us: “You can’t water the forests around which the colonies are located. If it doesn’t rain, like last year when there were two months of continuous drought, honey production will be very difficult. The only honey we managed to get last year was pine and oak honeydew.” The poor state of beekeeping was reflected in 2024 production, which, according to her, was reduced by 70%-80%.

In addition to drought, recent years have also seen sudden muddy rains in spring and summer, with mud coating plant buds and leaves that would otherwise produce nectar.

“The bee is unable to find pollen. As a result, the plant is also affected. On the other hand, drought burns the flowers. It’s a double-edged sword, we don’t want too much rain, nor too much heat, and now the combination of rain and mud is the worst thing in recent years. Among other effects, it disorients communication between bees,” notes Yiannis Papatheologis, a beekeeper in Ierissos.

Flood events, like Storm Daniel in Larissa, or fires in Evros and Evia, signal total destruction. “A flood is, in some cases, even worse,” says Sotiraki. “What happened in the plain of Larissa is that natural pollinators, beyond bees, which tend to make their nests in the soil, drowned. The problem is not only that crops will be destroyed but also that the next crops planted in their place will not have pollinators unless we move our hives there.”

“Yes, a large bee population was lost,” says Papatheologis. “We have losses in the Peloponnese and in Evia as well. We are a country with a very strong brand name for our honey, and suddenly honey quantities have dropped sharply. So, the entire climate change phenomenon causes massive damage and rapidly decreases bee populations. If 5,000 bee colonies are lost, it takes a very long time to rebuild them. It takes at least three years of hard work to bring them back to life and make them productive again, to reach the honey quantities we once had as a country.”

Chrysa Tananaki returns to the issue of natural disasters. Large fires in Evros and Evia not only lead to the loss of thousands of hives but essentially to the loss of areas where beekeeping can be established. “If there is no vegetation, there is no beekeeping interest,” she says characteristically. In addition to floods, sudden rains also pose problems. Beekeepers often place their hives near stream banks because, due to drought, there is more moisture and vegetation there. “If a torrential rain begins in July and the stream overflows, the hives placed along its banks are swept away and lost to the sea,” she adds.

Bee starvation is directly connected to the climate crisis and leads primarily to a lack of food, but also to problems involving the biological cycle of the bee and the colony, pathology issues (diseases or even new predators that did not previously exist, such as the Asian hornet), as well as challenges related to hive placement.

Seeking Solutions through Hive Relocation

Beekeepers, without substantial help from the government or state authorities, are trying to deal with this situation using empirical methods, such as moving their hives to mountainous areas during summer. However, even in these areas, conflicts often arise, for example, in Chalkidiki, due either to over-tourism or to other environmentally destructive and bee-harmful activities such as mining or the use of agricultural land for renewable energy projects. Nevertheless, hive relocation can help regenerate areas that have suffered destruction from floods or fires, a practice that beekeeping associations are calling on the state to support.

“We can move our hives to any area that has suffered a natural disaster where other pollinators have been buried. The bee can pollinate in these areas. This is another reason why beekeepers must be subsidized. If we had not made these hive relocations, bees would have disappeared years ago due to the pesticides used on crops. It is through our interventions that we multiply the bee population and restore balance,” says Sotiraki.

The way colonies multiply is well known. “Every spring, the natural tendency of the colony is to grow. The queen lays eggs intensively, and the colony expands, having a larger ‘army.’ We take part of this ‘army’ and some honey to create a nucleus colony, a small hive that will develop a new queen and a new bee society, which will become productive the following year,” explains Sotiraki.

The main demand of beekeeping associations is a combination of support from both the government and the European Union. “When I talk about support, I don’t mean only financial support, such as compensation for losses or subsidies. We need more favorable legislation for beekeepers. We need stricter laws for pesticides and resolution of disputes with forestry services regarding hive placement in forests,” argues the former president of the Thessaloniki Beekeeping Association.

For Tananaki, it is crucial for people to learn about the importance of bees: “From young children to farmers, everyone should understand that crops can coexist with bee colonies. In America, for example, farmers pay beekeepers to bring their hives to almond orchards. This could provide additional income to beekeepers to cover the financial gap caused by low honey production. For the sector to be productive, it must also be sustainable.”

“Another important aspect is the coordinated handling of hive relocations. Until now, relocations have been done informally. A proper system should be found, with designated bee routes, so beekeepers know where and when to move their hives. Also, it is essential to convince people that there are plants that are suitable for bees and can be planted, in cooperation with forestry services and municipalities, who can also contribute. After all, there are drought-resistant plants that can survive under these conditions. I believe there are certain practices that can help beekeepers change things for the better,” she concludes.

Up next: Olive, the ancient tree at risk

The Research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete Research here.

Το άρθρο And Then… the Bees Left εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

For some years now, a new cooperative of organic farmers, “Biolivia – Agricultural Cooperative of Organic Olive Producers,” has been trying to breathe life back into the old cooperative, which is under liquidation, but above all to introduce and apply a different understanding of cultivation and of our relationship with nature.

In an olive grove in Olynthos, we met with Dimitris Evangelinos, the cooperative’s president, in order to understand the serious impacts of the climate crisis on the olive and the effort to mitigate them through different cultivation practices and an approach centered on soil quality.

“In recent years, from 2013 onward, we had the first signs. However, the multicellular storm of July 2019 destroyed everything, we’re talking about a terrible hailstorm. In 2021 we had the spring frost. It was unprecedented for us. Successive frosts shocked the trees and we were left once again without production. The climax came with the fruitlessness of the olive in 2023 due to the very mild winter, because we’re talking about a tree that needs certain periods of cold to develop. Essentially there was no winter; it was an extended autumn, resulting in no production at all,” was the olive grower’s answer when asked when people in his area began to talk about the climate crisis.

Watch the video: Save the olive tree

In Chalkidiki, 330,000 stremmas of green olives are cultivated and the number of trees is estimated at more than 6,000,000. In addition, 150 processing units operate, employing 6,000 workers. The olive’s fruitlessness became news that year in local and international media as a major food and economic issue, since in some areas, according to the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, losses in production reached 100%, attributable exclusively to climate change.

“Fruitlessness means that the tree does not develop raceme inflorescences to proceed to flowering. The tree essentially never woke up. Its buds were dormant, resulting in the tree being surrounded by vegetation and not fruit,” notes Evangelinos, stressing that on the one hand prolonged drought and on the other extreme rainfall can lead to reduced production.

“Consider that this April we had unprecedented rains that simply wouldn’t stop. The tree did need them, and we weren’t at a stage when they would harm it, it was to its benefit. We don’t know, however, how the situation will develop, because we remember that last April, in the Municipality of Nea Propontida, adjacent to the Municipality of Polygyros, there was a hailstorm that lasted 17 minutes and destroyed everything,” he adds.

For the olive grower, what matters with the olive is the differentiation of the buds, the point at which the tree decides whether it will produce fruit or vegetation. “Temperatures play an important role, and if they are not favorable they do not help the tree’s predetermination to proceed, it believes that it is still spring and continues only to put out shoots,” he explains.

The summer of 2024, with particularly high temperatures and prolonged droughts, caused the most disheartening image to date in growers’ olive groves. May, as they say, felt like late June, and the ground didn’t even sprout. To save the crop, olive growers were already irrigating their irrigated orchards from April, while the search for water drove existing boreholes to unprecedented depths.

“As with most tree crops, the main consequences of the climate crisis for the olive are reduced production due to high winter temperatures that do not allow the olive tree to accumulate chill units, limited water availability, and extreme temperatures during the sensitive stage of pollination (spring flowering, fertilization, fruit set), as well as impacts on the quality of olive oil and table olives. Losses in olive production are already evident, and models even predict complete loss of production in certain regions of the country (eastern Crete, the southern mainland, and elsewhere),” points out Vasilis Gkisakis, agronomist and appointed researcher at ELGO-Dimitra, speaking to Alterthess. Asked whether the fact that Central Macedonia is warming, according to climate scientists, at a faster rate than the rest of Greece makes the problem more intense, he replies: “Indeed, inland areas show a greater increase in temperature compared to southern coastal agricultural lands. However, there are no available models that demonstrate greater intensity of climate pressures in Central Macedonia, at least not in comparison with the southern olive-growing regions, which are already strongly affected.”

Organic farming comes from the future

Through our discussion with Evangelinos, we tried to examine which practices lead to the deterioration of soil conditions and what led him and the other cooperators to turn to organic cultivation.

“For the organic farmer, the first priority is the soil. He cares for the soil, nourishes the soil that nourishes the trees,” emphasizes Evangelinos. Conventional agriculture, he says, has rendered the soil barren. As a result, organic matter has fallen from 3.5% to 0.8%.

“The organic farmer comes to overturn this situation by leaving the weeds, which will provide organic matter through the decomposition of plant biomass. There is a reciprocal relationship between the crop and the weeds: they supply elements to the tree, they take from the tree, and then return them with mowing.” In addition, with this practice, the olive’s enemies occupy themselves with the vegetation (weeds) and not with the olive. “What we heard in theory, we put into practice. They used to say that organic farming is difficult; we find quite the opposite,” he adds.

Organic cultivation, that is not using chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and herbicides, requires continuous monitoring of the trees and the condition of the soil. Organic farmers intervene, when necessary, with natural products to combat the olive’s enemies, constantly counting their populations.

Evangelinos points out that organic farming focuses on the soil, something that did not happen in previous years. “Olive groves, as they were cultivated in the 1980s, have nothing to do with organic farming. Back then, fertilizers were applied recklessly, which paid off for a time but created diseases, because we’re talking about a monoculture of olives in the area, which has disadvantages anyway. If a fungus or pathogen enters the root, it spreads at the speed of light,” he continues, saying that “what was done was monstrous, the use of chemical fertilizers and heavy pesticides left high residues in the fruit, yet these are gradually being phased out. Organic farming is a new trend where your first priority is the soil. You see a patient and you try to make him better than he was before.”

But what does organic cultivation have to do with addressing climate change and reversing agriculture’s contribution to the climate phenomenon? How important is it to deal with this issue in a world being destroyed by multiple factors, with living conditions becoming ever more precarious?

As agronomist-soil scientist Christos Tsantilas, former director of ELGO-Dimitra’s Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, points out, “Climate change affects the very heart of human needs: food. We may reach a point where the problems will become uncontrollable. We are already seeing what is happening with, for example, migration. These populations moving from countries such as those in Africa, southern regions, or Asian countries are not moving only for geopolitical reasons. If one looks deeper, one sees that the deprivation these populations face is largely related to issues of climate change. The basic conditions for producing food do not exist, and people, seeking better living conditions, migrate, and then we have all these imbalances in the societies of the countries to which these people resort. So the issue becomes extremely complex and very difficult.”

For the olive grower we met with, the turn to organic farming became experientially connected with resilience to weather phenomena and the necessity of producing quality food. At the same time, such a practice leads to reducing agriculture’s contribution to the climate crisis. In the words of Gkisakis: “When gentle, agroecological practices are applied, such as minimizing soil tillage, ground cover/green manuring, increasing soil organic matter with compost, and the use of soil conditioners like biochar, then the carbon dioxide emissions balance of an olive grove is positive (it absorbs more than it emits). Research has shown that the traditional olive grove in Greece, and elsewhere, performs significantly better than intensively cultivated olive groves with high fertilizer input, insecticides, water, intensive soil management, etc. Consequently, there are significant advantages for the extensive, family-run olive grove, which could play an important role in limiting the causes of climate change, and olive growers should be supported accordingly.”

Nevertheless, according to Evangelinos, there has been no strategy on the part of the Greek state regarding the issue of climate change, nor regarding how to support olive growers. As he notes, the state did not even make use of the CAP 2023–2027 support mechanism.

Let us not uproot the olive

According to a report on olive cultivation by the Focus Group of the European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture (2020), the Mediterranean Basin may be significantly affected by climate change. However, there are few studies focusing on analyzing the impacts on the olive, including the emergence of phytopathogenic pests and diseases that attack this crop.

In the absence of clear studies and data, forecasts indicate that areas suitable for olive cultivation are expected to expand further north and to higher-altitude regions. Is this an appropriate way to address the problem?

“It is said that due to climate change, the olive, and specifically the Chalkidiki variety, will move further north. This tree has adaptability. It has withstood centuries,” comments Evangelinos, emphasizing, however, that xerothermic conditions like those of the summer of 2024 were impossible to manage. Even so, the tree endured.

Soil scientist Tsantilas is unequivocally opposed to removing olive trees from cultivated areas. Regardless of whether olive cultivation is strained by the climate, he says, it would be wrong to replace or exclude it.

“Consider that in Greece the olive has been cultivated since Greece has existed. There are olive trees in Crete that are 3,000 years old and still producing. You understand, then, that over 3,000 years the climate has never been stable,” he notes.

The tree manages “because it has a physiological mechanism within it that does the following: when conditions of water scarcity and high temperature prevail, it reduces its growth; it does not produce large above-ground vegetation, but uses all the limited possibilities it has to develop its root system, which can reach up to 50 meters away, where it can find water.”

Therefore, he concludes, “the replacement of the olive, under this logic of crop restructuring that is said to be necessary due to climate change, must be done with great, great caution. In my view, nowhere, absolutely nowhere, even if production decreases, should we uproot the olive. Because if we uproot the olive and plant anything else, that will withstand far less than the olive does.”

He proposes measures to address reduced rainfall and to retain/store water. Specifically, he emphasizes: “When we say that rainfall has decreased, this does not mean that it doesn’t rain at all throughout the year. Therefore, if we take measures so that the water that falls in winter is stored within the soil, through simple actions, with terraces in sloping areas or with small embankments that we make on the uphill side of the tree so that winter rainwater collects, gathers, and percolates into deeper layers, then, with simple practices, production will be reduced, but there will be a production that is tolerable, that will provide some income.”

How farmers and agricultural cooperatives in the country should proceed in demanding measures to address the climate crisis is summarized by V. Gkisakis:

“Adopt agroecological approaches that, beyond ecological farming practices, include a very broad set of socio-economic, sustainable models with key words such as cooperation, food sovereignty and self-sufficiency, social ecology, and degrowth, with the aim of a total transformation of agriculture in a way that is truly sustainable and just.”

Up next: Imathia Peaches: Seeking balance in the era of extreme weather

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

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“If we had a normal crop, and not this year’s frost, there would be plenty of peaches. However, this year many varieties show a major decrease in production. Last year all these trees were full of fruit,” says Karaiandros, noting that the pruning process carried out during this period concerns only 20% of what it would in a typical year, something that negatively affects a whole set of tasks related to peach production.

It has been less than a year since the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (GEOTEE), Central Macedonia branch, sent a memorandum to the prime minister regarding the acute and rapid manifestation of the climate crisis, making special mention of tree crops and the problems facing peach production. The greatest issue, according to the conclusions drawn by expert scientists from AUTh, the International Hellenic University, and the ELGO-Dimitra institutes, is the observed inability to meet the required winter chill, resulting in small crop output or underdeveloped and deformed fruit. “Knowing a variety’s chill requirements is the most important measure for addressing climate change, as producers must choose varieties according to the new conditions taking shape in their region. There are significant differences among species, and among varieties within a species, in terms of the chill needed to break dormancy; however, unfortunately, there are no data for the large number of varieties released for cultivation in our country each year. Some 27.1% of peach varieties and 68% of apricot varieties may show unsatisfactory budbreak, prolonged flowering, or poorly developed flowers,” the memorandum states, among other points.

Watch the video: Climate Crisis threatens the peach production 

Climate crisis is not just prolonged heat

Deciduous fruit trees have developed a natural resistance mechanism to cope with winter conditions: bud dormancy. Dormancy begins with leaf fall and lasts until budbreak, when the period of low winter temperatures has passed. To determine when they should exit dormancy, trees have developed a temperature measuring mechanism (memory) in which, during the first phase, they register their chill requirements, and during the second phase they transition out of dormancy and require higher temperatures¹. Scientists have established that failing to satisfy winter chill requirements, which is becoming more frequent due to climate change, has negative effects on tree productivity.

From his experience, Vangelis Karaiandros raises another parameter of the climate crisis. “The climate crisis is not a one-way street toward heat. While we’ve spent a decade saying temperatures are racing upward and we observe a trend toward global warming, in recent years in Central Macedonia we’re also being hit by frost.” According to him, in 2021, 2022, and this year as well, late spring frosts occurred that seriously affected production. In fact, data from cooperatives in both Imathia and Pella for 2025 reported damage due to late frosts of 90% in table peaches and 80% in table apricots.

Another phenomenon observed due to climate changes is very cold rains in the middle of summer. As the peach grower explains, because of these rains the trees’ defense mechanism breaks down. “A peach that is a few days away from ripening can withstand rain for a few hours. When it rains for two full days, the fruit hasn’t split, but its flesh collapses and the peaches start falling off on their own. This condition strains the trees; crops are lost and not compensated for. That’s because the compensation framework from ELGA is very ‘narrow’; it covers frost and hail from flowering until the fruitlet stage, but intense rainfall, for example, is not covered.” For producers, he continues, whether the crop is destroyed by hail, frost, or rain makes little difference because “a lost crop, when it’s not our fault and there was no way to save it, hits the most vulnerable. A bad year can be the final blow, a death sentence in this profession for some growers.”

Research by the Department of Deciduous Fruit Trees in Naousa has been discussing the climate crisis since 2016

How did the climate crisis appear in the area? According to peach growers, there was great concern from 2017 onward because of intense heatwaves. “While the peach tree is a species that tolerates heat, what is called mild scorching conditions, when the prolonged 38-40°C days begin, the trees fall into a dormancy, a ‘siesta,’ and stop growing; that is, the progress toward ripening stops,” adds Karaiandros.

It is noteworthy that climate change and its impacts on peach production have been recorded by the Department of Deciduous Fruit Trees (T.F.O.D.) in Naousa since 2015–2016 as a sequence of drought, warm winter periods, and unusual summer rainfall. “We went through an unusually rainy summer in 2014, followed by the dry summer of 2015, the warm winter period of 2015–2016, and temperature fluctuations during the flowering period in 2015 and 2016, creating adverse conditions for peach cultivation,” writes Dr. Pavlina Drogoudi of ELGO-DIMITRA and the Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Department of Deciduous Fruit Trees (T.F.O.D.) Naousa, in an article in the journal Agriculture – Livestock².

According to the results of an analysis of historical meteorological data recorded at T.F.O.D. Naousa, the annual mean temperature increased by 1.3°C over the last 52 years (1963–2015), showing that climate change is a reality in Imathia (Figure 1) (3). Dr. Drogoudi notes that the flowering time of fruit trees is greatly influenced by temperature changes. According to the research, priority should be given, because of climate change, to the development of varieties suited to adverse conditions.

“The only intervention carried out by the state has been by the Institute of Deciduous Trees. They, I can say, have conducted research on the issue with artificial summer rainfall and applications of certain biological formulations to see how the fruit can withstand rain. I believe the government has no idea about the problems and doesn’t want to learn. Each government sometimes hands out compensation money, and that’s where their intervention ends, because it’s considered an effective voting incentive. I believe that intervention can be achieved through research, and the Institute should be funded to develop strategies to confront the phenomenon,” says Karaiandros.

A different approach to agriculture is needed

Blooming peach orchards may create impressively beautiful images across the endless pink fields, but the discussion has begun about the problems that peach monoculture can cause: “Monoculture intensifies all the problems a crop has. When diseases and ‘pests’ feed on their host, meaning the more peach you provide to the enemies, the greater the plant protection problems,” says the peach grower, while also pointing out the reasons this crop prevailed. “It was a profitable crop that, when in the 1960s other regions were emptied out due to emigration and poverty, this region could make a living through export trade to Germany. So people are aware that it’s a profitable crop; it’s also a crop they know, they have the know-how, and they have commercial structures, packing houses, etc.” On the other hand, he says, “when we depend so heavily on the peach, if it is hit by an insect or a virus, you realize that we face collapse.”

At the same time, methods such as regenerative or organic agriculture have not had much traction in the area because “the peach tree is an alien species; it came here 100 years ago. That means it hasn’t acclimatized like the olive or the vine, which are native species that have reached their own balance. The peach is a new organism that new diseases and enemies keep disrupting, and there are not organic products and solutions for everything available.”

Having applied organic methods in recent years to tackle insects that attack the peach, he concludes that an entirely different mindset is needed in agricultural practice: “The new agriculture, and an organic farmer knows this very well, doesn’t rely on ‘apply-and-leave’ solutions. He lives in his field, listens to it, and responds very specifically and very carefully; it’s not the mindset of going to the agronomist every 10–15 days to spray. There can’t be an organic equivalent fungicide, aphicide, or insecticide that will simply let us do the same cultivation organically. Organic farming requires much closer monitoring, much more effort, and you yourself must be a small agronomist in your field.”

The reflection on methods used in peach cultivation ends with the most pressing problem posed by climate change: water scarcity. Although the plain of Imathia is surrounded by mountains and water availability is considered sufficient, irrigation is done using traditional methods, such as flood irrigation, which do not conserve water.

V. Karaiandros expresses concern for the future: “How we prepare for climate change is important, because there is a risk of dry years coming, with reduced water availability in the summers. We’ve become completely complacent and are still irrigating with ancient methods. Flood irrigation can be done correctly and even that isn’t done right, we often have open channels everywhere, and thus evaporation, irregular flows, etc. There are modern methods that save water, such as drip irrigation with closed systems, but the state hasn’t made provisions for this. Some local politicians implemented such systems in a few places in their own villages, through their personal intervention, but in principle this should be a state responsibility for everyone.”

Up next: Wine gladdens the heart, but the climate crisis wounds it

1. Παντελίδης Γ., Δρογούδη Π. Βασιλακάκης Μ. 2018. Χειμερινός λήθαργος φυλλοβόλων οπωροφόρων και ακρόδρυων δένδρων. Ι. Επιπτώσεις μειωμένου ψύχους στην παραγωγικότητα και πρακτικές αντιμετώπισης. Γεωργία-Κτηνοτροφία 4, σελ. 30-34.
2.  Pantelidis G., Drogoudi P., & Vasilakakis M. (2018). Winter dormancy of deciduous fruit and nut trees. I. Effects of reduced temperature on productivity and management practices. Agriculture–Livestock, 4, 30–34.

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Unfortunately, in recent years the abrupt weather changes, with late frosts in spring and severe hail on the one hand, and drought and prolonged heatwaves on the other, have caused great concern among viticulturists, who are seeing a decrease in production volume and wondering whether some varieties will, in the future, become unsuitable for the regions where they are cultivated. According to the competent department of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food (ΥπΑΑΤ), for the 2023/24 winegrowing year, the volume of wine production in our country recorded the lowest levels of all time.

Obviously, the climate crisis is not being spoken of only by Greek wine producers but by growers across Europe and the globe. In France in 2023, wine producers affected by extreme climatic conditions sought compensation either to cease production or to change crops. This concern is also reflected in the results of a study by Bordeaux Sciences Agro, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux and Université de Bourgogne, published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, which showed that if global warming exceeds 2°C, about 90% of all traditional viticultural areas in the coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and Southern California may no longer be able to produce high-quality wine under economically viable conditions by the end of the century, due to the risks of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves.

Xinomavro in Imathia seems, for the moment, to be holding on…

The history of wine in Macedonia and Thrace dates back to the end of prehistoric times. In the region of Imathia, the earliest information about viticulture, vineyards and wine production reaches us from the years of Ottoman rule.

In Patrida, Imathia, among the first areas to receive a PDO classification in 1974 for the Xinomavro variety, stands the winery of Christos Taralas. A third-generation viticulturist, he has developed an integrated system of organic cultivation, wine production and bottling.

“Organic cultivation has been developed since ancient times. Over time it has evolved, and we have seen that it contributes to the sustainable development of agriculture, which means we have a better, higher-quality product without pesticide and chemical residues that enter the food chain. The difficult thing with organic farming is that you have to, in a way, prevent any diseases that may arise in the crop, whereas with conventional cultivation you can intervene after the fact, but the final product is very different. We’re talking about more quality characteristics and more elements that highlight the place where the agricultural product grew and, by extension, confer different characteristics to it,” explains Chr. Taralas during a tour of his vineyard.

As he notes, Xinomavro is a variety that ripens on sloping and semi-mountainous soils, a process aided by underground water currents which, through rainfall or snowfall, are stored in the aquifers of mountains such as Vermio, and yield a very good final product.

One of the main effects of the climate crisis is the faster ripening of grapes. “What we’re seeing is very great instability in the weather. Last year, for instance, had a very warm winter, with the result that we did not have much water in the soil. The very hot summer brought grape ripening about a month earlier. Those who couldn’t irrigate their vineyard faced difficulties, because they had neither large berries nor the usual quantities of other years. Global warming and rising temperatures hinder development and lead to drought. So we see smaller growth in both the plant and the fruit. Of course, in Xinomavro we have observed that perhaps in some years when there is a balance in temperatures, either in winter or in summer, we achieve better ripening, but this remains to be seen in the coming years. We cannot say, however, that rising temperature consequently benefits overall cultivation.” And that is because, as he says, increased temperature stresses the plant so that it cannot develop as it should.

“We want the root system to go down into the soil, in other words, if the plant searches for the aquifer and doesn’t find it, it dries out. Also, when proper grape ripening doesn’t occur, the grape does not develop, with the result that raisined berries contribute nothing to the final product,” the winemaker continues.

Watch the video: In Imathia, grapes seem to be holding on

The climate crisis affects the adaptation of the best-known varieties

Dimitris Taskos has worked for three years as a researcher at ELGO-Dimitra’s Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources in Thessaloniki, while also bringing 25 years of experience in the wine industry. For him, the vine is an organism cultivated where it has adapted, within a specific environmental framework.

“Within this framework, climate is the dominant factor, with the basic parameters being temperature, available moisture, radiation, etc. Above all, what determines things is temperature, it is the measure of the available energy that exists in a place, in a specific climate. One of the things that climate change does, it’s now proven, is that it affects the vegetative cycle of the vine: how quickly plants develop, when growth starts and when it ends, which for us is chiefly the technological maturity of the grapes, whether for winemaking or for table use. This means it affects the adaptation of the well-known varieties, the ones we’ve used for many years, some for hundreds of years in a place, so it directly affects their adaptation. This has consequences on many levels.”

Listen the podcast /Dimitris Taskos: The climate change cannot be treated only with technical solutions

For the researcher, there are two levels of discussion regarding the climate crisis issue. One concerns viability, and the second the technological traits that a production displays in a specific area. Moreover, he says, when we talk about climate change we should keep in mind not only increased temperatures but also variability, that is, “an organism may adapt to a normal temperature curve, but it is very difficult to adapt to changes that occur with high frequency over a short period.” Prolonged hot-dry conditions but also concentrated periods of rainfall and hail, he notes, affect the following growing season as well, and may lead to qualitative and quantitative losses due to disease outbreaks and difficulties in crop protection. What is certain for Mr. Taskos is that we are dealing with a phenomenon that is evolving and requires observation and research; however, production is already recording an average decrease of about 30–40%. This is also shown, for the second year, by official data from the competent department of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food to the European Commission, as the 2024/25 winegrowing year recorded a production volume of 1,430,666 hectoliters (hl), down 32.73% compared to 2023 and the second lowest in history, after last year (2023/2024), when production was marginally lower at 1,379,433 hl, according to information from the Central Cooperative Union of Vine and Wine Products (KEOSOE).

The definitive production based on declarations by wineries and wine-processing producers appears slightly increased by 3.92% in 2024/2025 compared to production in 2023/2024.

A multifactorial problem, symptomatic fixes are not enough

While vine growers seek solutions through better management of water resources, the discussion about changing varieties has already begun, something that creates even greater concern, as the bond between a region and its varieties within a geographical indication framework is at risk of being broken.

For Dimitris Taskos, among the proposed solutions for the survival of production in place are the geographical shift of certain cultivation zones, and thus of varieties, or the introduction of others that will have characteristics allowing their economic and technological/agronomic adaptation. As he points out, however, “these things are easy to say but hard to do. Because saying that cultivation zones will shift within such a regulated framework of geographical indications, the EU framework and the national one, within a market built upon them, is not easy. But I don’t rule it out as one of the ways by which the wine sector in each country, and in each region within each country, will try to adapt. Still, it’s not that simple to say, ‘you know, we move the vineyard from 200 meters to 800 meters, where temperatures are different.’ That is not the adaptation solution; we can’t seize on a single factor and address it. The problem is multifactorial.”

“We’re talking about a crop that expresses the place where it is planted after the first 10-15 years. So it’s not easy to plant a new vineyard every 15 years,” notes Chr. Taralas, adding: “We need to find the ideal conditions and locations so that we plant the vineyard now and it lasts for more than 40-50 years, in order to yield a very different fruit.”

Asked whether the government supports initiatives to confront or adapt to the phenomenon, the answers are, unfortunately, as expected. “There is, I would say, a very good collaboration between vine growers and winemakers with the universities. There is a major problem at this moment in our sector’s contact with the Ministry, because it is understaffed. Our efforts as growers and winemakers are to try to communicate our product both to the local community and abroad, and we see that this receives support, but it is also difficult,” says Mr. Taralas. According to him, there are pressures so that European funds and programs intended for viticulture are properly managed, in order to support and develop the sector.

Even so, as Mr. Taskos makes clear, scientists cannot take on nature alone. “The government does nothing. I would suggest you ask a second question: what is the wine sector doing? The answer is that it does halfway measures and, in reality, in my opinion, it does nothing.”

Photo Credit: Afroditi MichailidouFor growers and researchers, discussing adaptation is self-evident. However, a symptomatic response to a global phenomenon like climate change often leads to half-measures. “There is no other way than to sit down and plan strategically. You cannot do it piecemeal, and under no circumstances is it solely in the hands of the scientific community, that is a huge mistake. The real causes must be identified, what is to blame, and perhaps a change in the production model is needed,” the researcher emphasizes.

In any case, as to whether European policies help solve the problems, his answer is more than clear: “If someone does a simple online search and enters the words climate change and vineyards or wines, they will find a huge volume of information in official EU texts, including the CAP. But the point is what you ultimately do, not just whether you write five things, some of which may indeed be correct; it’s about how you motivate people. I do not see people being motivated, and that is why I mentioned that one of the consequences of CAP implementation thoughout the past decades is that the countryside has lost its people. How will you have a resilient countryside and resilient vineyards when you don’t have people to cultivate them?”

Up next: Mussel farming in the Thermaic Gulf: Is there still time to avert disaster?

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“Mussel farming in the Thermaic Gulf, and in Greece in general, began about 40 to 50 years ago, tentatively in the 1980s and especially in the 1990s. In the mid-2000s it reached its zenith, creating a solid form of primary production and also decentralization, because it concerns the Region of Central Macedonia (Kymina, Malgara, Chalastra, Kleidi of Imathia, and Kitros of Pieria). There are also a few units in Strymonikos, between Halkidiki and Kavala, but most of the production relates to the areas of the Thermaic Gulf,” says Ioannis Giantsis, Assistant Professor in the Fisheries Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture at AUTh, speaking to Alterthess.

Adding up the disasters

In Kymina, on one of the mussel farmers’ boats, K. Vervitis was waiting for us. We traversed a vast expanse of rice fields before reaching the mouths of the Axios River, in a landscape striking in its morphology. May marks the start of the farming season, when mussel farmers place the mussels into the “crystals,” awaiting the completion of their growth process in the summer. Mr. Vervitis was not optimistic, and how could he be, when adding up successive disasters?

“We are starting after a huge disaster last year, the summer of 2024, which resulted in the death of all the spat, as well as a portion of the market-ready mussels. Farmers are currently in dire straits because no compensation has been given by the state, nor any assistance, and everyone is trying on their own to cope with all the damage they have suffered in recent years,” says K. Vervitis, emphasizing how closely tied mussel farming is to the place. In Kymina alone there were 60 units using the longline system, and in earlier times it was the main occupation for many families. In Central Macedonia, active units were estimated at 200, most of them family businesses. Over time, and due to the problems that have arisen, many are abandoning the profession. “Producers have no mussels to sell, families have been left without work, with the result that the workers they employed have gone an entire winter without jobs,” Mr. Vervitis explains, showing us the boats now empty of mussel farmers.

Watch the video: Why are the mussels dying in the Thermaic Gulf?

Mussels are a key export product, and Greece ranks fourth in annual production volumes. During the Covid period, due also to the pandemic’s effects on economic activity, the first blow came for mussel farmers, who failed to export early; as a result, the high temperatures that developed in the Thermaic Gulf led for the first time to mass mortality. The same occurred in subsequent years, culminating in the summer of 2024, when, due to sudden marine heatwaves, mortality rates reached the largest share of production.

Marine heatwaves are killing mussels

How mussel farming works is explained in more detail by Ioannis Giantsis, who delves a bit deeper into the problem. “On the barrels we usually see floating at sea, the longline system is formed, that is, the long-line system where mussels live throughout their lives, from the moment they are collected until they reach commercial size. They feed as filter feeders, filtering seawater and retaining phytoplankton, zooplankton, dissolved organic matter, and any other small organism. Thus, they select waters rich in organic matter, as is the case at the mouth of the Axios, where the four rivers that discharge there bring organic material with them.” As he continues, mussel farming has zero feeding costs since mussels feed from the seawater; it does not constitute a form of environmental pollution because they live in their natural environment; it does not require land use, as they are in the sea anyway. Naturally, they are sensitive to pollution, since they retain whatever is in the water.

“In contrast to wild mussel populations, which live near the sea surface on rocks, etc., and have the advantage of being exposed to air due to the phenomenon of low tide and the shoreline, farmed mussels face high temperatures 24 hours a day,” the professor notes, stating that in the summer of 2024 temperatures above 30°C were recorded at about 1.5 meters below the surface for roughly ten days. These are temperatures far above mussels’ tolerance, which according to the literature extends up to 27°C. “The thermal and oxidative stress created in mussels also causes the mortality phenomena,” he adds. The imprint of this condition on production is enormous: twenty years ago it approached 40 thousand tons, and today it may be limited to 20–25 thousand tons. In fact, some mussel-farming units are estimated to have lost their entire production.

The climate crisis has turned the Thermaic Gulf into a hot spot

Aristotle University (Laboratory of Marine Engineering and Marine Works – AUTh) as well as agencies like HCMR have been studying the state of the Thermaic Gulf since the 1980s. Human activities in the coastal zone of the gulf (industrial activity, agriculture, animal husbandry, wastewater), combined with climate change, have gradually increased the pressures on the gulf.

In their latest research, G. Krestenitis, G. Androulidakis, Ch. Makris, K. Kompiadou, and others identified a dramatic rise in temperature over the last 50 years that has had significant impacts on marine species and aquaculture.

Giannis Androulidakis, now Associate Professor in the Department of Oceanography and Marine Sciences at the University of the Aegean, describes the situation as follows: “The main way we monitor the situation is by observing the thermal changes in the water of the Thermaic Gulf. An increase of around half a degree per decade has been observed for the gulf area, which is slightly above the Mediterranean average. This increase in temperature, which is not limited to the sea surface but can be found throughout the depth of the water column, affects the entire ecosystem and the organisms that are more sensitive to such changes and temperature levels.” According to Androulidakis, in the last 34 years temperatures above 30°C have been detected. These so-called marine heatwaves are both more frequent and longer in duration than they may have been in the past. Thus, if one combines, as he says, the dimension of the climate crisis at sea with human activity, which can cause phenomena such as eutrophication due to fertilizers and pesticides, one understands why the situation is getting progressively worse. “What we have observed is that the increase in temperature and the frequency of marine heatwaves in the Thermaic Gulf is more intense than in other areas of the Aegean and, in that sense, we can define it as a hot spot. Beyond that, this concept is linked to the impacts on mussel farmers, which we know are among the most important cultivations in the gulf.”

In the diagram we see the intensity of the sea heatwaves January-August 2024 which includes the temperature and their duration (Source: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering)

The university has sounded the alarm, but there are no ears to hear it

Can the situation be reversed? It is obvious that dealing with the climate crisis depends on strategies that must be followed at a global level. However, systematic monitoring of the various factors and parameters relating to the phenomenon in the Thermaic Gulf is something that would help in decision-making and the implementation of different policies. Nevertheless, as the report shows and as G. Androulidakis confirms, there has been neither systematic monitoring of the Thermaic Gulf in recent years, nor even a body that could oversee its problems holistically in order to propose appropriate solutions. “You can understand that an unhealthy sea affects almost all organisms and the entire ecosystem, which in turn impacts not only the region economically, as we see with the example of mussel farming, but also other sectors of human activity (public health, tourism).” In this case as well, state intervention comes long after the problem appears and, as he also stresses, is not tied to preventive policies. “Providing compensation to mussel farmers is important, but it is not enough to solve the problem when you neither know nor care to learn in a more holistic way what is happening, and to use research and data to chart specific policies,” he emphasizes. The problems brought by the climate crisis to mussel farming are a central subject of study at AUTh’s Fisheries Laboratory. Scientists, together with mussel farmers, are seeking solutions, trying to reverse, even partially, the bleak situation that has developed. Some of the solutions being investigated are the transfer of mussel units to areas with lower temperatures (Thrace, Central Greece, Epirus). However, a wholesale removal of mussel farming from the organically rich area of the Axios is not considered advisable, since, as Mr. Giantsis points out, “even if we had lower mortality, ultimately we would have lower production.”

Thus, one of the research programs underway focuses on methods to prevent production loss. “With the help of sensors and monitoring of water conditions (oxygen, temperature, pH, chlorophyll), we are attempting to create a system that links mussel physiology with certain natural molecular indicators and sounds an alarm when mortality due to heatwaves is imminent. Some farmers, if feasible, can expedite harvest and sale; others can choose to take the mussels out of the water for a few days,” he notes.

This solution, however, cannot serve the majority of producers.

“Through a research program funded by the Region of Central Macedonia, our aim is to build a shellfish hatchery, that is, to develop methods of artificial mussel reproduction by selecting more resilient genotypes, which we would then hand over to the state to implement on a much larger scale.” These methods consist of the following and are not related to genetic modification: “What we found through a recently completed PhD is that among millions of mussels, certain genotypes that have evolved through natural selection confer heat tolerance to mussels. This could be done in a targeted way with the help of genetic improvement so that we cultivate more resilient populations that cope better with high-temperature events and lower available oxygen.”

And while AUTh is creating a highly specialized space to develop artificial reproduction methods, the government, unlike the rest of Europe, has not proceeded with the creation of public shellfish hatcheries that would operate for the benefit of producers.

“It’s not some farfetched or outlandish idea, because I can tell you that trout aquaculture operates in exactly the same way. In Northern Greece there are three state fish hatcheries. This would help farmers by providing shellfish spat so they could continue reproduction on their own; it would also lead to the development of other forms of shellfish aquaculture, offering a very good economic incentive to many producers, helping decentralization, and working very favorably for the sector. Unfortunately this is still missing, but I believe and hope it will happen in the future,” adds I. Giantsis.

To the question of what the competent ministries have done to address the situation, the answer was even more disheartening: “It is the responsibility of the government to highlight mussel farming, up until this point it was completely unknown. When I spoke with officials at the Ministry of Rural Development, they told me they didn’t know. They didn’t know that we have a product cultivated in these areas and exported at a rate of 90%, nor that the sectors of mussel and shellfish farming, in a country with this topography and biodiversity, have prospects. So if there is government responsibility, I would focus it here: the lack of knowledge around this part of primary production which most of us also do not know, but we should.”

For Mr. Vervitis matters are now critical in the present, while thoughts about how things might change, if they change at all, concern something very far in the future. For him, producers who lost their income in 2025 must be supported so that they can work again for 2026. Otherwise, as he says, most will abandon their work.

Up next: Prolonged Heat Strains Livestock, Kerkini’s Buffalo Struggle for Water and Relief

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

Το άρθρο Mussel farming in the Thermaic Gulf: Is there still time to avert disaster? εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

In Greece, the organization ELGO-Dimitra recorded a decline in the production of fresh cow’s milk based on official data for the period 2020–2024. According to these figures, production fell from 652,986 tons in 2020 to 533,116 tons in 2024, a decrease of around 120,000 tons (an 18.37% drop). Although no studies have yet clarified the complex causes behind this reduction, farmers admit that climate change, with its extreme weather events and environmental shifts, is making farming conditions worse, while no measures have so far been taken to support them. It is clear that catastrophic events, such as Storm Daniel, delivered a severe blow not only to the production of sheep, goat, and cow’s milk but to livestock farming as a whole in the affected regions, due to the loss of animals and the spread of livestock diseases.

According to Athanasios Saropoulos, president of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece/Central Macedonia branch, the drought that will continue to intensify in Greece, particularly in Central Macedonia, is creating serious problems for the production of animal feed. “We need to find a way to change the rations, using feed that is more resistant to drought,” he told Alterthess, also noting the direct impact of heat on poultry and pigs. “Poultry have no sweat glands at all. High temperatures create serious problems and can even lead to the death of birds. The same goes for pigs, which have very few sweat glands and are unable to cope effectively with the heat,” he added, warning that another rise in temperature could result in the loss of livestock.

Without overlooking the contribution of large-scale industrial livestock farming to the climate problem, we turn, with the help of Tryfon Giantsidis, president of the Hellenic Buffalo Breeders’ Cooperative, to the effects of the climate crisis on a rare breed of native and endemic animals raised in the Kerkini area. This is where 80% of Greece’s buffalo population is found, since the habitat and water-rich vegetation there are especially beneficial for them.

Watch the video: Kerkini’s Buffalo need water and dew

“Buffalo are naturally adapted to such an environment, they need water and a swamp to cool off. Their favorite food is reeds, water grass, and all those plants that grow around lake Kerkini. That’s what sustained their population,” explained one buffalo breeder. However, extreme weather events, especially last year’s drought, have caused problems. “Fortunately, here near the lake, around it and inside the river delta, the soil remains very fertile and retains a certain degree of moisture, so that even in difficult weather conditions the vegetation persists, allowing these animals to graze and survive. But if water levels drop, the buffalo will suffer and will not be able to withstand the heatwave, which will affect them severely.” According to Giantsidis, the animals are at risk of heatstroke, and if summers continue to grow even hotter, they will no longer be able to go out to graze. Finally, drought and prolonged lack of rainfall will affect the entire lake environment, which will first impact wildlife and vegetation, as well as nearby crops that rely on irrigation from the lake.

Up next: Industrial Agriculture and the Climate Crisis: A Vicious Cycle of Dependence and Destruction

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

Το άρθρο Prolonged Heat Strains Livestock, Kerkini’s Buffalo Struggle for Water and Relief εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.

“Agriculture and the climate crisis are locked in a vicious cycle of dependence and mutual destruction. The climate crisis has direct impacts on our food production, while agriculture as practiced today, namely its industrial and intensive model, is what creates and worsens the climate crisis,” says Elena Danali, Greenpeace campaign lead for sustainable agriculture.

As she explains, the dominant agri-food model relies on monocultures, relies on pesticides and fertilizers, and relies on fossil fuels. “Globally, one third of greenhouse-gas emissions is due to agriculture and livestock,” emphasizes Elena Danali. “Industrial intensive livestock farming alone emits as many pollutants as the entire transport sector combined,” she notes pointedly.

According to the organization GRAIN, the industrial agri-food chain, from field to shelf, including intensive livestock farming as well as deforestation for the expansion of agricultural land, is responsible for 35% of global greenhouse-gas emissions.

The organization underlines that responsibility for this situation should not be sought with farmers, but with the companies that control the agri-food system and drive ever greater industrialization of agricultural production while simultaneously concentrating land and creating oligopolies.

Multinational giants control the agri-food chain, while small-scale farms are being pushed out of the market

According to the ETC Group’s publication “Food Barons 2022,” in four sectors of the agri-food chain, seeds, pesticides, agricultural machinery, and veterinary pharmaceuticals, we find the very definition of an oligopoly, as four companies control over 40% of the market.

Particularly with regard to seeds, the starting point of the agri-food chain, four companies (Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta, and BASF) control 57% of the market, while Bayer and Corteva alone control 42%. Unsurprisingly, the very same four companies control 61% of the pesticide market; only, in this sector, Syngenta holds the lead, controlling 25% of the market on its own.

“Today, between the world’s 570 million food producers and the 7.2 billion food consumers, there are only four corporate giants that trade agricultural products. These four traders control 75% of agricultural production,” says Elena Danali. “Control of agricultural production runs through every stage. From the seed, which is patented so producers cannot save seed for the next season; through the inputs; through access to markets, distribution, processing, legislation, policy, and financing… Every stage needed for agricultural production to start from the Earth and reach our plate is controlled by a handful of corporate giants and not in the hands of citizens and producers,” she stresses.

In the beginning was the seed

Greenpeace’s report “Industrialize or Quit” presents data on how the existing agri-food system forces farmers to industrialize in order to remain in the profession, pushing many small-scale farmers to cease their activity. According to Eurostat, in 2020 the EU was left with 9.1 million farms, about 5.3 million fewer than in 2005, a 37% decrease in 15 years.

This trend is reversed when it comes to industrial-scale farms, with an economic output above €250,000 per year, which increased by more than half (+56%) between 2007 and 2022. Moreover, the even larger farms, with an economic output exceeding €500,000 per year, almost doubled, increasing by 96%.

The Greenpeace report highlights something else important: Although there are now fewer commercial farms in the EU, they produce more than before, according to the average economic value of their output. Economic output per farm increased in the EU between 2007 and 2022, with larger commercial farms driving this rise by increasing their output by 51%. The pressure on farms to increase their economic performance, often accompanied by more destructive industrial farming practices, also means that economic power in agriculture remains concentrated in the hands of a few farms.

Common Agricultural Policy: In favor of large industrial farms and not of small farmers and the environment

The shrinking of small-scale farms in the EU is exacerbated by inequitable access to financing. “There is a major gap between small-scale farms and large-scale farms, both in terms of public financing, i.e., subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and private financing, which is primarily from banks,” emphasizes Elena Danali. “One percent of the largest farms in the European Union receives one third of European funding,” she notes.

“The first and foremost problem of the Common Agricultural Policy,” Ms. Danali continues, “is that it is area-based: the money goes to hectares, not to crops, not to whether healthy food is being grown or by what methods the farm is kept healthy. This means that whoever can buy or rent land appears as a producer, regardless of what they produce and how. Another great injustice of the CAP is that production of our food is not prioritized. Money goes to livestock, regardless of whether it is intensive, industrial, and polluting, or to the production of biofuels rather than to food production.”

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy was established in 1962 as a partnership between European society and its agricultural sector. On the one hand, it promised to ensure sufficient, quality food for all European citizens; on the other, fair pay and a decent income for European farmers.

Unfortunately, 60 years on, it is widely acknowledged that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, as designed centrally and implemented by member states, has failed in these goals, despite consuming nearly one third of the EU budget. Notably, for the period 2021–2027, the official CAP budget exceeded €385 billion.

At the same time, according to the EU’s own data, farmers’ incomes remain about 40% lower compared to incomes in other sectors, while more than 42 million people in the EU cannot afford a quality meal every other day. That is nearly one in ten EU residents.

The current CAP (2021–2027) was presented by EU leaders as greener and fairer. Aligned with the European Green Deal (Farm to Fork Strategy) and the Biodiversity Strategy, the latest CAP introduced so-called “eco-schemes” to promote environmental practices, such as reducing pesticide use by 50% by 2030, and tied a portion of subsidies to their implementation. Faced with fierce farmer protests, angry demonstrations in many European countries in early 2024 expressing anxiety about incomes and their future, the EU leadership ultimately rolled back significantly, withdrawing, for example, the pesticide provision. In practice, it once again satisfied the interests of agribusiness giants, without offering farmers any meaningful way out.

“Farmers naturally took to the streets over the CAP. But the farmers’ problem isn’t the eco-schemes. It’s how they are supposed to apply them without any support, any assistance, any policy guidance, any safeguards,” Elena Danali tells Alterthess. “The farmers’ problem is not the environment. Nature is not the farmers’ adversary, and biodiversity is not a problem. Biodiversity is a solution. The farmers’ problem is injustice, the gap, political indifference, and exploitation,” she underscores.

More on the directions and outcomes of the Common Agricultural Policy in Alterthess’s podcast “No Farmers No Food: What’s going on with European agricultural policy?”

Jean Thevenot, a farmer from the Basque Country and a representative of Via Campesina in Europe, who spoke to Alterthess, describes European policies to tackle the climate crisis as “almost frightening.” “The European institutions, basically the actors responsible for climate change, are trying to convince us they have the solution. We believe that’s not possible,” he states plainly. “The problem is industrial agriculture. And whatever changes you make, even if you use GMOs or other technologies, the result will be the same, because this model is built on profit. By contrast, the family-based model of food production, which we in Via Campesina defend, is not based on profit. Its goal is to feed people. That is the fundamental difference,” Thevenot emphasizes.

Via Campesina’s representative argues that the European Union is turning increasingly to market-tailored solutions, with no real effect in addressing the climate crisis. He also expresses serious reservations about proposals such as carbon farming or regenerative agriculture as currently promoted by European institutions.

“We fear that the Commission’s proposal on carbon farming, which is based on financial markets and the sale of carbon credits, will attract new actors into the sector, and these new actors will buy land to produce carbon credits instead of food. We’re already seeing this, we have examples within Via Campesina’s network in the United Kingdom, and also from Portugal, where crops are essentially being lost because of carbon farming,” says Jean Thevenot. As for regenerative agriculture, he adds: “On paper it looks very good, but in reality it is being promoted by huge industrial companies like Unilever, Nestlé, and others. It’s just nice ‘greenwashing.’”

In contrast to mainstream policies, Via Campesina, a global movement representing more than 200 million farmers and agricultural workers worldwide, proposes peasant-based agroecology, an agroecology rooted in farmers. “We say ‘agroecology’ because we truly want to work with nature, and ‘peasant-based’ because it should come from farmers for farmers, not be imposed by outside actors,” Jean Thevenot explains. He also reintroduces the term “food sovereignty,” which Via Campesina first put forward in 1996. “We were the first organization to speak of food sovereignty instead of food security. Food security deals only with numbers, and we considered that insufficient. We cannot measure only calories. In our definition of food sovereignty we include concepts such as democracy and citizen participation, so that we can have a food system that is fairer, more equitable, and, above all, locally adapted, meaning that crops suited to each region and its local population are cultivated.”

Asked whether this alternative agroecological model, based on small-scale farms, can in fact feed the Earth’s eight billion people, Jean Thevenot tells Alterthess emphatically: “Clearly yes. It is not industrial agriculture that feeds the planet, it is us, small and medium-sized farmers. Family farming today produces 75% of the food consumed on the planet.” For any skeptics, the Via Campesina representative points to a report published in 2019 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, on the occasion of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming.

The full interview with Jean Thenevot: At Via Campesina we say that food is not a commodity, it is culture and, above all, a political matter

 In 15 years, Greece lost 31% of its farms

Within this international and European context, the Greek agricultural sector is also facing critical challenges. It is noted that in Greece, too, the dominant agricultural model, although not large-scale, due to the country’s specific characteristics, remains industrial and relies on intensive, chemical agriculture.

Greek agriculture is marked by key weaknesses such as small farm size, with the average area per agricultural holding in Greece around 50 stremmas (5 hectares), compared to 170 in Europe. Moreover, 52% of Greek holdings cover up to 20 stremmas (2 hectares), which significantly increases production costs for Greek farmers. At the same time, producers’ collective organization,  which could offset small, fragmented holdings, is very weak. Notably, the share of products marketed through cooperatives in 2015 was only 20%, while in Europe it is more than double.

The climate crisis, whose harsh face we saw in Greek agriculture with the catastrophic storm Daniel in Thessaly, and which also brings long-term consequences, as we saw, for example, in Central Macedonia, makes a strategic plan for the country’s primary sector even more necessary.

“It’s not only the climate crisis; it simply adds to existing distortions and structural problems, creating a truly perfect storm that truly drives people out of farming every year,” stresses Athanasios Saropoulos, president of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (GEOTEE) / Central Macedonia branch.

Greenpeace’s “Industrialize or Quit” report shows that the same trend toward concentration in large farms is recorded in Greece, as in the rest of the European Union.
Specifically, between 2007 and 2021, Greece lost 31% of its farms. This reduction concerns exclusively small-scale farms, which shrank by 37%.

Also listen to / Lois Lambrinidis: Climate policies cannot be implemented without farmers

At the same time, although Greece still has only a few industrial-scale farms (with economic output above €250,000), their number has clearly increased, from 540 to 860 farms (+59%). Among these industrial-scale farms, there were only 40 with economic output above €500,000 per year in 2007, whereas by 2021 there were already 300.

Structural problems and the absence of a national strategy

Speaking to Alterthess, Athanasios Saropoulos highlights the absence of a national strategy for the agricultural sector since the early 1980s. “We relied on European subsidies and, in some cases, we ended up corrupting farmers, having them not produce, just collect,” he stresses. He notes that even after the economic crisis, producers’ efforts to turn to quality products and exports were not supported by a coherent government policy, neither at national nor at regional level.

The consequences of this lack of strategic planning are now visible in terms of food self-sufficiency. “Greece is not self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs. If, for any geopolitical reason, imports were interrupted, as we already saw with the war in Ukraine, then we would face enormous problems,” warns Mr. Saropoulos.

According to the figures he cites to Alterthess, only 25% of beef and pork is produced domestically; the country imports 70% of its soft wheat, used to make bread, while the production of potatoes, milk, and pulses is insufficient to meet internal needs.

“If imports were to stop, the Greek family would have to reduce its diet by two-thirds or more,” Mr. Saropoulos notes emphatically. He also stresses that the Common Agricultural Policy played a role in leading the country into this state of dependence on imports.

“For example, the EU subsidy for durum wheat was intended to favor the Italians, who had the pasta industry. What did we do in Greece? Back in 1981 we had 7 million stremmas of soft wheat and 2 million of durum. Because of that subsidy, it became 7 million stremmas of durum wheat, and, in fact, many of those fields didn’t even produce; they were declared just to collect the subsidy, and only 2 million stremmas of soft wheat remained. This change happened within two decades, from 1982 to 2001. The subsidy created the problem; it is a measure decided by the European Union,” Mr. Saropoulos emphasizes.

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While strongly criticizing EU leadership for the directions of the Common Agricultural Policy, Christos Tsantilas, agronomist-soil scientist and former director of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization DIMITRA’s Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, is also keen to point out the responsibilities of Greek governments. He offers a telling example, this time from cotton cultivation, to show how Greek governments, from very early on, failed to use EU funds within an integrated plan.

As Mr. Tsantilas tells Alterthess, the European Union grants Greece around €190 million annually to support cotton production, with the logic, he notes, of strengthening cotton cultivation where it actually takes place, to achieve better yields. “What happened, though? We spread cotton cultivation across the entire country, regardless of where conditions are best for cotton, with the logic of distributing subsidies for micropolitical reasons to all regions. Every local politician in his area could hand out money,” Mr. Tsantilas stresses. As a result, large sums were allocated to cotton cultivation even in areas that are not productive for this crop. Mr. Tsantilas notes, for example, that in Central and Western Macedonia yields reach only 120 kilos of cotton per stremma, while in Thessaly they exceed 400 kilos per stremma. “We cannot cultivate cotton here and there; we must cultivate it where it yields most,” he underlines, calling for an immediate correction of the policy applied to financial support for crops.

It should be noted that when Mr. Tsantilas pointed out this need to us, the OPEKEPE scandal had not yet even come to light…

More in Alterthess’s podcast “CAP in Greece: Subsidies, distortions, and scandals”

Farmers without state guidance in the face of the climate crisis

The climate crisis framatically brings to the forefrontthe chronic distortions and weaknesses that characterize the development of Greece’s agricultural sector and makes a strategic plan from the State imperative, with the aim of shielding Greek agricultural production, shifting toward more environmentally friendly practices, and truly supporting farmers.

Christos Tsantilas proposes establishing agroecological zones, in order to match crops to the regions where they can yield more and better. “We need to put the producer in a position to cultivate what will bring the greatest possible benefit, not have them cultivate any crop anywhere just so we can give a subsidy as a small aid. If agroecological zones are created, each region will know what crop it should plant, and there we can indeed provide financial support for that cultivation,” he notes.

For his part, Mr. Saropoulos underscores, among other things, the need for scientific guidance to farmers so they can cope with the impacts of the climate crisis in their fields. “In the past, there was an agronomist at the local agricultural economics office who had a demonstration plot and conducted trial cultivations. That is, they would show a new cultivation method; everyone in the area would see it, and some, the more pioneering and younger ones, would follow. That structure was abolished,” he says, adding: “Our proposal as a chamber is that so-called agricultural extension services be re-established in every prefecture’s agricultural economy and veterinary directorate, with a specific mandate: adaptation to the climate crisis.”

It is noted that GEOTEE Central Macedonia has submitted a comprehensive memorandum to the Prime Minister and all relevant bodies, with the branch’s proposals for addressing climate change in the primary sector and the natural environment of Central Macedonia.

“We must realize that we need very big changes. Let even the last person understand that the issue of the climate crisis is not a slogan. The disasters in Thessaly reminded us, in the harshest way, of what scientists were warning us about,” stresses Lois Lambrinidis, economic geographer and former professor at the University of Macedonia.

He calls for the trauma of Thessaly to serve as a turning point for policies that “take us elsewhere,” as he puts it. “These policies cannot be at the level of the individual farmer. The individual farmer cannot solve this issue. It requires collectivity; it requires a state that creates institutions; it requires science to stand alongside. It requires a different development model. That has not happened in any way,” says Mr. Lambrinidis.

“Producers are victims of the climate crisis,” emphasizes Elena Danali. “Both because they experience its impacts and because they are abandoned when it comes to implementing the other agricultural model we are discussing. Producers need three things: financing, know-how, and access to markets. All three cannot be left on their shoulders. They are the responsibility of the State,” she explains, adding: “When there are no policy decisions and measures that favor an agricultural model that halts the worsening of the climate crisis, there is ample room for exploitation, monopoly, buy-outs, profiteering, and injustice, and, ultimately, this vicious cycle of dependence and mutual destruction (climate and agriculture) intensifies.”

Alterthess approached the Ministry of Rural Development and Food to discuss the challenges of Greek agriculture against the backdrop of the climate crisis and the government’s plan to address them. Despite our persistent request for an interview with Minister Kostas Tsiaras, we had received no response by the time this investigation was published.

Uncontrolled occupation of agricultural land by solar panels

At a time when the climate crisis is putting pressure on Greek agriculture, bringing even food sufficiency issues to the fore, one of the supposed solutions to tackle it is creating even greater problems: the development of industrial-scale photovoltaic parks, which have been expanding rapidly since 2020, occupying vast tracts of agricultural land.

The gigantic 246 MW photovoltaic park planned over 4,500 stremmas in the Municipality of Nea Chalkidona in Central Macedonia, in an area with vineyards and cereal crops, is just one telling example.

Up to 320,000 stremmas of high-productivity agricultural land can be covered by photovoltaics across Greece, according to the legal provision (Law 4711/2020), while no limit is set for the occupation of ordinary arable land.

“Changing the land use of high-productivity agricultural land is unconstitutional,” declares Athanasios Saropoulos, president of GEOTEE Central Macedonia, speaking to Alterthess. As he explains, “there is a prior Council of State decision stating that protection of high-productivity land is protection of a scarce natural resource and thus falls under Article 24 of the Constitution, which protects forests.” Mr. Saropoulos believes that, in the end, the protection of agricultural land can only be achieved through appeals to the Council of State and judicial rulings.

He characterizes the installation of photovoltaics on irrigable land as a crime and an absurdity. “Consider this: in the Thessaloniki plain, we’ve been building irrigation networks since the 1960s; canals run from the rivers to water the fields. And right there they plonk a photovoltaic installation because, theoretically, it is permitted.”

Mr. Saropoulos also denounces the practice of so-called “salami-slicing” of projects by companies in order to game the system and obtain permits. “There are very large projects that received approvals piece by piece. Agencies could not see that, say, a single sheet of glass covering 5,000 stremmas would be installed, because they ‘cleverly’ got licenses for 100 stremmas here, 100 there, and ultimately some large companies stitched them together and want to create unified photovoltaic parks, the largest in Europe, on the order of thousands of stremmas,” he explains.

As president of GEOTEE / Central Macedonia branch, Mr. Saropoulos has raised these issues in a letter to the Ministry of Rural Development and Food as far back as 2021, stressing the need for proper spatial planning so that the development of renewables does not compete with other natural resources and agricultural production.

“There are many millions of stremmas in Greece that are completely non-productive, many areas that are rocky. Renewable energy units could be installed there, so you don’t lose agricultural land,” stresses Christos Tsantilas. “Of course, that would mean the energy companies would gain less financially, because they would have to undertake more expensive projects, as they would be much further from the grids,” he adds meaningfully.

In 2022, Mr. Tsantilas published the study “Solar Energy & Agriculture: An Inseparable Dynamic Relationship” as a scientific associate of the Institute for Alternative Policies (ENA). In it, as does Mr. Saropoulos, he underlined the need for sound spatial planning and a comprehensive policy so that photovoltaics could even help the agricultural sector by providing solutions to farmers for dealing with high energy costs. However, as he tells Alterthess, “legislation on renewables and photovoltaics is made to order for the large energy companies, utterly disregarding the destruction of agricultural land. This means a reduction in agricultural products. This means a major problem for the rural population.”

Mr. Tsantilas also points to the issue of transparency regarding how much high-productivity land has already been taken. “HEDNO, which has the data, has not provided it despite repeated requests, from researchers, from agencies, even from politicians who requested it to submit questions in Parliament. Because there is a policy of covering up in this area,” notes Mr. Tsantilas.

It should be noted that HEDNO and IPTO are the competent authorities to check whether the cap on installing photovoltaic parks on high-productivity agricultural land has been reached in each regional unit and, by law, they must publish the relevant data on their websites every two months. Nevertheless, they did not disclose this data even when farmers requested it by extrajudicial notice, threatening to seek injunctive relief.

Mr. Tsantilas notes that the uncontrolled installation of industrial-scale photovoltaics not only reduces agricultural production but also diminishes its overall quality and distinctive value.

He adds that, according to international studies, in the case of industrial-scale photovoltaic parks exceeding 300–400 MW, the average temperature in the surrounding area increases, over quite a large expanse, by up to 4°C. “For example, in Thessaly in summer the temperature can reach 42°C. If in some area the temperature rises further due to photovoltaics, even the lives of people in neighboring villages will be at risk. Beyond the fact that nothing will remain of the crops, because a literal furnace will be created,” he says.

Mr. Tsantilas emphasizes to Alterthess that the development of large industrial parks ultimately has the opposite effect in addressing the climate crisis, since in the soils left uncultivated to host photovoltaics, the functions related to carbon dioxide absorption will cease. “Instead of that, we will end up producing more heat,” he stresses.

“And consider this: if at least the energy produced were used by farmers for their own needs, to pay their electricity, to pay for diesel, one might say, fine, let’s do it, because we are strengthening agricultural production. But the energy produced by these units is energy generated by large companies that sell it on the power exchange. The quantities produced are so large that they are often lost on the grid; we don’t even want them. Yet we produce them after having destroyed agricultural land,” Mr. Tsantilas concludes.

Up next: In the Beginning Was the Seed

The research “The Climate was already bad” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.

Το άρθρο Industrial Agriculture and the Climate Crisis: A Vicious Cycle of Dependence and Destruction εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο AlterThess.gr - Όλες οι Ειδήσεις από την άλλη Θεσσαλονίκη.