Agro tourism, along with other service- like activities could provide
employment opportunities and raise family income in rural areas.
8. Conclusion
This report discussed the various conditions that don’ t allow Cyprus’
agriculture to develop further. Some of these are the natural landscape,
small size of plots, scarcity of water and others like, high labor costs, high
input prices etc. Nevertheless, Cypriot agriculture has managed to prevail
through appropriate restructuring and move on to other forms of activity in
an evolutionary process. Despite the losses in traditional export markets (i.e.
citrus, potatoes, leafy vegetables, table grapes and other long- favored
products) trading still continue. The search is not for market share anymore
but for profit maximization in the most cost- effective way possible. On the
other hand, weaknesses lurk in the background and need to be tackled, but
opportunities are still present and need to be catered to by a much more
educated and experienced management approach.
The inability of farming to provide a sustainable income to most
farmers in Cyprus has led to the incident of off farm income activities. Not
only has agriculture maintained its key input to the overall economy but
also it still manages to attract investment capital through its various niche
opportunities that favor the risk/return balance with investors than other
commercial activities. Good examples are the launch of organized
cultivations of aromatic herbs on a commercial scale and are currently
sustaining exports and the initiation and surprising progress of organic
farming.
Cyprus possesses various unique attributes in terms of climate which
ensures early season Mediterranean products, landscape beauty,
biodiversity, colorful scenery, remarkable cultural attributes of its rural
settlements, lack of nuisances due to vast inland territories and many
others. The above can and do operate in a synergy. Thus, the total package
of Cyprus agricultural landscape is one that offers the possibility of
extending its biggest industry, i.e. tourism into it thus advancing the high
value added product of agro tourism.
It is expected that the adoption of the EU blueprint in the agricultural
sector will contribute to the neutralizing of structural bottlenecks and
abnormalities. The factors holding back agriculture and its development are
long standing obstacles that are essentially structural bottlenecks. The
fractured natures of agricultural land ownership in Cyprus, the traditionally
small average size of plots, low soil fertility and uneven terrain reduce the
productive capacity and competitiveness of agricultural holdings. Thus,
important sectors of Cypriot agriculture like grains, grapes and fruit tree
cultivations become absolutely dependent on outside help (i.e. subsidies) in
order to avoid negative repercussions.
The continued lack of serious employment alternatives in Cypriot
countryside also tend to maintain the flow towards urbanization and thus
deprive rural communities of the crucial presence of workers and
consumers. If no renewal of the rural populations takes place then an ageing
rural population’ s passing brings closure to rural life. The consequent
abandonment of the countryside and agricultural activity removes the need
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