is the most prevalent micro nutrition disorder, especially in tree crops but
iron and manganese deficiencies also appear (Papadopoulos and Stylianou,
1988). About 3% of the area has a sodicity problem (FAO, Terrastat). Soil and
rock formations have given rise to another problem identified as
shallowness of the soil. These kinds of soils, i.e. brown and red silty soils,
have medium to low productivity. Furthermore, the shallowness of the soil
has led to land degradation mainly due to soil erosion. Shallowness is a
major limiting factor to the productive sustainability of the available
agricultural land (Centre international de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques
Méditerranéennes, CIHEAM).
2.2. Water resource constraints
Cyprus is a country with virtually no bodies of natural running water
of any magnitude, (i.e. rivers and streams) or any large bodies of still water
(i.e. lakes). A serious water resource constraint has been the fact that the
more water rich northern part of the island has been under Turkish control
since 1974. Therefore, its terrain and subterranean water resources have
been deprived of the local agricultural economy. However, Cyprus has a
reasonably developed network of artificial dams (about 50). The single and
biggest project in agriculture irrigation has been the creation of the
Southern Conveyor Project whose main aim is to use water from the dams
network for agriculture predominantly in the water poor southern areas of
the island. Furthermore, during the last decade, the Government has
developed water desalination plants and allowed local private businesses to
operate them with agreement to buy water at pre agreed prices. Despite the
significant variations in land and water configuration of each region there is
a disparity on both accounts. Table 1 (appendix) shows that an average of
79% of agricultural and irrigable holdings/farms are actually irrigated.
2.3. Land and water use
Reference to the use of land and water includes the actual use of
agricultural land, crops planted, quantities produced, utilized areas and
share of the population fully employed in the sector. In certain areas of the
island due to the climatic conditions and combination with terrain
morphology, rainfall is more regular with obvious effects on the kind and
amount of agricultural products grown. The wettest district is more prone
to develop temporary and permanent crops on a regular basis than the
other rain poorer districts.
Data of 1999 show that forest areas in Cyprus cover 391,400 acres or
42.3% of its total area. This is broken into two main categories; forests and
forested areas. The overall proportion of forested areas (42.3%) is near the
EU average of 44%. However, the proportion of actual forests (18.6%) is
about half of that of the EU (36.4%).
Recently, the Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA) was reduced. This
decline is mainly due to the reduction of about 25% of the acreage devoted
to vineyards. The reduction is due to the Uprooting Scheme that was
implemented to deal with production surpluses and with the abandonment
of grape growing. The total size of citrus cultivation and fruit production is
also declining. During the past twenty years, the area devoted to permanent