traditional cultivations, olive trees, carobs and almond trees are quite
important due to the fact that they constitute a part of the traditional
environment of rural areas. Olive trees have witnessed substantive
development in the last few years with the creation of irrigable orchards and
olive orchards measured in acreage have now surpassed that of citrus. Most
of the olive production is used for making olive oil in which Cyprus is self-
sufficient. The degree of self- sufficiency in potatoes, citrus and table grapes
surpasses 100%, as these products are main export items while grains are
imported on a large scale to cover the needs of consumers and livestock
farming.
In contrast with the agricultural sector, the livestock sector has
achieved important strides due to government support and for other
reasons already mentioned. Cyprus is self sufficient in pork meat, chicken
and eggs. Despite the noticeable development of sheep and goat farming,
the self- sufficiency rate is at 90%. Of all the sub- sectors cattle breeding is
dependent on imports. This is due to the fact that most units are mixed (i.e.
milk production and ox fattening in the same farm). Although there is self-
sufficiency in fresh milk, substantial imports of dairy products still take
place, while Cyprus famous cheese (halloumi) is exported in large quantities
in many markets around the world.
3.2. Intermediate inputs
Land available for agricultural purposes is very limited due to the
small size of the country. The big influx of tourists (about 2.5 million) force
local growers to avoid the practice of fallow land and soil rotation that
results in intensively farming. As a result, serious problems with soil
erosion and land degradation have been observed. Furthermore, for higher
yields, the farmers find refuge in the continuous use of fertilizers, which are
sometimes overused. Fertilizer use is important for a bona fide researcher
of the island rural economy. Pesticides and fungicides are also important
intermediate inputs. Before the 1980s, all of the fertilizer needs of Cyprus
were imported, as it had no local industry of its own. In the early 1980s the
Government decided to establish such an industry of its own (The Cyprus
Chemical Industries Ltd). However, this industry has recently terminated its
operation. Following EU accession and the implementation of the RDP 2004
- 2006 certain provisions, like EUREPGAP, Integrated Production
Management, etc, have been introduced in order to reduce the usage of
fertilizers and pesticides.
3.3. Machinery and equipment
In 2001, there were 17,150 tractors compared to 13,316 tractors that
were in use during 1985. As a result, the ratio of ha per tractor was reduced
from 10.6 in 1985 to 7.8 in 2001. The number of other basic machinery used
i.e. harvesters- threshers, milking machines, have increased slightly during
the past few years (Table 3, Appendix).
3.4. Labor force and employment in agriculture
In 1960, a large part of the local population (64%) was actively
engaged with agriculture. At least 40% of its economically active population
had its main income coming from agriculture and general farming practices.