Hands off our cotton, Thessaly farmers tell PM

Representatives of farmers from the region of Thessaly in central Greece said Friday after a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that forcing them to abandon the cultivation of cotton would be a “red line” to them. 

Thessaly, one of Greece’s breadbaskets, was devastated by floods in September 2023, which saw dams destroyed, a considerable portion of the arable land inundated and rendered temporarily unsuitable for cultivation and thousands of animals drowned.

HVA International, which provides post-disaster services, said that, with cotton consuming a lot of water, farmers should ditch it for other crops. 

The new regional governor, who ousted his pro-government predecessor in elections two months after the floods, has taken the farmers’ side.

The farmers also demanded a specific schedule of compensation payments, as many are unable to work their farms.