Bad times for potato farmers
Potato farming is among the fields feeling the impact of climate change most strongly in Greece.
According to Eurostat, potato crops in Greece covered 20,260 hectares in 2000 and are now dangerously close to half that as a result of heat and drought.
Farmers of PDO Naxos potatoes, meanwhile, saw a yield of just 1,800 tons this year from 4,000 in 2023.
In the country’s other famous potato region, Kato Nevrokopi, in northern Greece, meanwhile, farmers planted around 1,500 hectares of potatoes this season against 2,000 last year because of water shortages.
The drop has also had an impact on retail prices, which have gone up 55.5% since 2015.
