Agriculture in Greece is based on small-sized family-owned dispersed units, while the extent of cooperative organisation stays at low comparative levels, against all efforts that have been taken in the last 30 years, mainly under European Union supervision. Co-op redirects here. ...
Greek agriculture employs 528,000 farmers, 12% of the total labour force. It only produces 7% of the national GDP (about $16 billion annually). A large number of the country's immigrants are employed in the agricultural sector of the economy, as well as construction and public works.
Currently, Greek agriculture is heavily subsidised by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with controversial results. Certain deductions of subsidies are planned within the next decade. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
Greece produces a wide variety of crops and livestock products. Fisheries are also playing an important role while forestry plays a secondary role.
Major agricultural products
Greece's climatic and topographic conditions allow for an extremely large number of crops ranging from tropical (eg bananas) to those more typical of northern climates (eg mushrooms). The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
Major crops
Cereals constitute very important crops mainly for local consumption. Older policies of the Greek state aimed at cereals production being in equilibrium with the country's annual needs. Frequent expansive and defensive wars and the fundamental role of cereal products (mainly bread) in people's nutrition, were two factors that galvanised the former policy.
Wheat - Annual production of wheat reached 1.8 million tonnes in 2004 down from 2.1 million tonnes in 1964. Average yield went from 165.3 tonnes per square kilometre in 1964 to 211.3 t/km² in 2004, while the total area harvested decreased from 12,631 km² in 1964 to 8,519 km² in 2004.
Barley - Annual production of Barley reached 220,000 million tonnes in 2004 down from 242,000 million tonnes in 1964. Average yield went from 144.91 t/km² in 1964 to 224.97 t/km² in 2004. The total area harvested decreased from 1670 km² in 1964 to 978 km² in 2004.
Agriculture in Greece suffers not only from natural limitations, such as poor soils and droughts, but also from soil erosion, lack of fertilizers, and insufficient capital investment.
Although agriculture accounts for 20% of the work force, its role in the economy is declining; in 2000 agriculture accounted for 9% of GDP, down from 25% in the 1950s.
Agricultural production of principal crops in 1999 was estimated as follows (in thousands of tons): sugar beets, 2,350; tomatoes, 2,060; wheat, 1,900; corn, 1,900; oranges, 900; peaches and nectarines, 500; olive oil, 378; cotton, 384; barley, 414; apples, 360; and tobacco, 126.
Agriculture in Greece is based on small-sized family-owned dispersed units, while the extent of cooperative organisation stays at low comparative levels, against all efforts that have been taken in the last 30 years, mainly under European Union supervision.
Currently, Greek agriculture is heavily subsidised by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with controversial results.
Greece's climatic and topographic conditions allow for an extremely large number of crops ranging from tropical (eg bananas) to those more typical of northern climates (eg mushrooms).
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