The recent extensive article in the Sunday Kathimerini magazine “K” entitled “How algorithms are changing the future of Greek agriculture” presents in detail the positive impact of the presence of Ecodevelopment in the rice fields of the Plain of Thessaloniki.
Through interviews with the main protagonists of this effort, which started in 2016 and continues systematically until today, it confirms the producers’ choice to pioneer and trust the methods of Ecodevelopment and its willingness to innovate.
When Ecodevelopment started working with Greek farmers, many of them didn’t even have email. With patience, perseverance and positive results (Ecodevelopment) built a relationship of trust with its farmer partners.
“The farmer’s job started when he got on the tractor. With precision farming, when you get on the tractor, everything is already done; you’ve got your samples, you’ve got your maps, you’ve already studied what you need to do,” said Kostas Kravvas, one of the pioneering farmers.
“My father farmed 70 to 80 acres in the 1980s and almost all the work was still manual – zizanocide was done with a hoe, tomato picking was done by hand”, says Panagiotis Goutas, adding that the cost of the work was low back then. “Today, we cultivate 1,300 acres and the need for manual labour is minimal. Nevertheless, our finances are much more strained.”
Read the full article here.
