Greece will offer farmers a chance to settle billions of euros in bad loans to help a sector struggling with the impact of climate change, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
Greek crops, from chestnuts to οlive oil and cotton, have been hit by soaring temperatures, floods and wildfires in recent years, a stark example of how extreme weather which scientists link to climate change is impacting farming across southern Europe.
"We are presenting for public consultation today a bill which offers a settlement solution for bad loans owed by 700 cooperatives and 21,000 farmers," Mitsotakis told parliament, responding to a question from the main centre-left opposition about the challenges faced by farmers.
Mitsotakis said the settlements proposed would include "haircuts" - reductions in the face value of the debt - and refinancing deals with banks.
Tax Rebate
Greece has offered a tax rebate on agricultural diesel and cut a sales tax for the purchase of fertilisers and machinery. It has also paid millions of euros in recent years to compensate farmers for crops lost to devastating floods or a lack of rain.
But farmers say the measures are not enough amid rising production costs and competition from imported produce and have threatened to block roads across mainland Greece with their tractors.
Mitsotakis also promised on Friday to reform a compensation scheme for farmers when their livestock and crops are damaged by natural disasters.
Greece has long called for a European Union-wide solidarity fund for disaster relief to farmers, an idea backed by other Mediterranean countries.
