Interest in the e-kalathi digital tool was noted yesterday by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, with the aim of substantially reducing the price gap between producers and consumers.
She also mentioned that the losses of farmers recorded for 2023 have been compensated.
Speaking to journalists in Paphos, Panayiotou stated that with a recent decision of the Council of Ministers, the losses recorded for 2023 have been compensated, adding that “the fund of approximately 8 million is available to our farmers and every time losses are recorded, agricultural officers are deployed, and the relevant posts are made on the website, and the whole process proceeds.”
“We,” she continued, “are developing various tools to reduce the time it takes to compensate for losses, so that we can be as close as possible to the period they occur to meet the needs of our farmers.”
Responding to a question, the Minister of Agriculture mentioned that the e-kalathi has already been posted for days and is a digital tool, and essentially the first step in a series of steps they want to take to substantially reduce the price gap between producers and consumers.
“It is a tool,” she said, “that essentially provides transparency regarding retail prices and the prices received by producers.
“There are average prices published every Monday and Thursday. They are on the Department of Agriculture’s website and on a community on Viber where consumers can also see the prices as they are posted every Monday and Thursday.”
This, Panayiotou noted, “is done for transparency reasons and to be able to provide real prices based on the existing prices.”
