The development, the present situation and the prospects of Greek agriculture

There is a general consensus that the future of the European agricultural sector faces great insecurity. However, while agricultural exodus continues to constitute, in many Southern European Union regions, one of the most significant manifestations of agricultural occupational mobility, rural exodus should not be taken for granted. A large part of the surplus of agricultural labour force is absorbed locally due to economic decentralization and the concomitant development of nonagricultural activities, especially in the tertiary sector. The development of part-time farming and pluriactivity provides supplementary income to the farm holder or to other family members. This has allowed the survival of small, non-viable holdings which could not have been sustained otherwise. However, traditional and often outdated production and cultivation systems, as well as trade methods, hinder agricultural sector growth. In Greece, these dynamics have caused a number of changes to the employment structure of the active agricultural population, to agricultural income and to the countryʹs agricultural competitiveness. The last forty years have witnessed a decrease in the percentage of the active agricultural population from 36% during the 60s to 10.5% in 2007, agricultural income has over tripled, the agricultural gross national product is 7.3% of the GNP of the country and although the agro-food trade balance is in deficit, the value of agricultural exports represents 19.6% of the total exports of the country.