Agriculture in Greece

Agriculture in Greece is based on small, family-owned dispersed units. Currently 47,9% of agricultural land is arable land, 27,4% is composed by tree plantations, 2,1% is composed of vines and 22,4% is composed of other cultivations (mostly used as pasture land). Greek agriculture employs 615,000 farmers, 12,4% of the total labor force. It produces more than 4,2% of the national GDP, occupies 2.824.449 hectares of land and is the main source of occupation for the majority of rural areas in the country. Greece produces a wide variety of crops and livestock products. Fisheries are also playing an important role while forestry plays a secondary role. Currently, Greek agriculture like other countries of the European Union is heavily subsidized by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Certain deductions of subsidies are planned within the next decade. Greece produced in 2018: 1.2 million tons of maize; 1 million tons of olive (5th largest producer in the world, behind Spain, Italy, Morocco and Turkey); 1 million tons of wheat; 968 thousand tons of peach (3rd largest producer in the world, behind China and Italy); 933 thousand tons of grape (19th largest producer in the world); 913 thousand tons of orange (17th largest producer in the world); 837 thousand tons of cotton; 835 thousand tons of tomatoes; 630 thousand tons of watermelon; 465 thousand tons of potato; 353 thousand tons of sugar beet; 344 thousand tons of barley; 285 thousand tons of apple; 265 thousand tons of kiwi (5th largest producer in the world, behind China, Italy, New Zealand and Iran); In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products. Agriculture in ancient Greece In the 19th century, Greek agriculture was very basic. Implements found in western Europe had not yet appeared. The following description was reported by William Henry Moffett, American Consul in Athens and was published in the American periodical Garden and Forest (Volume 2, Issue 95, 18 December 1889, p. 612: published by Garden and Forest Publishing Co., Tribune Building, New York, N.