Naxos: Kapounis warns about water shortage affecting potatoes

Dimitris Kapounis, chairman of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (UAC) in Naxos, spoke about the effects of water shortage on potato production on the island, as the 17th Naxos Potato Festival took place. Mr Kapounis gave an interview to ERT News’s “Live Now” programme, speaking from a potato field in the Galanado area, one of the traditional potato growing areas on the island. According to what he said, the lack of water directly affects production and crops, resulting in the quantity of potatoes produced in Naxos decreasing this year. The statement was made before a nationwide audience, through a television programme of national reach, giving publicity to an issue that, as he argued, concerns the producers of the island.

The chairman of the UAC in Naxos connected this year’s production situation with the broader water shortage problem that, as he argued, affects the island’s primary sector. Naxos potatoes are one of the island’s most recognizable products, with the Potato Festival held every year to highlight this tradition, this year for the 17th consecutive year. The appearance of Mr Kapounis on a national network, from a potato field in Galanado, provided the opportunity for the issue of water shortage to be raised publicly as a problem that, according to him, affects not only this year’s harvest but crops in general.

The water shortage issue described by Mr Kapounis comes at a time when water management in Naxos is at the center of local discussion, with the Municipality having placed a public water supply and sewerage regulation for the island under consultation. Naxos potatoes are one of the most recognizable products of the island’s primary sector, and the public reference by the chairman of the UAC in Naxos to the effects of water shortage on their cultivation highlights the link between available water resources and the viability of the island’s agricultural production. His statement comes to add to a series of public references by island bodies on the water issue, without him explicitly linking his statement to the Municipality’s consultation.

Mr Kapounis did not mention, according to what was reported, specific measures or a timeline for addressing the water shortage, limiting himself to describing the situation as he experienced it in the fields of Galanado during the Potato Festival. The UAC in Naxos, which he chairs, has in recent weeks also publicly referred to new investments in cheese dairies, an agricultural center and a cooperative stable, as part of its broader strategy for the island’s primary sector. The issue of water shortage and its effects on production is expected to remain in the spotlight for Naxos producers, as this year’s potato harvest unfolds under conditions of limited water availability. More news from Naxos at TodayGrid.