Young Greek farmers' new profiles

More and more young people turn to agriculture, especially since the Greek crisis broke out. According to a survey conducted by the American Farm School, new farmers now reach 13 percent. The fact that many young Greeks were left unemployed in large cities, with very slim chances of finding a new job, made them turn their professional orientation to cultivating land.

The survey was conducted in a sample of 10-thousand households professionally involved in agriculture in the Eastern part of the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

According to the survey's findings, the average age of a farmer in the area is 52 years old, in comparison to an average of 68 years of age in the rest of the country. Moreover, 40 percent of farmers in the area hold a college degree, while 87 percent are internet users. Farmers say they use the internet not only for their daily news, but also in order to keep in touch with all technological developments in cultivating methods and also for following news regarding training courses.

This means that the attitude of new farmers has shifted from a rather experimental cultivator to a sophisticated entrepreneur, who seeks new methods, wants to follow developments in the sector through new technologies and is willing to self-fund his own training.