The second week of November marks the estimated start of this year’s contract farming project by our company. If conditions are favorable and with the expected rainfall, both we and our partner farmers will soon begin preparations and plowing for this year’s sowing.
Partners
The number of collaborating farmers is expected to remain at the same level as last year, totaling 13 farmers from across Lemnos, cultivating wheat and barley on more than 4,000 stremmata (approximately 400 hectares) of both privately owned and leased land. Some of these fields are under organic farming. This year’s expected geographical distribution includes the wider areas of Portianou, Melagas, Kokkinogeia, eastern Atsiki, the broader Agios Alexandros – Agios Theodoros region in the northeast of Lemnos, and certain northwestern areas of the island (between Kornou and Sardes).
Crop Varieties
For this cultivation season, we will primarily use three wheat varieties and two barley varieties. Additionally, for the first time, a new legume variety will be introduced into our seed production program. This new crop will act as a natural fertilizer for the fields, helping eliminate the disadvantages of monoculture and reducing the need for nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are both economically and environmentally costly. We plan to gradually implement this crop rotation strategy in the coming seasons across all grain-producing fields. This will naturally enrich the soil with nitrogen, ensuring better-quality and more efficient yields in the long term.
Technical Support
As every year, to further assist our partner farmers, we collaborate with Piraeus Bank’s Contract Farming Program to provide key benefits such as:
- Ensuring necessary liquidity for purchasing raw materials
- Better production planning
Since we are also farmers ourselves, we fully understand the challenges and constraints faced during the production process. Therefore, we strive to support our partners at every stage, from cultivation to harvest. Additionally, throughout the year, farmers receive advisory and technical support from our company. If needed, we also implement corrective actions to ensure that the production meets our company’s high-quality standards.
Results
For over 30 consecutive years, since the launch of our Contract Farming Program for cereals, our family business has sourced large quantities of high-quality wheat and barley from our partner farmers. In recent years, we have managed to cover 100% of our raw material needs for producing our traditional rusks and local pasta exclusively with Lemnos-grown wheat and barley.
Furthermore, two years ago, we made a significant move by standardizing and distributing our flour under the brand name “Lemnos Flour”.
