In the second week of November, the project of the contracted farming of our company is expected to start this year. Fortunately, and with the help of the planned rainfall, we are expected to start soon, both ourselves and the cooperating farmers, the preparations and the plowing for this year's sowing.

Collaborators

The number of cooperating farmers is expected to reach the same levels as last year, i.e. a total of 13 farmers from all over Lemnos, who will cultivate wheat and barley in more than 4,000 crowns, privately owned or not, some of which are Organic Farming. The expected geographical distribution, for this year's crop, covers the wider areas of Portianos-Melagkas- Kokkinogeia, eastern Atsiki, the wider areas of Agios Alexandros - AgiosTheodoros in the northeast of Lemnos, and in specific areas at northwest (between Kornos and Sardis).

Varieties

In this year's growing season, mainly 3 varieties of wheat and 2 varieties of barley will be used, while, for the first time,a new variety of legumes enters the seed production program, which aims to act as a natural fertilizer of the fields. In this way, we achieve the elimination of the disadvantages of monoculture, but also the use of nitrogen fertilizers that burden economically and environmentally on agriculture. We expect this change to be gradually applied in the coming cropping seasons, in all arable fields, in orderto naturally enriched the soil with nitrogen for the next crop, and to produce the most efficient and quality fruit in the long run.

 Technical support

As every year, for the further facilitation of the cooperating farmers, in collaboration with Piraeus Bank (Piraeus Bank Contract Farming Program), we offer advantages, such as ensuring the necessary liquidity to secure the raw materials and the planning of the production. As we are the growers ourselves, for the needs of our business, we fully understand the difficulties and limitations that arise during the production process. Therefore, we try to support our partners and assist in every way, in all stages of cultivation and harvesting. In addition, throughout the year, farmers receive consulting and technical support from the company and, where necessary, corrective actions are made, in order for the production to meet the high quality standards set by the company.

Results

For more than 30 years in a row, when the Contract Farming Program entered the starting line, our Family has procured, cumulatively, huge quantities of high quality grains, from the cooperating producers. In recent years, in fact, we cover 100% of our needs for the production of traditional rusks and local pasta, exclusively in wheat and barley of Lemnos, while for the past two years, we have begun the standardization and distribution of the flour we produce, with the brand name "Flour of Lemnos".