The first land leases were signed off on March 19 to 14 citizens from Thessaloniki, as part of the government programme to support unemployed people under 35 and boost agricultural activity.

Plots of state-owned land are leased at the symbolic price of €5 per 1000 square metres per growing season, for five years.

Thousands of citizens have shown interest in leasing state land for farming, following an initiative launched 20 weeks ago by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.

According to officials, 4,000 applications have already been received and plots of agricultural land amounting to 1,000 hectares are expected to be leased by this summer. It has been announced that every Thursday there would be new posts of land available for lease on the website of the OPEKEPE agency, which is in charge of monitoring and payments, and of providing information on European Community aid, according to European and national laws.

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