Fruit and vegetables with the quality certification label “Troodos Mountain Agriculture” were officially presented for the first time in the Cyprus market, and in particular at the new “Mikropolis” supermarket, on Athalassas Avenue, in central Nicosia, aiming to provide the consumers a new option for quality products, produced exclusively by farmers of the Troodos mountain.

The quality label for Troodos products is the first comprehensive effort to create a voluntary quality certification system in Cyprus for agricultural products. This initiative goes beyond the creation of a label, and introduces criteria and obligations through which producers aim to improve agricultural practices at three levels: the environment, business responsibility and food safety.

The ultimate goal is to highlight the uniqueness of mountain products based on good agricultural practices for the benefit of the environment and consumer’s health. In order to participate in the quality certification system, a farmer must agree to apply a set of mandatory and optional criteria around the three thematic pillars, while he should also meet the production criteria in the mountains, where the microclimate and environmental conditions contribute to the particular taste and quality of fresh products.

Mr. Nikos Tzionis, an apple producer in Agros, said that the quality label “will give new life and identity to the agricultural products produced in Troodos”, while Mr. Lambros Achilleos, President of SEDIGEP Pitsilia-Troodos, called on the farmers the mountain communities to embrace this effort. CyI researcher Dr Christos Zoumides, said that the effort to create the voluntary quality certification system “Troodos Mountain Agriculture”, began three years ago with numerous consultations and discussions with producers in the framework of the 3PRO-TROODOS research project (2019-2023). It is an Integrated Research Project (INTEGRATED/0609/061), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research and Innovation Foundation, and is coordinated by The Cyprus Institute. The aim of 3PRO-TROODOS is to improve agricultural production and food processing in Troodos through social innovation, sustainable management of natural resources and adaptation to climate change.

Mr. Savvas Maliotis of the Filagrotiki Consulting Company, who led the effort, stressed that the vision of the farmers of the quality label “Troodos Mountain Agriculture” is to provide consumers with products that stand out not only visually and tastefully but also produced with responsibility for the workers, the society and future generations.

By purchasing products with the quality label “Troodos Mountain Agriculture”, we support the Troodos farmers as the guardians of the mountainous areas, the environment and our health.

Source: The Cyprus Institute I News (https://bit.ly/3USEJrN)