What is the main economic sector?
The agricultural sector in Crete
The agricultural sector provides the most employment in Crete. Just under half of the working population is employed in agriculture; forty years ago this was still more than three quarters. Crete has 98,000 agricultural businesses. For centuries, the vast olive groves, covering more than 150,000 hectares, have dominated the island. No other country in the world consumes as many olives as Greece; fifteen kilos per capita.
Olives and horticulture
A large part of the olive harvest on Crete is sold within the European Union. The accession to the EU in 1981 has certainly paid off for the Cretan olive farmers. Due to the system of guaranteed minimum prices, there is a considerable turnover.
In addition to olive cultivation, horticulture is an important pillar of the agricultural sector. The intensive cultivation that ensures high yields per hectare means that the agricultural income is higher than on the mainland. Horticulture, often practiced in greenhouses or on well-irrigated fields, takes up more than half of the agricultural total. Cucumbers and tomatoes are the most important products, but aubergines, onions, peppers and green beans are also grown. More exotic fruits such as kiwis, melons, bananas and avocados are also grown in greenhouses.
Where irrigation used to be provided by windmills, irrigation is now done with purchased water. In the olive fields, the large quantities of ethylene hoses are evidence of this.
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City walk Rethymnon – GPS interactive audio tour
You can experience this beautiful city centre with the interactive GPS app VoiceMap. Install the app for free and choose ‘Rethymnon’.
In the webshop of this site you can purchase a code that gives access to all the information you need to experience a great day in Rethymnon.
Would you like to get an impression first? Then read this page about Rethymnon first.
Or you can read one of the following articles:
The Messara plain is a fertile plateau surrounded by mountain ranges.
Typically, the olive harvest is carried out by a small group of four to five people.
Cretan wines have their origins in places such as the Vathypero winery.