The Vice-Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens, President of the Working Group of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food

The Vice-Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens, President of the Working Group of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.

The Vice-Rector of Administrative Affairs, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs of the Agricultural University of Athens, Mr Nikolaos Dercas, Professor at the Department of Natural Resources Development and Agricultural Engineering, has been appointed President of a Working Group at the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, with the task to amend the institutional framework applying to Land Reclamation Organizations (LROs).

The Vice-Rector Mr Nikolaos Dercas has carried out a study, with Mr Dimitrios Skuras, Professor at the Department of Economics of the University of Patras, and Mr Dimitrios Psaltopoulos, Professor at the School of Economics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in which they have proposed solutions at the institutional level («The necessary reforms to the institutional, organizational and operational framework of collective irrigation networks in Greece», diaNEOsis, 06.2021).

Mr Dercas pointed out that the working group aims at establishing viable public institutions of agricultural water management and staffing them with qualified scientists in order to ensure rational management of the works as well as irrigation under scientific guidance and supervision.

The amendment of the institutional framework is considered indispensable given the poor operating condition of most works, the understaffing of management organizations, the high debt of many LROs as well as the increased energy cost.