Tobacco alternatives in Greece. A preliminary evaluation and classification.

The CAP reform for the tobacco sector has the aim to phase out the subsidy payment for tobacco cultivation. From 2006 to 2009, a decoupled payment is provided in the framework of the Single Farm Payment Scheme. This will have great impacts on the tobacco farmers in terms of income and employ ment. This study is aimed at identifying tobacco alternatives in Greece, which can providetobaccofarmerswithemploymentandincome.Suchalternativeshave been evaluated and classified according to different criteria and this led to the drafting of a list of alternative crops being the most suitable for every region concerns. To this end, we studied two tobacco regions in Greece, the region of theTobac coCooperativeofElassona,inLarissa,Thessaly,andtheregionofTobaccoCo operative of Toumpa, in Kilkis, Central Macedonia. ThestudywaselaboratedinthecontextoftheresearchprojectentitledDIVTOB (Manos et al.), which is a European FP6 funded project under Priority 8 - Poli cy related research - Tools and assessment methods for sustainable agriculture and forestry management.