Several companies in Cyprus are urging the government to move forward on cloud-seeding initiatives aimed at boosting rainfall as the island confronts a deepening water shortage.
Eastmed Weather Modification Ltd has submitted three pilot-program proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture but has yet to receive a response, company director Heraklis Panteli told Kathimerini. “The state machinery is operating at a very slow pace,” he said.
Panteli said the company first filed a proposal in June 2024. The ministry rejected it in January 2025, prompting Eastmed to consult atmospheric scientist Daniel Rosenfeld, who helped design small-scale pilot programs to gather the data needed for broader implementation.
Cyprus Meteorology Department Director Filippos Tymvios said the ministry is still examining the possibility of a pilot cloud-seeding program. He stressed that no decision has been made on operational deployment, citing the need for evidence that the method is effective under Cyprus’ specific climatic and geographic conditions.
The three proposals are for a pilot scientific cloud-seeding program, a full-scale rainfall enhancement program, and a hybrid pilot scientific and operational program.