Farmers still have knowledge of organic farming methods used in the past when agriculture without pesticides was the order of the day. Thirty or 40 years ago farmers knew how to stop snails without chemicals by surrounding their crop with a shallow trench sprinkled with gypsum after the first rain. They also knew how to rotate crops as a means of keeping the soil and produce healthy. Crop rotation is still a mainstay of modern organic farming today.
Olive trees are ideal for planting around trees where organic produce is grown. There is no risk that their roots will spread to take up water meant for crops. The olive is a tree whose roots grow downward into the earth seeking moisture held deep underground. The old farmers knew this too.
At a workshop held by the Gaia centre, on the Ghajn Tuffieha road joining the two bays, director Rudolf Ragonesi created a welcome forum for organic growers to pool their resources. The tree nursery and educational centre are part of a coastal management project funded by the European Union's LIFE programme.
The number of people wanting to buy organic fruit and vegetables for their dinner table is climbing. Fifty members of one organic produce organisation are being supplied but another 30 are on the waiting list with demand higher than output. This is an important incentive for the farmer who needs to know the market is there.
While the organic movement in Malta has not always found the support it needed from government bodies, it has pressed on regardless. Andre Muscat, one of the island's pioneers in growing organic produce, flew up to Brussels to secure a future for organic farming at the negotiation stage of the accession process.
We can now benefit from the opportunity to form producer organisations which link the farmer, vegetable seller and consumer, promoting a reliable product.
The idea is simply a re-establishment of the networks we have lost. From small family farms living on what they grew, to Maltese agriculture and marketing which developed as the farmer's children took their extra crops to the market place.
At first this worked very well. Then gradually from a small sustainable system the middlemen began to move in and profits began to go to the negotiators leaving the farmer hardly able to live.
Mr Muscat told how farmers in Europe had joined together for more bargaining tools to win back the power they had lost. But farmers are up against giant companies with their own processors and automated systems.
"In or out of Europe we could never compete with their prices", he said, adding that the only way forward was to offer a good quality product. In the EU there are laws governing the socio-economic aspect that give producers the power to control what they produce.
A law enabling the setting up of producer organisations along these lines was enacted in Malta last year. A constituted body of producers recognised by the Director of Agriculture may receive funds to help produce, store and market their own products.
Different organisations for fresh fruit, vegetables, citrus, nuts etc may be set up by a minimum of five people with a good proportion of the costs covered by EU funding together with government aid.
The producer organisation would help orient the product to the market both locally and abroad while promoting production techniques that are environmentally sound.
"There is a market and we are not even advertising. When we start to advertise we know demand will shoot up", said Mr Muscat. The buyer-producer link is vital for consumers to know what they are eating. Certifi-cation and a good labelling system is another way to ensure quality.
High dosing, IPM and obstacles
Two years ago, the Malta Organic Agriculture Movement (MOAM) started to analyse the soil to determine the need for fertiliser. With help from the European Commission, crop rotation cycles are also being studied.
The use of companion crops such as onions and garlic with the main crop have been found to be efficient in controlling pests. Certain plants get on very well together. Mint planted with tomatoes has a good effect on the root system.
MOAM director Mario Salerno spoke of the problems caused by high dosing with fertilisers. There was little need of nitrogen for legumes. The difference between intensively farmed areas in Malta and areas where more sustainable practices were evident from the quality of water in the boreholes.
The Girgenti borehole had to be closed when nitrate levels rose to 230 mg/litre, when the safety level was 50mg/litre. He condemned the fact that methyl bromide, a soil sterilisation chemical we should be phasing out, is still in use.
High lying fields around Rabat and Dingli are less likely to have an accumulation of chemicals than lower areas where rainwater may have washed chemicals into basins and valley areas.
The micro-climate of different areas can also be taken into account. Potatoes can be sown at a different time in the low-lying Qormi district than on the heights of Rabat.
When the highly dangerous pesticides DDT and dieldrin were banned, local stocks were bought up by the government. Tests are showing traces of dieldrin on leaves of crops leading to the suspicion that the illegal substance may still be sold under the counter.
Buffer zones of half a kilometre are only necessary when spraying is done by plane. For Maltese fields, spraying by hand pump on a still day with a one metre gap between an organic field and one that is farmed conventionally should be sufficient. A surround of olive trees also helps act as a barrier to keep spray drift off clean crops.
Differences between the industrial use of sprays which had a negative impact and integrated pest management were pointed out by Mr Salerno. "We are not against all pesticides but they have to be organic", he said. The use of sulphur to control fungal infection is permitted and pyrethrin sprays made from chrysanthemum extract are acceptable.
Other examples of integrated pest management (IPM) techniques include oil from the neem tree for controlling aphids and a dust or spray made from the roots of two legumes. Known as Rotenone, this natural pest control method has been in use in Europe since the seventeenth century.
A new law coming out in Europe recognises that if 75 per cent of farmland in a certain area has converted to organic, then the remaining fields must make the switch from conventional to organic methods.
Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and foodstuffs will become applicable to Malta on accession. So far there is no legislation covering organic farming in Malta.
There have been obstacles to the progress MOAM is making toward weaning farmers off conventional methods and guiding them to friendlier growing techniques.
There is an undercurrent of resistance from agents importing and distributing agri-chemicals on the island. Statements from some quarters have been fairly damning on the future of organic agriculture in Malta and Gozo.
The "lack of acceptable organic matter" refers to the poor quality of the compost produced by the Sant'Antnin recycling plant due to heavy metals present in industrial waste which finds its way into the drains. No reference is made to the high quality compost made by the organic farmers themselves for their own use.
It does seem that organic may be a lifeline for Maltese agriculture as we face our future whatever it may be.
Opportunity for disabled
The Equal Partners Foundation is working closely with the organic movement to create jobs for the disabled in environment-friendly farming. The foundation has set up a co-operative involving residents of Dar tal-Providenza to help train the disabled to find employment and learn communication skills along with organic farming techniques.
A team of eight disabled partners is working with a project co-ordinator, two part timers and a volunteer to set up a small organic produce enterprise. The co-operative has been promised the support of Agriculture Minister Ninu Zammit, in particular the granting of government land as an incentive.
Essential to the project is the granting of six to ten tumoli of land for the workers to start farming organically. Discussions are being held over whether this land is to be at Gham-mieri or elsewhere.
The fields must be in a clean area away from main roads and close to a good water supply for quality produce. The project is made possible through the EU programme.