Small Maltese fields make special case in EU

Many more Maltese farmers are now eligible for crop rotation under EU rules after the government managed to persuade the EU to make the island's small fields a special case.

Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said the minimum field size was reduced for Malta by the EU as a result of recent negotiations with DG Agri and thanks to Commissioner Franz Fischler's intervention following a visit last October.

Malta has now acquired an increase of 98.5 per cent in the eligible land parcels it can voluntarily set aside for crop rotation purposes.

Speaking at an APS Bank seminar on The Future of Cooperatives in the Agriculture and Fisheries Sectors, Mr Pullicino said: "We have managed to secure, for crop rotation purposes, that the minimum size for voluntary set-aside be set at not less than 0.01 hectares due to the size of our field parcels.

"This is a crucial point concerning crop rotation in Malta in respect of good farming practices and will result in an increase in the eligible parcels by 98.5 per cent."

Mr Pullicino said that farmers who were registered with the Office for the Administration and Control of Agricultural Land could also request payment for their land and receive compensation of around Lm51 for every hectare of land, as long as the land had an area of at least 0.3 hectares.

Malta also obtained another derogation from the Commission through which assistance would also be given to Maltese farmers whose field had an area of between 0.1 and 0.3 hectares. Had this derogation not been given, 2,809 Maltese farmers would not have been able to take part in this EU assistance scheme.

Through the derogation, farmers would also be able to apply for less favoured area assistance.

Mr Pullicino said the derogation did not just have a strong economic advantage but also an agro-environmental advantage. It reduced extensive use of land which could be detrimental to the environment.

To qualify, farmers would be obliged to plough the land without sowing.

Farmers would be able to apply for assistance on up to 10 per cent of land which is planted. This assistance formed part of the agro-environmental integration planned in the Common Agricultural Policy which Malta has to adopt in 2007.

Mr Pullicino said that cooperatives were effective umbrellas for individual producers, whether within an agricultural or fisheries context, more so with small producers - a primary characteristic of Malta's agriculture and fisheries sectors.