Training centre opened for farmers

Farming will be raised to professional status within three or four years, thanks to the setting up of a farmer-learning centre that was opened at Ta' Qali yesterday.

Farmers' Association secretary Louie Naudi said the aim is to turn Malta into the Mediterranean's farming centre of excellence.

Through this centre, farmers will be given intensive training courses and various licences, from the use of pesticides to hygiene, marketing and EU legislation.

Mr Naudi said consumers have a right to know that their farmers are professionally licensed. "The future depends on reaching standards, achieving quality and conforming to EU regulations. Otherwise we will lose funds," he added. The centre was inaugurated during a seminar about how to improve the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in which representatives from the government, the opposition and the Malta EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC) took part.

Although tens of farmers flocked to yesterday's seminar at the Pitkali, the general feeling among them was one of concern that while the free market has continued to expand, their products are not competitive enough.

One farmer was worried about France's initiative to set up a Mediterranean Union. He feared that this would open the market to North African countries and bring in more competition.

But opposition spokesman for agriculture Joe Sammut said that by 2015 the EU will open the free market globally, so North Africa would be the least of his worries.

He said that farmers have to prepare themselves for the effects of climate change which will have more of an impact in the Mediterranean than in Northern Europe. He added that to solve the problem of animal waste and rising energy costs, farms need to become more modern and find ways to process waste into electricity.

In the absence of Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino, permanent secretary Christopher Ciantar urged farmers to be proud of their produce and broaden their horizons. He said it was important to brand local produce and ensure that foreign products do not infiltrate the local market unfairly.

"The solution is not to subsidise local farmers but to create quality products that can be exported," he said.

He agreed to one of the farmers' requests to find a way for them to buy shares in renewable energy projects such as the wind farm or photovoltaic panelling, instead of each of them having to use their own land to generate renewable energy.

He added that with the issue of boreholes, the government's aim was to ensure sustainability and crack down on abuse.

Joseph Caruana, the head of the ministry's Paying Agency, said that farming cannot continue to be a hobby, and for it to be sustainable it must attract young people and become a profession.

Farmers called for the simplification of EU application forms for funding or subsidies.

Another point that was raised was that Malta needed to focus on exporting good quality products in small quantities to rake in the most value.

"Malta's farmers have had to face up to countless challenges in their quest to establish a viable and sustainable agriculture sector. But if we are to register a success story, education and training are of utmost importance," Mr Naudi concluded.