Remove the middleman, AD says

Alternattiva Demokratika has called on the government to assist farmers in setting up markets where they could sell their produce to consumers without having to resort to middlemen.

Simon Galea, AD's agriculture spokesman, said that in this way "both the farmer and the consumer will get a better price. Other benefits include a fresher produce, which travels much shorter distances, reducing farmers' expenses and helping to reduce the carbon footprint".

Mr Galea suggested that the government should discuss the setting up of such markets in different localities with organisations representing the farming community as well as with local councils, NGOs and cooperatives.

AD chairman Michael Briguglio commended on the recent move to post the wholesale prices of fruit and vegetables online in a drive to fight unreasonable hikes in their price to the consumer and encourage transparency in pricing.

"The next step is to provide consumers with the option to purchase these products from their locality's farmers' market," he said.

He called for treated sewage water to be supplied to farmers as an alternative to borehole water, which, due to increased salinity, was forcing farmers to invest in their own reverse osmosis plants, thus increasing the cost of crop irrigation.