Over the past 10 years the amount of land utilised for agriculture increased by almost 19 per cent reaching a total of 11,453 hectares, according to the 2010 Census of Agriculture launched this morning.
While the amount of full time farmers dropped by 14.6 per cent to 1,301 workers, the number of part timers increased by 37 per cent reaching 18,539 when compared to 2001. In 2010 the agricultural labour force consisted of 18,539 people.
The research, carried out by the National Statistics Office, showed that the number of agricultural holdings went up by 4.8 per cent – from 11,959 in 2001 to 12,529 in 2010.
A holding is defined as a single unit which has a single management and may have agricultural land in different localities. The average agricultural holding in Malta is of less than one hectare.
Some 98 per cent of holdings are run by sole holders while group holdings and companies account to 1.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
In 2010, 192 holdings, or 1.5 per cent, used equipment for renewable energy generation. The total estimated volume of water used for irrigation between September 2009 and August 2010 amounted to 28.2 million cubic metres.
Arable land accounted for 79.3 per cent of the total utilised agricultural land while permanent crops and kitchen gardens (used by farmers for themselves) made up the remaining 10.9 and 9.8 per cent, respectively.
Fruit and berry plantations, mainly peaches, had a share of 29.7 per cent of total permanent crops, while citrus, olive and nurseries accounted for 8.9, 11.2 and 1.1 per cent respectively.
As at August 31, 2010, the total cattle population amounted to 15,688 heads, with 6,740, or 43 per cent, being dairy cows.
The census revealed that the pig population amounted to 70,593 heads, while sheep and goat stocks numbered 11,873 and 4,384 heads respectively A total of 1.2 million poultry heads was registered, of which 73.1 per cent were broilers. The remaining 26.0 per cent were laying hens.
The census was co-financed by Eurostat and will allow Malta to compare its agricultural scenario for the first time.