Farmers will be able to plan and use the correct amount of fertiliser through a €1.5 million government information campaign about the use of nitrates.

As Malta has high levels of nitrates in its water table, the Government launched an EU-funded project to reduce them and control how much seeps into the water table.

Resources Minister George Pullicino said the campaign was hands-on because ministry officials would visit about 3,000 full- and part-time farmers to explain the importance of not overusing fertilisers and highlight the health hazards of nitrates.

The farmers will also receive an easy-to-use kit to test the nitrate content of the soil in their fields.

Farmers have to mix soil samples collected from different parts of their fields with distilled water and a chemical. The water will then be mixed with another chemical, in the shape of a pill, and the colour will reveal the concentration of nitrates in the soil.

The results of such tests, which must be done every three years, will be collected by officials and keyed into a national database.

Such information would allow farmers and ministry officials to draw up a crop plan that included the amount of fertiliser needed, Mr Pullicino explained during a press conference at a Rabat farm yesterday.

Mr Pullicino said Malta still had problems of high levels of nitrates in the water table because farmers used to dump raw manure on their produce and also as a result of the overuse of fertiliser.

However, he said things had improved because most farms, including where livestock is held, met EU standards and stored the manure in a sealed clamp.

The European Commission recently highlighted Malta as having the best practice in controlling water extraction, he added.

In 2011, nitrate levels exceeded the EU limit value of 50mg/l in 11 out of 15 of groundwater bodies.

The highest nitrate concentration (488mg/l) was recorded at Pwales coastal groundwater body, increasing by 28.9 per cent since 2010.

The highest value of nitrate in perched aquifer was recorded at Żebbuġ at 213.5mg/l.

Nitrate concentrations in the mean sea level aquifer systems were also high. In 2011, it was 64.2mg/l, down from 70.2mg/l in 2010, indicating that the nitrate levels in this aquifer are relatively stable.

The mean level recorded at the Gozo mean sea level groundwater body decreased slightly to 47.5mg/l.

In line with the Water Framework Directive, Malta is bound to achieve a 50mg/l limit value for nitrates by 2015.

Information from Mepa’s Environment Report Indicators 2011-2012.

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