Iread and re-read the editorial of April 26, ‘Farming practice harming food’. I feel angry, to say the least, at how Times of Malta came to its conclusions without even trying to substantiate its statements through authoritative sources.

Having worked in this sector for the past 40 years, I will try to make my contribution with the intention of rectifying some misconceptions.

What are nitrates?

Nitrates are made up of the element nitrogen (one atom) and oxygen (three atoms). In the soil there is nitrifying bacteria, which takes nitrogen from the air and combines it with oxygen to give salts of nitrates. This is very much so when legumes, such as broad beans, chick peas, peas and a host of other plants in the same family, grow and form a symbiotic relationship with this bacteria, where the plants provide nutrients for the bacteria to grow and the nitrifying bacteria produce nitrates for the plants to grow. The nitrates in the plants are metabolised to form parts of the plant.

Nitrogen is the most important element for all the plants to grow. We do not eat nitrates when we eat parts of a plant.

It is very important for soil fertility to do crop rotation where every fourth crop grown in succession on the same field has to be a legume where the roots are loaded with nitrates from this nitrifying bacteria.

What is slurry?

This is raw sewage from animal or human origin. It contains a high percentage of urine, which gives it the liquid consistency. It contains harmful pathogens for our health.

Slurry smells awful and it emits a choking gas called ammonia. This is a toxic gas that is still used as a refrigerant in cooling equipment. If you apply slurry to plants, the end result will be a disaster because the ammonia in the slurry will immediately burn the plants roots.

There are still a very few individuals who apply slurry to their fields prior to planting. Once slurry is applied, at least four to six weeks have to elapse before cultivation and planting can be carried out so that all the ammonia present is freed in the air and most pathogens are destroyed.

I agree slurry is dangerous, especially to the operator. Once it is left on the soil for several weeks it can be worked in the soil. This is a practice that is followed in other countries. In Malta, it is the exception and not the rule.

The presence of nitrates and nitrites in our drinking water is detrimental to our health. The farming community is being blamed for this contamination of the aquifers because of the indiscriminate use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers.

In the recent past, I have attended seminars about water and the national plan. I always raise the question of what is the source of nitrates in the aquifers. The answer, according to their analyses, is that, in the main, nitrate comes from inorganic nitrate sources, meaning inorganic (factory made) fertilisers.

This does not make sense for, on the one hand, the farmers are being blamed for the indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilisers and, on the other, these same experts are saying that the nitrate contamination from organic material is negligible.

The farming community deserves more respect and appreciation

Furthermore, EU regulations on good agricultural practices do not allow the farming community to apply farmyard manure between October 15 and March 15. The idea is so that no nitrate leaching through the soil and the rock strata occurs during the rainy season.

We are abiding by these rules and, believe me, inspections are being carried out by the agriculture directorate.

My big question is: what about our domestic sewer? The system leaks like a sieve, as was the case for some years ago with our potable water mains. So domestic sewage is leaking from the sewers and percolating, all year round, through the bed rock all over the islands until it reaches the aquifers.

Are we here shifting the blame onto the farming community?

Also, please be assured that inorganic fertilisers cost a lot of money and it does not make economic sense to apply indiscriminate amounts of fertilisers.

Crops respond to fertiliser applications but there is a limit. If you exceed this limit, the crop will be adversely affected. For example, in our vineyards, the growers are sowing legumes in the paths between the vine rows in winter to meet the nitrogen requirement of the vines.

Increasingly, the farming community is shifting to the organic way of growing crops. Farmers are planting plant varieties that are resistant to diseases.

Various types of insect traps are being used to catch pests that harm crops. Nowadays, to rely solely on pesticides is not on because their high cost and other disadvantages attached make their use uneconomical and unhealthy.

Even when it comes to pest and disease control, there is a misconception in the minds of the Maltese in general.

A few years ago, the NSO conducted a survey on 460 growers to assess what type of pesticides are being used.

They found that, of all the different types of pesticides used, about 80 per cent were organic, namely sulphur and copper. This was better than the situation in other European countries.

Today, this is more so because, once we joined the EU, quite a lot of pesticides have been banned and cannot be imported. Also, growers know that organic pesticides are safer to use and are environmentally friendly. Inorganic pesticides are also very expensive and the harvest period, that is the days between pesticide application and harvest, is much longer than for organic pesticides.

It has been calculated that four tumoli of arable land would be required to use the manure produced by a cow in a year safely for crop production. One tumolo covers an area of 33 by 33 metres, nearly as big as Pjazza Regina in Valletta.

Now, if we add up all the cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs, horses, and so on, that are present on our farms, not even the whole land area of Malta will be enough. So we have a manure problem. We are exacerbating this problem by allowing the importation of organic manure in pellet form.

We need to collect all the manure from farms and treat it to produce biogas, sterilise it and turn it into pellets for use by the farming community. This way, we can solve the manure problem and make good use of it, especially in the production of alternative energy.

I trust my contribution helps to put people’s mind at rest and shows that the farming community deserves more respect and appreciation for the produce they put on our plates.

Of course, there is always the odd one or two that do a disservice to the community. It happens in all walks of life.

Patrick Xerri has over 20 years experience in viticulture and is a University research officer.

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