Locally grown figs could soon disappear from the market as thousands of trees have been decimated by a pest within a few years.

John Gauci, president of the Farmers’ Central Cooperative, told Times of Malta that about 90 per cent of fig trees had already been killed.

As a result, this year there was a very small harvest, with prices skyrocketing.

Early green figs (bajtar ta’ San Ġwann), which mature in the second week of June, used to be found in abundance, as much as dry purple figs (farkizzan), a variety that is produced by the same tree at a later stage in August.

Read the full story in Times of Malta, the e-paper or timesofmalta.com premium here.