Farmers who spend the whole day toiling their fields are gradually becoming fewer in number as part-time employment in agriculture shot up by 37 per cent in the past decade, new research shows.

The Census of Agriculture 2010, published yesterday, shows that the agricultural workforce consisted of 18,539 farmers, the vast majority of them part-timers.

While the amount of full-time farmers dropped by 15 per cent, to 1,301, part-timers now number 18,539, according to the census carried out by the National Statistics Office.

“This could be due to the fact that the industry does not attract much financial benefits... Over the years, there has been a shift to the services industry, so there was an increase in part-time workers that do not depend on farming for their main income,” NSO director general Michael Pace Ross said.

He pointed out that the agricultural contribution made up less that two per cent of GDP.

On the other hand, the sector was very significant within the EU where 50 per cent of the budget was spent on agriculture, he said.

The 2010 census followed a similar exercise carried out in 2001 but, this time, it formed part of a survey carried out across the EU and was co-financed by Eurostat.

For the first time, Malta would be able to compare agricultural data and have a clearer understanding of where the island stood, he said.

The census aimed to take a snapshot of the agriculture situation on August 31, 2010.

Results showed that stocks of sheep and goats increased while those of cattle, pigs, broilers (poultry raised for meat) and laying hens declined.

The reductions could be the result of EU compliancy regulations introduced in 2004 when Malta joined the bloc, Mr Pace Ross said.

Over the past 10 years, the amount of land utilised for agriculture rose by almost 19 per cent, reaching a total of 11,453 hectares.

70,593

The number of pigs in Malta

The research showed that the number of agricultural holdings (defined as a single unit that has a single management and may have agricultural land in different localities) went up by 4.8 per cent – from 11,959 in 2001 to 12,529 in 2010.

The average agricultural holding in Malta consists 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.

Arable land (mainly used for crop rotation) accounted for 79 per cent of the total utilised agricultural land while permanent crops and kitchen gardens (planted by farmers for their personal use) made up the remaining 10.9 and 9.8 per cent.

Fruit and berry plantations, mainly peaches, had a share of 28 per cent of total permanent crops, while citrus, olive and nurseries accounted for nine, 11 and one per cent, respectively.

Some 192 holdings, or 1.5 per cent, used equipment for renewable energy generation and mainly consisted of wind (144 holdings) and solar (48) systems.

Farming facts

• The majority of registered agricultural workers are men with 3,940 women working.
• The cattle population amounted to 15,688.
• About 43 per cent of the cattle were dairy cows.
• The pig population amounted to 70,593.
• The number of sheep reached 11,873.
• Goats amounted to 4,384 heads.
• A total of 1.2 million poultry heads were registered.
• About 26 per cent of poultry were laying hens.
• 28.2 million cubic metres of water were used for irrigation between September 2009 and August 2010.