The EU member states have just given their green light to the implementation of Malta's Rural Development Plan (RDP) which will see an investment of €100 million until 2013.

This will be the largest ever investment in the agriculture sector, with 76 per cent of the funds, equivalent to €76.6 million, coming out of EU coffers.

The plan sets out the priorities of the investment aimed particularly at strengthening competitiveness, the development and sustainable use of natural resources and the global attractiveness of rural areas.

The plan was submitted to the EU by the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development last September.

According to the plan, a major proportion of the investment, €32.4 million, will be dedicated to the improvement of competitiveness of the sector.

This will include measures aimed at the modernisation of agricultural holdings, the improvement of the infrastructure related to development and the adaptation of agriculture to add value to agricultural products.

The environment and the improvement of the countryside will also see an investment of over €25 million. This will include the financing of agri-environment actions such as landscaping and the repair of rubble walls.

Millions of euros will be spent on improving the quality of life through the conservation and valorisation of the rural, natural and cultural heritage.

The approval of the Rural Development Plan forms part of a fundamental reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), started in 2003. According to this reform, member states can choose actions for which they receive EU financial support in the context of integrated rural development programmes.

Agriculture is the largest land user in the Maltese islands, accounting for 47.8 per cent of the total area.

In 2005 the total agricultural land amounted to 11,791 hectares, of which 87 per cent or 10,254 hectares were being used, while around one per cent constituted unutilised agricultural land and 12 per cent was garigue. The number of agricultural holdings amounted to 11,072 with an average size of 0.9 hectares.

Only two per cent of the holdings have more than five hectares. Organic farming is very low, amounting to only 0.12 per cent of the land area.

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