Local farmers should be given the opportunity to buy diesel at reduced prices like their counterparts in many other EU member states, the Nationalist Party said on Wednesday.

Maltese farmers were paying double what Sicilian ones paid, MEP candidate Peter Agius said at a press conference in which he called for subsidies to help local agriculture.

"Farmers in EU countries buy tractors with red diesel specifically marked for agricultural use,” Dr Agius said.

“Many farmers tell us farmers in Sicily buy fuel at €0.60c per litre, while they have to pay €1.20. This situation leaves a direct impact on the competitiveness of the Maltese and Gozitan farmers in their competition with foreign imports,” he said.

Dr Agius said that while most EU member states granted subsidies to farmers -either for their electricity or fuel costs - this was not the case in Malta.

Standing alongside PN agricultural spokesman Edwin Vassallo, Dr Agius argued that local farmers were also getting the short end of the stick when it came to buying pesticides and herbicides.

Some of these were being sold for double the price they sell for in Sicily, he said.

This situation was making it hard for local farmers to compete with foreign imported products, which account for around 70 per cent of al locally sold fruit and vegetables, he said.

The PN called on the government to immediately launch a direct subsidy scheme on energy for arable and livestock farmers.

These subsidies could be within the parameters of an aid scheme for farmers approved by the European Commission as state aid. ‘

“We need a serious policy on agriculture, which promotes and gives value to the local produce, and at the same time strengthens the competitiveness of local farmers when faced with competition from foreign produce,” he said.