The additional aid paid for 2003 amounts to about Lm100,000, or Lm45 per tumolo per year, he said when visiting a number of vineyards on the commencement of the grape harvesting season for the production of local wine.

Dr Agius said that viticulture in Malta is one of the principal agricultural sectors and has an important socio-economic and environmental bearing.

On the basis of a census carried out by the National Statistics Office in 2001 Malta had a surface area of 345 hectares (about 3,000 tumoli) under wine grapes, of which 303 hectares in Malta and 42 hectares in Gozo.

In Malta the majority of vineyards were concentrated in Rabat and Mgarr.

Dr Agius said that in 2004 the total vineyard surface area was increased to 710 hectares (about 6,000 tumoli) with most of the new areas under vine not yet in production.

A vineyard register has been set up by the Viticulture and Oenology Unit to monitor the area under vines and to safeguard the 1,000 hectares of planting rights that belong to Malta. To-date, 1,542 farmers have been registered as vine growers. The register is also an important instrument through which the EU will finance the restructuring and conversion of Maltese vineyards to upgrade the quality and competitivity.

Of the 345 hectares resulting in the census of 2001, only 40 per cent were being cultivated and destined for the production of quality wines.

From the above area under vine Malta produced, in 2001, about 10,000 hectolitres of wine.

Dr Agius said that the production of vineyards destined for family consumption has a great incidence on the national production. In fact 65 per cent of the 345 hectares under vines produce grapes for family consumption, which is made into wine by the same producer (20 per cent) or by third persons that acquire grapes at the central market (45 per cent) for family consumption.

The remaining 35 per cent of the vineyards, on the other hand, produce wine for commercialisation.

Maltese viticulture, in 2001, was mainly based on the cultivation of white grapes, which represented about 65 per cent of the area under vines, against 35 per cent of black grapes. The presence of the autochthonous grape varieties was highly significant. The white Girgentina, in particular, represented 50 per cent of the vineyards, while the black Gellewza represented 20 per cent of the area in 2001.

The new vineyards planted between 2002 and 2004 have been principally planted with international varieties such as Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon (reds) and Chardonnay, Viognier and Vermentino (whites).

In 2001 two per cent of the vineyards were less than two years, 39 per cent had an age of between two and 10 years, 26 per cent between 10 and 20 years, 20 per cent between 20 and 30 years and 13 per cent were over 30 years of age.

With regards to the training systems used, in 2001, 80 per cent of the Maltese vineyards did not have any type of support being cultivated with a sprawling form, while 20 per cent had a trellised support.