“There has never been as much investment in the sector as there is now. The idea is to enhance the Maltese product in such a way that it can compete and excel in the markets which are now available to the Maltese farmer,” he said.

Mr Pullicino was speaking at the official launch of the new Viticulture and Oenology Department at the Ghammieri Agricultural Services and Rural Development Division. The ceremony was also attended by

Italian Agriculture and Afforestation Policy Minister Giovanni Alemanno, who unveiled a commemorative plaque.

The opening of the new department is the result of a 15-month-long twinning agreement with the Italian government. The project, costing some E500,000 was funded by EU accession funds.

Some 21 Italian consultants gave the Maltese team advice on Malta’s EU obligations with regard to viticulture. The main aims of the project were: the setting up an efficient viticulture within the agriculture department, in line with EU regulations; the setting up of an information gathering system on Maltese viticulture; the development of an educational campaign aimed at farmers, regarding the infrastructure needed to produce quality vines for wine production; the setting up of a number of experimental fields for different grape varieties and the training of Maltese officials from the department.

At present, around 6,000 tumoli of land is used for vine cultivation. However, during pre-accession negotiations, the EU agreed that this could be extended to 9,000 tumoli, Mr Pullicino said. The establishment of the Viticulture and Oenology Department is an important step towards ensuring a successful future for this sector, which has been deemed strategic for the future of local agriculture, he added.

“Over the past year, the sector has seen large-scale investment by the private sector, in tandem with technical and financial help from the government and the EU.” In fact, he said, a large part of this department’s responsibility is to give farmers the technical advice needed.

The department’s consultants will help farmers use modern viticulture methods, ensuring increased productivity and better quality, both of international and local grape varieties such as the Gellewza, Girgentina, Serkuzan and ta’ Gennarinu.

In this connection, Mr Pullicino said that the department was researching local varieties to enable the production of typical Maltese wines in the near future.