According to a recent survey, 90 per cent of respondents would buy organic farm produce if it were readily available, said parliamentary secretary Francis Agius yesterday.

Dr Agius quoted the survey during a visit to Malta’s first certified organic farm at l-Imselliet in the outskirts of Mgarr.

Dr Agius said the authorities had followed up the survey with some fact-finding which showed that demand for organic produce far outstrips supply in Malta.

Speaking to the Mallia family at their farmhouse yesterday, Dr Agius said, “Malta is still taking its first steps in organic farming and you should be proud to be the first certified organic farmers in Malta”.

Around the world, organic produce is slightly more expensive than other produce. However, “from the survey, we also established that consumers are willing to pay a bit extra for organic foods,” he said.

He said the government farm in Ghammieri was also certified as an organic farm. Moreover, “there is an organic olive grove in Gozo, so, slowly but surely, organic farming is growing in both Malta and Gozo,” he said.

Dr Agius said organic farms needed a buffer zone to separate them from other farming areas as well as roads. “Organic farming in relation to vegetables means that no artificial fertiliser may be used. It also means that the impact of car exhaust also needs to be mitigated, hence the buffer zone,” he explained.

The farming plot, owned by Mary and David Mallia, covers 13 tumoli of land which, in the future, should be extend further. They also said that the farm had always been “organic” in a sense as their forebears hardly ever used artificial fertilisers or similar products.

The Mallias produce a variety of vegetables including potatoes, greens, beetroots as well as ready pickled olives, carob syrup and many more. They also plan on purchasing some goats in order to produce organic cheesletes (gbejniet).

Dr Agius said that for a farm to be awarded organic certification, it had to be subjected to supervision by the authorities which ensure that no artificial compounds were used. “In this way, the consumer will know that he or she is buying true organic produce,” said Dr Agius.

He also stressed the need for clearly labelled packaging.

“People need to read the labels of the products they are purchasing ... the term “organic” can only use by producers who have been awarded a certificate,” he said.

Any farmer wanting to adopt organic methods must do so over a period of two to three years in the case of field produce and a few months in the case of an animal herd. Organic farmers benefit from a Lm26 government subsidy per tumolo of land.

He said that animal breeders had to take the herd out regularly to pasture, feed it organic produce and refrain from giving any hormone injections.

Dr Agius also said that organic farming causes less harm to the environment than current farming methods.

This, he said, was due to the non-use of fertilisers which can harm the surrounding eco-system as well as contaminate the groundwater table.