Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo said that the agriculture sector contributed around three per cent to the gross domestic product of the Maltese economy and deserved far more respect and attention than it had enjoyed so far.

“In order to gauge its economic importance one has only to realise that the construction industry contributes around 4-5 per cent to GDP. With this as background one easily understands that the agriculture sector has been neglected for decades,” Dr Vassallo told a news conference in Xewkija.

“While the EU dedicates half its budget to agriculture, this sector has remained the Cinderella of the Maltese economy for generations. Today with the financial assistance available in EU programmes it is possible to hope for a reversal of attitude of Maltese governments and to arrive at the level of respect the sector deserves.”

For this to take place traditional and unique agricultural produce must be given the high profile it deserved while new products and services such as those associated with the tourism sector were developed. Farmers needed to understand that without close cooperation between them to raise the quality of their work, they would not be able to

convince others or acquire the respect they deserved from the government.

The Gozitan farmers’ cooperative was one good example. Both traditional produce and new ones such as processed food and organic products required a framework of skills such as marketing and management which farmers may not be able to command on their own, Dr Vassallo said. Organic produce in Malta was still the lowest in the EU.

Dr Vassallo said that the key to success in agriculture as in other economic sectors lay in the ability of farmers in consolidating their traditional products and in developing new ones, such as processed food and organic produce as well as new services in the agri-tourism sector.