A number of Malta’s organic farmers believe that the government has not been doing enough to enable their organic farming practices and moreover, feel they are being put at a disadvantage when compared to conventional farmers due to a number of "unfair" and "slow enacting" government policies.

Following the news that only 0.5% of farmland in Malta was used for organic farming practices − ranking Malta last when compared to the 8.5% EU average from the latest Eurostat statistic − The Malta Independent contacted several organic producers in Malta for their opinion on the subject.

Common issues amongst these farmers are: getting less subsidies than conventional farmers after the three year conversion period for their farm to become organic; paying over €500 yearly in fees in order to obtain an organic EU certification after the yearly testing of their produce; and the Pitkalija market paying the same rates for their organic produce as conventional, non-organic produce.

Organic farming is a system which revives the natural ability of the soil – by improving soil-water retention and increasing biodiversity. As these organic farmers portrayed, organic farming is more labour intensive as their fields are faced with a greater amount of weeds, organic produce takes longer to grow and requires the production and use of more compost, amongst other things.

The consensus amongst the organic farmers who spoke to this newspaper was that, unless one is steadfast in their belief in the benefits of organic farming, one is financially better-off remaining a conventional farmer.

Malta’s first certified organic farmer, who began her practices in Mġarr, stated that if it wasn’t for her strong will to safeguard the environment and in turn the Maltese people’s health, she would have given up on her organic farming endeavour.

She noted that conventional farmers receive €1,200 per hectare whilst organic farmers’ subsidy goes down to €600 per hectare − after the three year conversion period of their farms; this being the amount of time required in order for pesticides and other chemicals in the soil to disintegrate.

She said that maintaining an organic certification in Malta was far from straightforward and that not only was the government’s support not enough, but the respective authorities put "spokes in her wheels".

As she described, after a while, “when the authorities changed” things took a turn for the worse; she had been waiting for over ten years to be granted the permission to set up a boutique organic winery, and once finally receiving the approval she had grown much older and felt that her enthusiasm had been stubbed out.

Moreover, in having invested in grape production − not predicting it would take so long to have her winery application granted − she now sells some of her grape yield to local wineries who, she said, do not "appreciate" the organic certification, pay her the same as conventional grapes, and mix her grapes with other conventional grapes, "not bothering to make organic wine."

A subsequent registered organic farmer who spoke to this newspaper converted his Żabbar farm to organic practices. He stated that he is still waiting for the "promised" ‘New Water’ from the government − which he said he had already applied and paid for – and is still waiting on the contribution of compost from Wasteserv’s new organic waste initiatives.

The ‘New Water’ government project was developed to aid the achievement of “good groundwater quantitative status” intended for agricultural use, in all groundwater bodies in the Maltese islands. In an attempt to address up to 35% of the total water demand of the agricultural sector, and in turn reduce the use of water bowsers, the process that renders drainage water into a high quality water supply was set to yield an annual production capacity of 7 million m3 of high-quality water, supplied through hydrants around the Maltese islands.

He said that “each application process for organic farming is becoming more complicated,” and noted that the continuing fees he must pay as an organic farmer outweigh the government subsidies he receives.

He added that the recent scheme applicable to all farmers which seeks to increase the organic matter in agricultural soil around the Maltese islands, is higher than the subsidy given for organic farming in Malta and so, he said, since a farmer cannot apply for more than one farming scheme, being an organic farmer yet again puts him at a financial disadvantage.

Furthermore, he said that since Malta has a scarce amount of trees, leaf-litter and wood chips that are needed in the making of compost, are becoming less and less available on the island. Thus, he said that Malta's organic farmers are forced to source compost from overseas – again having to fork out more from their pockets than conventional farmers.

Another certified organic producer who shifted to organic farming in Zebbug, said that the government has not been doing enough for organic farmers, suggesting that the government increases taxes on pesticides as they are "too easily available and thus a cheap and easy way out".