The impact of a 40% rise in importation costs for fertiliser, which is required by farmers, will create a food shortage with devastating effects on the country, the PN's Agriculture spokesperson Toni Bezzina and Finance spokesperson Jerome Caruana Cilia said.

The Nationalist Party has called on government to address the rise in material importation costs caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"With added costs to the farmers in a situation where their income is already hindered, their future is not secure and their financial security is not allowing them to live decent lives. It is therefore of utmost importance that the government helps alleviate part of the stress being felt by farmers, in order to ensure a constant supply of food," they said.

Bezzina and Caruana Cilia said that the government's duty is to create incentives from beforehand and not react according to the crisis of the time. "Although we realise that it is difficult to control importation costs from abroad, measures can be taken in Malta in order to prepare for this increase."

The measures which should be taken by the government, according to the PN, include moving away from the dependency on inorganic fertilisers while promoting organic and accessible fertilisers.

"The use of organic fertilisers will not damage the water aquifer. We also have to collaborate with farmers in order to find a solution in order to make use of animal manure as a form of fertiliser, which is more effective in the long run."