Malta
Family farming plays a crucial role in the local agricultural sector. In 2010 family labor accounted for over 90% of the volume of work carried out in agriculture[1] .As a consequence any statistics for the agricultural sector in Malta may be directly associated with family farming. The Farm Structure Survey (FSS) 2010 for Malta provides information on the structural characteristics of the agricultural holdings (land use, livestock and labor force). In 2010 [2] there were 12,530 agricultural holdings in Malta. The utilized agricultural area (UAA) represented 36.2% of the whole territory and it covered 11,450 hectares. The average size of the agricultural holdings was 0.9 hectares. A total of 42,910 livestock units (LSU) were recorded. The number of persons working in agriculture was 18,500.
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Family farming plays a crucial role in the local agricultural sector. In 2010 family labour accounted for over 90% of the volume of work carried out in agriculture. As a consequence any statistics for the agricultural sector in Malta may be directly associated with family farming.
Table 1
Family labour force | Regular non-family labour force | Family labour force | Regular non-family labour force | Non-family non-regular labour force | Labour force directly employed by the holding |
1000 persons | 1000 annual work units | ||||
17.6 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 4.9 |
The economic size of all the Maltese agricultural holdings was Eur 95.9 million. Following the above consideration, the output from family farming in 2010 is estimated to be euro 86.3 million.
Table 2
| 2010 |
Number of holdings | 12,530 |
Total UAA (ha) | 11,450 |
Livestock (LSU) | 42,910 |
Number of persons working on farms (regular labour force) | 18,500 |
Average area per holding (ha) | 0.9 |
UAA per inhabitant (ha/person) | 0.03 |
Table 3
Standard output | Standard output of holding in 2010 |
Total | 95,890,130 |
0-<2,000 | 3,165,720 |
2,000-<4,000 | 3,544500 |
4,000-<8,000 | 6,820,550 |
8,000-<15,000 | 8,228,560 |
15,000-<25,000 | 7,924,920 |
25,000-<50,000 | 12,092,340 |
50,000-<100,000 | 13,081,670 |
100,000-<250,000 | 20,965,630 |
250,000-<500,000 | 14,956,570 |
>=500,000 | 5,109,670 |
Holdings with an economic size of more than Eur100,000 represented 43% of the total standard output of the Maltese agricultural holdings.
During 2010 the most common holdings were those which specialized in general cropping. According to the Agricultural census 2010, they represent about 31% of the total number of holdings. Agricultural holdings classified as specialist in outdoor horticulture accounted for 11%. Farms specialized in sheep, goats and other grazing livestock represented 8% of the total. Farms dedicated to mixed cropping represented 7%. All the remaining types of farms accounted for the 18% of the total number of holdings.
According to the FSS 2010 89% of holdings had less than 2 hectares of UAA while the remaining 11% did not exceed 10 hectares of UAA. Moreover, 81% of the UAA of the whole country belonged to agricultural holdings with less than 5 hectares of UAA; the remaining 19% was covered by holdings which did not exceed the size of 30 hectares.
Table 4 below provides detail of the land use of UAA.
Table 4
| Ha | % of UAA |
Utilised agricultural area | 11,450 | 100.0 |
Arable land | 9080 | 79.3 |
Potatoes | 700 | 6.1 |
Fresh vegetables, melons, strawberries | 1730 | 15.1 |
Flowers and ornamental plants (total) | 30 | 0.3 |
Fodder crops | 5550 | 48.5 |
Seeds and seedlings | 50 | 0.4 |
Fallow land – total | 1010 | 8.8 |
Kitchen gardens | 1120 | 9.8 |
Permanent crops | 1250 | 10.9 |
Fruit and berry plantations | 370 | 3.2 |
Citrus plantations | 110 | 1.0 |
Olive plantations | 140 | 1.2 |
Vineyards | 610 | 5.3 |
Nurseries | 10 | 0.1 |
Table 5 provides a breakdown of the number of holdings with livestock by LSU size class.
Table 5
Livestock units (LSU) size classes | Number of holdings | Livestock | ||||||
|
| Total | Cattle | Sheep | Goat | Pigs | Poultry | Other |
|
| LSU | ||||||
Total | 2740 | 42190 | 11780 | 1190 | 440 | 17450 | 10440 | 1610 |
0 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
>0-<5 | 2160 | 2140 | 100 | 610 | 190 | 0 | 280 | 960 |
5-<10 | 130 | 920 | 210 | 230 | 90 | 30 | 90 | 270 |
10-<15 | 30 | 360 | 130 | 110 | 20 | 0 | 40 | 30 |
15-<20 | 30 | 500 | 130 | 70 | 20 | 100 | 150 | 20 |
20-<50 | 100 | 3340 | 1370 | 90 | 40 | 810 | 870 | 160 |
50-<100 | 90 | 6840 | 3340 | 50 | 70 | 2270 | 1030 | 70 |
100-<500 | 120 | 23100 | 6410 | 30 | 20 | 9360 | 7190 | 90 |
>=500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Although family farming plays a significant role in Malta’s agriculture, there are as yet no policies intended to strengthen family farming in general. The draft Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 includes measures intended to attract young farmers into the agricultural sector and to support them to start up an agricultural activity. Although family farming plays a significant role in Malta’s agriculture, there are as yet no policies intended to strengthen family farming in general. The draft Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 includes measures intended to attract young farmers into the agricultural sector and to support them to start up an agricultural activity.
[1]. Eurostat (2010) The structure of agriculture in the EU – agricultural census 2010
[2]. Statistics Explained at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu_explained/
This text is kindly provided by the authorities of this country
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