Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/899902
maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 News 11 "Only a handful of stronger farmers man- age to apply for and receive EU benefits and funds, many smaller farmers are not cop- ing," one stakeholder is quoted as saying in the report. Perhaps in this dismal picture of agricul- ture's future, what is missing is a true assess- ment of the high quality of Maltese produce and the value of farmers to the island and tourism. Farmers are responsible for maintaining the island's agricultural landscape as well as producing local delicacies such as sun- dried tomatoes, capers and ġbejna cheese. It's not just a draw for tourists. The food supply is essential to hotels hosting some 2 million visitors a year. The variety of Maltese produce, for which the sun is an important contributor to its quality, has now been augmented. Farmers have started to produce purple cauliflower and yellow watermelon, or local zucchini. Seasonality also distinguishes the Mal- tese farmer from the "high-tech" farm- ing of the north, where greenhous- es allow the production of the same produce irrespective of the climate. Consumer knowledge here comes into play: older generations know that in the be- ginning of the season, when the product is still in short supply, the price will be high. When the market is flooded with the mature produce, the price drops. But seasonality is also decreasing as cus- tomers are still sourcing products from for- eign importers during the rest of the year, which means they do not pay much impor- tance as to whether the product is local or not. One of the stakeholders quoted said they would prefer that "in December we would consume a fresh local orange, and in May a fresh local strawberry and in July a fresh local watermelon" – but customers demand a product to be available all year round, says Maas. "The younger generation specifically is mentioned as being less aware of the season- ality of products, and used to finding what- ever they like, irrespective of the season." A case in point is strawberries, which although not local and require inten- sive watering and pesticide, are still grown in Malta from March to May. "In their main season foreign imports can- not compete with local strawberries. [But] strawberries are now in demand all year round, especially in the summer tourist season, and since they are not in season lo- cally in the summer months, strawberries are being imported at a premium price from northern Europe," Maas says. But a Pitkalija employee quoted in the re- port, also claims that importers and whole- salers have been cheating the system, im- porting cheap produce which is placed in the local produce boxes – the upshot is that even grocers are stocking cheap imports and passing them off as local fruit and veg. Farmers may be of a different opinion, blaming the government-run Pitkalija mar- ket, the island's main wholesale market, for selling it at very low prices. The produce is acquired by hawkers who sell it on to super- markets and restaurants, grocers and hotels. The Pitkalija keeps an 8% commission. The system has a lack of grading of produce, traceability, and lack of transparency in pricing. Farmers responded by setting up farmers' markets, where customers buy directly from the farmer, an especially feasible solution for small-scale producers. Maas says the Pitkalija can be reformed in the same way as the Dutch flower mar- ket auction system, where the price doesn't start from zero but from a high price where everyone auctions down. "Farmers should organise themselves bet- ter in farmer coops. Together they can ben- efit from economies of scale, joint selling to restaurants and hotels, sharing facilities for packaging of produce… [and] come together to set up a farmers' union, to better repre- sent and safeguard their interest." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Seasonality distinguishes the Maltese farmer from the "high-tech" farming of the north, where greenhouses allow the production of the same produce irrespective of the climate. Consumer knowledge here comes into play: older generations know that in the beginning of the season, the price of the product is still high, but then drops once the market is flooded with supply CUT OUT AND KEEP HANDY: the Agro- Katina seasonality calendar allows you to know which fruit and vegetable is in season, and helps you buy the freshest kind of fruit and vegetable on the local market "Before EU accession, farmers thought their products would find new markets beyond Malta. The actual reverse happened. They suffered from increased competition from imported produce"