Agriculture in Malta: A Historical Note

The economic development process in Malta (as in all other countries) has been characterised by a gradual decline in the agricultural sector. The switch from subsistence farming to commercial farming in order to compensate for this decline was hastened in the post-war period, the period under analysis, due to pressures of a shrinking labour force and the contraction of agricultural land. Malta's agricultural production has been largely dominated by animal husbandry. The decline in the goat population since the early fifties was attributable to increases in forage costs and government legislation to promote cow's milk. Poultry and rabbit meat were largely marketed between non-commercial breeders and consumers. On the other hand, in the case of crop production, three different landscapes can be identified : rdum and gnien areas (suitable for high-quality fruit and grapes), x a g h r a (fodder and legumes) and dry farming (vegetables, namely potatoes). The major constraints confronted by the agricultural sector include lack of sufficient water, lack of financing facilities, the low education standard of the farming community, the structure of land ownership and land fragmentation. Two policies which could have slowed down the process of marginalisation of the agricultural sector include land consolidation and the extension of cooperative agriculture. On the production side, the promotion of high quality horticultural products for export has been extremely limited.