LAND AND WATER

MANAGEMENT IN MALTESE
AGRICULTURE

by
Ing. Emanuel Grech
 Land Use

• Agricultural land - 11,620 ha

Dry Land - 8,640 ha

Irrigated - 1,508 ha
Unutilised - 1,472 ha

• No. of parcels - c.a. 80,000

• Agricultural employment

Full time - 1,524

Part time - 12,589
 Trend in Land Use

14000
12000
10000
8000
Arable Land
6000 Irrigated Land
4000
2000
0
1983 1991 2001 2003
 Land Ownership

• Private (c.a. 40%)

• Government (c.a. 60%) - administered by

: Land department
: Joint Office

• Only 13% of land is owned by farmers. The majority are

tenants.
 Leases

• The land is leased on a yearly basis. Farmers want longer term

leases to invest in the land.

• Government leases are not easily terminated.

• Transfer of leases can only go to linear descendants.

• When land becomes vacant, it is leased through a tender.

 Land Fragmentation

• A direct result of the structure of inheritance laws.

• Most fields are small, making their cultivation rather inefficient.

60% of all land parcels are less than 1 ha in size.

• 74% of the agricultural holdings are less than 1ha and consist
of many parcels scattered at various localities.

• Many farmers agree with land consolidation, but exchange of

land is rather difficult.

- no authorization is granted by the land owner

- land value varies considerably
 Water Management

Malta Resources Authority (MRA)

- Responsible for legislation

Water Services Corporation (WSC)

- Responsible for production and distribution

Department of Agriculture
- Responsible for promoting irrigated agriculture and for
distribution of TSE to farmers
 Water Resources

11% Perched
2%
8% Aquifer
Mean Sea
Level Aquifer
Harvested
Rainwater
Treated
79%
Sewage
 Problems related to Water Resources

Perched Aquifers -Reserves over-exploited

-Quality deteriorating

Mean Sea Level Aquifers -Reserves over-exploited

-Salinity increasing

Harvested Rainwater -Contamination increasing

-Storage capacity decreasing

Treated Sewage Water -Salinity increasing

-Inefficient distribution
 Quality of Irrigation Water

Source of Mean EC Mean SAR

Water dS/m
Harvested 1.7 18.1
Rainwater
Perched Aquifer 1.0 10.1

Mean Sea Level 3.4 28.7

Aquifer
Treated Sewage 6.6 50.5
Water
 Present situation of Irrigated Agriculture
• Increasing pressure on water resources

• Decreasing water quality

• Rising expenses (equipment, energy) and decreasing income

on sales

• Relatively low water use efficiencies due to small and irregularly

shaped fields

• Irrigations based on experience. Lack of know how on Crop

Water Requirements
 Good Agricultural Practices

Promotes:

• Use of irrigation scheduling methods to avoid over-irrigation

• Use of irrigation systems that give better water use efficiency

• Other water conservation practices

• Application of nutrients by fertigation

 Future Challenges

• Unauthorized wells might be regulated and extraction

quotas might be imposed.
• Will the available water be enough to sustain the present
irrigated land?

• Treated sewage water is expected to increase by five

times.
• But will its quality be suitable for irrigation?

• Cost of irrigation water will probably increase.

• Will the income from sales of produce justify the cost of
water?
THANKYOU