Gozo farming needs protection from unfair competition - Alfred Sant

If it is to survive as a healthy and profitable economic activity, farming in Gozo needs creative action that within the respect of EU rules, seeks to make agricultural production flexible, while protecting it against unfair competition. Promoting authentic origin of produce from Gozo could be one way by which to make Gozitan farming competitive.

However, there is a need to define a concrete list of products for which the strategy could be attempted, while avoiding the mistakes that were made in some crucial sectors, like that of tomato production. Full care should be taken to ensure that any available EU support or subsidy systems are deployed in the first place to be of direct help to the farmers themselves.

These were the conclusions highlighted by MEP Alfred Sant during a visit at the headquarters of the Gozo Farmers’ Cooperative at Xewkija, organised by the Gozo branch of his constituency office. Dr Sant reviewed the state of farming in Gozo with a delegation of the Cooperative led by Dr Joseph Grech, Manager of the Cooperative. He emphasized that there was a need for coordinated effort within the EU to ensure that one size fits all policies do not serve to further reinforce the limitations under which small scale agriculture like that of Gozo is forced to work under.

Prior to the meeting, Dr Sant toured the facilities and shops that are based in the Cooperative’s headquarters at Xewkija, all related to the promotion of farm produce, from honey to fungi and vegetables. Dr Grech was accompanied by Mr Joe Debrincat, Member of the Gozo Farmers Cooperative and Mr Charles Sacco, Administrative Secretary of the Gozo Federation for Agriculture and Fisheries.