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Julian Manduca
There may have been negligible changes in the sales figures for Maltese milk, but with the importation of foreign milk products our milk could come up against stiff competition.
If the taste for Maltese milk does diminish it will have far-reaching impacts on Malta’s agricultural sector and the environment. The ministry responsible for agriculture, however, is confident that Malta Dairy Products’ milk remain the key player in the industry.
No large decreases are being experienced in grocery stores, and while it has been claimed that around 2,000 (six percent of the total daily production) gallons of milk are being thrown away daily a Malta Dairy Products spokesperson told MaltaToday this was completely unfounded.
If the decrease in demand for Maltese milk does materialise the producers of raw milk and the farmers that grow fodder, namely wheat and barley, for the cows, will suffer. Should farmers stop growing animal feed and abandon their fields the impacts in terms of soil erosion with all its deleterious consequences could be disastrous.
Minister George Pullicino, however, told MaltaToday: “the Ministry is confident that after a settling period, the local market will adapt itself well to the new scenario in which it operates.”
Minister George Pullicino said a drive has been underway to improve the quality of Maltese milk and said: "Increased competition is obviously putting more pressures on Malta Dairy Products (MDP) to make further improvements in its product range and production line.
"It is however evident that the investment, including financial aid from the Government, done by MDP has brought about further improvement in the products manufactured.
"MDP’s products are guaranteed to be fresh and produced daily, a feature that other imported dairy products lack. The Ministry is confident that all this should lead to MDP remaining the key player in the local dairy industry as is the situation today."
However, he did not deny that the sales could remain lower than before May 1: "Government negotiated a safeguard clause and should the market be faced with drastic decreases, these provisions may come into force."
Asked whether the authorities had envisaged a decrease in demand and what was done to counter it, Pullicino said: "Increased competition was envisaged and what is being experienced is according to what was forecast."
Should the government assist the milk producers and less milk be produced and sold, the agriculture sector will still face added problems.
The impacts on agriculture
MaltaToday spoke to Joe Farrugia the eloquent spokesperson for the Progressive Farmers Union and asked him what the impacts could be on farmers growing animal feed. Farrugia said "the area which is taken up by fodder cultivation is 4,464 hectares which is 44 percent of the total agricultural land area. Should there be a decrease in the demand for fodder the farmers would have to turn to other products."
Farrugia sees that Malta could face problems and explains: "Now here lie the snags. Last year we had a bumper crop in the fodder sector. Whereas the price per bale used to fetch Lm2.50 to Lm2.75 the price came down to Lm0.75 per bale.
"To make matters worse the mushroom growers did not opt for the Maltese product and imported the straw. This again took its toll on the price."
"With the cow industry in a crisis the farmers will have to decrease their stock of beasts and this will lower the demand for fodder."
Farrugia sees that a reduction in the demand for Maltese milk will have a knock on effect: "The reduction in the number of cows will reduce the availability of natural cows manure fertiliser. This type of manure is always in great demand. The price will therefore go up and some farmers would opt for more chemical fertilisers."
While it is too early to say whether farmers could abandon the fields they have used for animal feed, Farrugia sees some alternatives: "The land now on fodder could either be utilised as vineyards if water is near. The other solution is going for olives. Other considerations would depend on how markets develop under the now free market conditions."
However uncertainty reigns: "Everything is in a sort of indecipherable fluidy condition. Taking long term decisions now would be a very stupid thing to do. Farmers are not stupid. Abandoning their fields is not on the minds of farmers yet, even if fallow ground is being subsidised at Lm10 per tomna, Lm90 per hectare by the EU."
Though history has a different story to tell with the hundreds of hectares of denuded and abandoned fields in Malta and Gozo.
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