Prospects for organic farming

Abstract

In this dissertation, research was carried out so as to portray the various challenges, concerning agriculture, faced by Maltese farmers. Throughout the dissertation, one will be provided with the global history of organic farming, the current situation of various countries, the local history of organic farming, the present local situation, the various problems faced by the Maltese farmer in organic farming, and various potential solutions for such problems. The first challenge that was observed was that many Maltese farmers find it difficult to convert from conventional farming to organic farming due to the number of years required for the conversion period, in which the amount of produce would decline and ultimately so would the profit of the farmer. The second challenge was the large number of fragmented and small sized field in Malta. Due to such fragmentation, many farmers could find it almost impossible to convert to organic farming as most of the time if a nearby farmer were to apply pesticides to his field, then some percentage of residue would end up on most of the surrounding fields. The third and final challenge was the use of pesticides and fertilisers. Most farmers in Malta apply plentiful amounts of pesticides as well as fertilisers, and it seems that it could be quite difficult to convince such farmers that alternatives are available as the mentality of pesticide and fertiliser use has remained the same for a number of generations. Once all three challenges were observed, a potential solution for each challenge was set up and revised.