A project that will lead to the conservation of native Maltese trees and to increase the population of the Maltese queen bee .
The Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri together with Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bonett launched the “Fields of Diversity” project with a total value of €261,000 of which €170,500 are European funds through the program for Rural Development 2014-2020, while €90,500 are national funds.
Minister Camilleri stated that the main objective of this project is to carry out research for the identification, conservation, and propagation of native Maltese fruit trees and to increase the population of -queen of the Maltese bees in the Maltese Islands. He went on to say how ultimately it will be the entire rural community that will benefit from this project in order to further strengthen biodiversity in the Maltese Islands. Through this project, not only will the bee population increase, but it will also start a program of artificial insemination of the native Maltese queen bee, which will be the first of its kind in Malta.
Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bonett claimed that the Government’s commitment is to continue investing European funds in scientific research, agriculture and the conservation of our country’s ecosystem.
“The project we saw today is an example of this, where with European Funds, we invested in scientific equipment to carry out educational courses to encourage professional and amateur beekeepers on how through their care, the bee population local will be preserved and increased,” concluded the Parliamentary Secretary.
It was explained that the Directorate for Rural Affairs within the Ministry for Gozo is also working to set up a Laboratory at the Xewkija Experimental Farm. This is while the University of Malta, as a partner in this project, is helping through the experience it has in various local and international projects. In addition, Polish experts from the Horticultural Research Institute were brought from Poland to assist the Ministry for Gozo in setting up a breeding program for breeding the queen bee.
At the moment, a full week of training courses and demonstrations for experienced beekeepers and Ministry workers is underway at the Xewkija Experimental Farm. With the help of these experts, the apiary in the Experimental Farm of Xewkija will also be stabilized. This will lead to the Experimental Farm of Gozo becoming a Center for Innovation, Rural Sciences and Environmental Management.
Photos: MGOZ/MEFL_PS
