“The Government is committed to supply ‘new water’ to more farmers to use it for irrigation. In fact, the corporation is investing in more networks so that more farmers will be able to benefit. In this way, farmers can use their fields to grow more vegetables and fruits for a longer period of time,” Minister Miriam Dalli said.
Miriam Dalli visited the ongoing works in Mġarr with regard to this project. Around 443 farmers in the north of Malta are currently benefiting from this water, and through this expansion in the network, the number is expected to rise to 700.
The network in Mgarr, with an investment of €2 million from the EU Cohesion Fund, will see six kilometers of ‘new water’ pipes being installed and about 51 dispensers which can be utilised solely by registered farmers to irrigate their fields. With an innovative system, farmers are given electronic cards to retrieve the water in proportion to the amount of land they farm.
This expansion is also taking place in Gozo and the south of Malta. In Gozo, the number of farmers who will benefit from this water is expected to rise to 420 from the current 330 farmers. In the south of Malta, where the project is logistically more complex and wider, it is expected that around 700 farmers will start using this water in the near future.
“New water is giving a lease of life to our farmers,” reiterated the Chief Executive of the Corporation, Mr Ivan Falzon.
Since its inception in 2017, farmers are benefitting from a stable supply of low salinity water resulting in a very positive impact on their crops, giving them a better shelf life and greater production flexibility. Some farmers are even growing more than one crop a year because the ‘new water’ does not have any negative impact on the fertility of the soil.
Farmers are also minimising the strain on the aquifer that is caused by borehole extraction, exacerbated by the poor rainfall of the last years, and helping the aquifer to replenish over time.
New water is treated in three phases: ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis, and advanced oxidification. This three-phase treatment is indeed revolutionary, and Malta is amongst world leaders in the field such as Israel and Singapore. The quality of this water is above Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) standards and undergoes strict testing regime at the corporation’s laboratories.
Photo: MESD
