{"id":50713,"date":"2025-08-13T14:09:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T13:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=50713"},"modified":"2025-08-13T14:09:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T13:09:17","slug":"more-help-for-farmers-irrigation-water-aid-scheme-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/13\/more-help-for-farmers-irrigation-water-aid-scheme-launched\/","title":{"rendered":"More help for farmers \u2013 Irrigation water aid scheme launched"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo has launched an aid scheme for farmers to compensate for the costs related to the purchase of irrigation water during the summer months. This scheme has an allocation of \u20ac700,000 from national funds.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that water is one of the biggest challenges for agriculture in Malta, especially due to climate change. &#8220;For many farmers, the only solution remains to buy water with bowsers at great expense, especially in the summer months. This scheme is a practical and targeted measure to reduce the burden on farmers and keep our farming healthy and sustainable,&#8221; the minister said.<\/p>\n<p>To apply, farmers must:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Be registered as active farmers with the Agricultural and Rural Payments Agency (ARPA).<\/li>\n<li>They would classify as Category 2 or higher.<\/li>\n<li>They will be beneficiaries of the &#8216;Areas with Natural Constraints (ANC)&#8217; scheme during 2024.<\/li>\n<li>They make use of irrigation water on their irrigated fields through water purchased from bowsers.<\/li>\n<li>They will have purchased a water supply equivalent to the minimum required for each category, between 1 June and 30 September 2025, as shown in the guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Applicants must also submit a crop plan for the summer period and retain fiscal receipts from water suppliers licensed by the Regulator for Energy and Water Services (REWS) showing the volume of water purchased. There is no need to submit receipts at the application stage. After the summer is over and the list of eligible applicants is issued, the Agricultural and Rural Payments Agency (ARPA) will request the submission of these receipts.<\/p>\n<p>Applications will be open from 12 August to 26 September 2025. Interested farmers can apply by visiting the ARPA Offices in Pitkalija or the Xewkija Experimental Farm in Gozo. Applications must be received before the deadline. Further details can be found in the detailed guidelines on the <a href=\"http:\/\/arpa.gov.mt\">arpa.gov.mt<\/a> website.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, farmers can contact ARPA on 22926148 or send an email to <a href=\"mailto:arpa.mafa@gov.mt\">arpa.mafa@gov.mt<\/a> .<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_50713\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"50713\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo has launched an aid scheme for farmers to compensate for the costs related to the purchase of irrigation water during the summer months. This scheme has an allocation of \u20ac700,000 from national funds. He explained that water is one of the biggest challenges for agriculture [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_50713\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"50713\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-150x104.jpg",150,104,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-300x208.jpg",300,208,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-80x60.jpg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-324x300.jpg",324,300,true],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-100x70.jpg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-265x198.jpg",265,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-324x160.jpg",324,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-324x235.jpg",324,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-356x220.jpg",356,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-356x300.jpg",356,300,true],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a-432x261.jpg",432,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pr251446a.jpg",432,300,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo has launched an aid scheme for farmers to compensate for the costs related to the purchase of irrigation water during the summer months. This scheme has an allocation of \u20ac700,000 from national funds. He explained that water is one of the biggest challenges for agriculture&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50715,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50713\/revisions\/50715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}