Malta - Agricultural Census 2001 - Main Results

Number and area of holdings

Number of holdings Total area (ha)

Total 11 959 11 620

Agricultural land (utilized and unutilized) by size of holding

Area (ha)

Agricultural land, total 10 149

Under 0.5 ha 3 401

0.5 and under 1 ha 2 526

1 and under 2 ha 2 242

2 and under 5 ha 1 501

5 and under 10 ha 292

10 ha and over 187

Utilized agricultural land by size of holding

Number of holdings Area (ha)

Utilized agricultural land, total 11 959 9 657

Holdings without land 943 _

Under 0.5 ha 5 596 1 403

0.5 and under 1 ha 2 547 1 793

1 and under 2 ha 1 752 2 405

2 and under 5 ha 959 2 805

5 and under 10 ha 144 931

10 ha and over 18 320

Tenure of agricultural land

Area (ha)

Agricultural land 10 149

Owned 1 984

Rented 8 165

Land use

Area (ha)

Total land 11 620

Agricultural land 10 149

Irrigated 1 509

Unirrigated 8 640

Utilized 9 657

Arable land 7 471

Permanent crops 917

Fallow land 1 269

Unutilized 492

All other land 1 471

Employment in agriculture

Number of persons

Total 1 524

Male 1 405

Female 119

Total 12 589

Male 10 757

Female 1 832

Persons engaged full-time in

agriculture

Persons engaged part-time in

agriculture

Temporary crops

Holdings reporting Area under crops (ha)

Wheat 5 087 3 572

Barley 1 067 426

Potatoes 7 384 1 154

Onions 4 839 324

Eggplant 294 19

Beans, dry edible 4 875 358

Cauliflowers 1 243 195

Marrows 2 052 224

Pumpkin 728 50

Tomatoes 2 932 352

Melons _ 327

Lettuce 573 86

Cabbages 924 87

Carrots 568 63

Garlic 2 764 87

Kohlrabi 783 45

Holdings reporting Area under crops (ha)

Grapes _ 482

Peaches 2 083 153

Oranges 824 46

Lemons 774 27

Permanent crops

Livestock

Holdings reporting Number of head

Cattle, total 281 18 417

Under 1 year

Total 5 148

Male _ 2 447

Female _ 2 701

1 to 2 years

Total 3 462

Male _ 1 276

Female _ 2 186

2 years and over

Total 9 807

Male _ 189

Female _ 9 618

Sheep _ 10 376

Goats _ 3 930

Pigs 157 81 841

Horses 507 817

Asses _ 36

Rabbits 1 042 55 254

Chickens 847 1 940 445

Ducks 94 1 460

Turkeys 55 4 824

Machinery

Number of units

Tractors 1 996

Combines (Harvester-threshers) 28

Trucks 869

Vans 2 650

Motor-sprayers 4 892

Rotary hoes 964

Irrigation pumps 5 785

Machinery tractor-operated

Forage harvesters 263

Balers 913

Manure spreaders 61

Potato lifters 130

Sprayers 835

MALTA - Agricultural Census 2001 - Explanatory Notes Historical outline: Since 1955, the responsibility for the organization and administration of agricultural surveys and censuses falls over the Government Statistician. Accordingly, censuses were carried out by the Central Office of Statistics, now the National Statistics Office (NSO). Data here presented refer to the 2001 Census of Agriculture. Previous agricultural censuses were conducted in 1982/83, 1979, 1968/69, 1960, 1949/ 50. Organization: NSO organized the 2001 Census of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Moreover, NSO and the Ministry of Education agreed to make available a number of classrooms in the Government primary schools in all the villages, for interviewing purposes. Enumeration period: The census interviews were held between October 22 and November 11, 2001. Reference date: For land, animal numbers and machinery: September 30, 2001. For crop and livestock production: the agricultural year from 1st October 2000 to 30th September 2001. Definitions: Agricultural holding is a single unit which has a single management and which produces agricultural products. A holding may have agricultural land in different localities and hence, all information related to it is taken at the holder’s residence. No thresholds were applied. The only data not collected were:

• Less than three fruit trees of the same species and

• Ten or less vines on the holding (as these represented less than 0.001 ha). Garigue (Moxa or Xaghri) is land which cannot be ploughed because of scarcity of soil and/or because of predominant rocky nature of soil.

Coverage: The 2001 Agricultural Census covered the Islands of Malta and Gozo. Frame: A postal survey conducted in 1999, updated the Farmers Register. All available administrative registers (market sales lists, fruit tree purchases, Farmers’ Registration Code (FRC) and records of commercial sales to agriculture-related industries) were used to refresh the agricultural holdings’ register. As a result, a register of 12,127 agricultural holdings was used as census frame. Methods: Complete enumeration of holdings was performed, so that all agricultural holdings in the register were observed. Data were collected “as per holder’s declarations”. The holdings were grouped into two categories:

• In the first category, holdings having less than 0.3 ha of agricultural ‘dry land’ and no means of irrigation were served with a Postal Questionnaire. (The nature of these holdings with no irrigation and consequently depending entirely on the rainy season is well known; such holdings normally grow fodder, potatoes and onions).

• The rest of the holders, having all other agricultural activities, were interviewed personally at the Government primary schools. The closing date of the census was the 11th November 2001. Non-respondents were given the opportunity to fill in the questionnaire at the Agricultural ‘Extension Services’ till the end of January 2002. (This pushed up the response rate by a further 3 per cent to 95 per cent).

Data source: Census of Agriculture 2001 – Valletta: National Statistics Office, 2003 xxviii, 227p. ISBN 99909-81-973 Mailing address:

• National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta, Malta, Tel: (+356) 21 22 32 21/5 Fax: (+356) 21 24 98 41/ 21 24 84 83.

• Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics Unit, Tel: (+356) 21 22 46 75 / 25 99 75 29, E-mail: nso@gov.mt

Website: http://www.nso.gov.mt