The farmer expressed his concern towards such infections being taken lightly, questioning why certifications aren’t being imposed on what enters our country.

“How does this enter Malta without any kind of certification?” he questioned. 

Lovin Malta also reached out to Malcolm Borg for a comment on the matter, who is the coordinator of the NGO Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, expressing anger on behalf of Maltese farmers and explaining the situation further.

“Farmers are extremely angry at this situation. They have been subjected to numerous inspections in the last growing season during which inspectors from the Plant Health directorate took samples from the farmers’ crop which were sent abroad to check if the farmer’s tomato crop had the virus. If the virus was found, their whole crop was uprooted, against a minimal compensation,” he said.

“Farmers are being extremely careful in their operating procedures to make sure they don’t introduce the virus to their growing areas.”

“But we are letting importers import tomatoes from Sicily loaded with this virus. And farmers are very angry because firstly, this is definitely two weights, two measures and they were subjected to harsh inspections last year but apparently, the same Department is not bothering with inspecting these supermarkets in the same manner,” he explained. 

“Secondly, these tomatoes are a source of virus that can spread to the farmers’ fields, with the virus being extremely contagious and can, for example, attach to clothes of shoppers,” he said.

The farmers are appealing for such matters to be taken more seriously, and ensure that viruses that can endanger farming in Malta do not enter the country.

Do you think Malta’s farmers deserve better?