Safeguarding farmers' interests

I refer to the article "PM assures farmers: Their interests and those of agriculture will be safeguarded" (November 11).

I am pleased to note that the prime minister has taken a personal interest in this sector but one must bear in mind that when agriculture is referred to, it does not just cover horticulture. The agricultural spectrum is much wider and farming includes animal husbandry, poultry growing, wine making and all those primary sectors that provide each and every one of us with our daily food and drink.

Is is also commendable that the prime minister is promising to safeguard the farmers' interests and I am personally in total agreement with the idea that the end consumer will finally benefit - both in price and the quality of the local agricultural product.

However, in our particular industry, the breeding and processing of broiler chicken, safeguards and assistance do not seem very well defined when one compares the situation with other agricultural sectors. It is true that the farmers are receiving a direct subsidy on the weight of the produced live chicken, but we must not forget that for the farmer to continue his business, he has to have his guaranteed clientele, i.e. the local slaughtering and/or processing plants. What is effectively happening is that the farmer's subsidy is passed on to the slaughtering plant and henceforth to the consumer.

This is well and good and if the farmer is to improve his breeding facilities, so that the required rearing standards are reached, then he has a further subsidy that is available according to his breeding capacity and capability. On the other hand, even the slaughter houses and processing plants are required to upgrade their facilities in the shortest possible term but, to date, they have no direct assistance to this effect.

Should the situation remain un-changed, there will only be one end result. Apart from the increase in unemployment, the farmers will have fewer clients and hence their interests can no longer be safeguarded! The poultry industry today is totally dependant on the private sector. There is no government abattoir that will take all the produce as is the case for local beef and pork production and it is therefore now an urgent important issue to award this sector a wider view than what is currently being given.

I believe that the local chicken products are genuine and reflect a high level of quality. We are more than willing to improve our processing facilities so as to safeguard our and the farmers' long-term livelihood. The only thing we ask for is to be placed on equal footing with our possible competitors abroad.

With the protection of the levies being gradually removed and the demand to upgrade our facilities in a short span of time, I think that it is only fair that the government provides some sort of financial assistance in the achievement of our goals as is currently the case in the pork processing industry (we wonder why a different policy is being adopted!).

The Maltese farmers and workers are capable of producing the same quality product at the same price of their European counterparts. We are just asking for an initial investment in our long-term commitment to survive.