Report from

Malta is a small island in the Mediterranean with only about 12,000 hectares of land under cultivation. This is less than 40% of the land of which about 80% is under drip irrigation. There are some 3,000 full-time farmers and another 17,000 part-time farmers.

One of the major constraints facing agriculture in Malta today is mismanagement of water available. In Malta the average rainfall is 500 mm annually falling mainly between October to March, by which our agriculture can be defined as semi-arid. The island, although self-sufficient as regards fresh agricultural produce, could do even better if more of the large volumes of rain water being lost to the sea could be saved.

In Malta every farmer who irrigates his land has an average of 2 to 3 small reservoirs. These reservoirs, which have a small holding capacity, are filled in a matter of hours if it rains heavily, as was the case this winter when it rained about 120mm in a few hours with the excess water running off into the sea.

Solutions: South

In the last few years in the south of the island, at Sant Antonin Zabbar, a recycling plant for sewage water was set up to help the nearby farmers improve their land from dry to irrigated land, and so the amount of agricultural produce has increased considerably. Before the large recycling plant was built in 1980, each farmer constructed a reservoir and channels were dug so that water could flow straight into his field reservoir.

Five more large reservoirs with different holding capacities were built to store water from where it is distributed. These now serve for 600 ha. (5,400 dunams) of cultivated land. The recycling plant produces over 2,000,000 gallons of water daily. This is around double the water needed for irrigated land found in the north of the island. This plant has helped Malta's agriculture in no small way, and besides the Maltese housewife is satisfied. Malta exports a large amount of produce such as spring potatos (6,400 tons) and also watermelons to Holland.

Solutions: North

On the other hand, on the north side of the island, where I am doing my extension service work, many problems face the farmers and also the Office of the Extension Service, although one can see many large reservoirs. In the north each year places such as Rabat, Bahrija, Mtahleb, etc., where most of the irrigated land is found, suffer damage of different kinds as was the case this year when a big storm hit the island.

In the north with its many valleys excess water runs through and is lost to the sea. Another drawback is that these valleys are filled with discarded materials, forcing the water to find other ways to pass through by eroding the soil and also damaging the crops.

What should be done to avoid this damage and save this large amount of water from being lost? First of all, in my humble opinion, the valleys should be cleaned immediately, each farmer doing his utmost at least to clean that part of the valley touching his fields, thus avoiding damage of soil run-off, destruction of retaining walls and, most important, structural damage to the valleys themselves.

If one can see clearly and pay attention, our forefathers built water channels although unfortunately most of them are now buried or destroyed through mechanization or when reclamation of land or building was carried

out. Although nothing can be done about the latter, something should be done so that excess water which is escaping and causing this damage is diverted to reservoirs as is being done in Israel.

To do this we need help from seasoned experts who have vast experience in this field. As we heard from Mr. Weisberg, Vice-President of TAHAL (Israeli government-owned water management company) in his talk on the relevant subject "Water Resources," this can be achieved.

This achievement could be a breakthrough in saving all those millions of gallons of run-off water from being lost to the sea, thus helping our farmers to reach their goal of having enough water at the time when bad weather prevails.

Report from Thailand

Israel was my first visit to a foreign country during March to June 1969, 27 years ago to participate in the 9th international Course on Extension Methods and Fertilizers Use. I arrived in Israel one early morning at Lod Airport and I took a taxi to the Metropol Hotel which is situated very close to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a very windy, rainy and stormy day. I felt very cold and lonely. The next day I moved to Ruppin Institute in Netanya to attend the course. I got much knowledge on how to use fertilizers properly, how to initiate the farmers and how to prepare the visual aids for presentations. I got to know many friends from India, Korea, Singapore, Iran and the Philippines. I still recall all the staff and lecturers, Mrs. G. Rodstein, Mr. Gershon Fradkin, Mr. Dov Shamir, Mr. P. Kuperstein, Mr. T. Gans and one beautiful lady, Ms. Ofra Braude, who gave us much of her knowledge and also made me feel at home.

Now I do research on the application of organic fertilizers for improving soil productivity, which has progressed successfully. I joined a project with outstanding scientists from Japan and Australia and had many opportunities to attend and participate in international symposiums. I have always thought that much of my basic knowledge I got from my visit to Israel. If our Shalom members are interested on my research, please write me at the address below and I will send the reprint.

We had a good opportunity to visit many interesting and holy places: Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Negev desert, Beersheva, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. I strongly wish to visit Israel again in the future.

With best regards,

Prasert Songmuang
Soil Science Division
Department of Agriculture
Chatuchack, Bangkok 10900
THAILAND

Fax: 662-579-6511