Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, Hon. Anton Refalo, has just launched the Protection of Agricultural Land Regulations 2025, a new set of laws aimed at preserving Malta’s precious farmland, and no, before you ask, it’s not about taking your land or stopping you from enjoying a BBQ with the family.
These regulations are being introduced as part of the government’s wider efforts to support Malta’s farming community and protect arable land from growing threats like overdevelopment, urban sprawl and climate change. They aim to make sure Malta’s rural landscape can keep doing what it was made to do: support farmers, feed the island and stay green.
So, what’s actually changing?
Under the new regulations, set to take place in September of this year, all agricultural land must be registered by its owner or legitimate titleholder. Farmers will also need to submit a crop plan detailing how the land will be used for at least one agricultural year. This gives the government and the farming community a clearer picture of how our land is being used, and helps ensure it stays productive.
To put it simply: agricultural land must be cultivated at least once a year, using good agricultural practices, unless the land is intentionally left fallow as part of a crop rotation plan or an agri-environmental scheme backed by Malta or the EU.
But the new rules go further. They also give the state the ability to manage unregistered land temporarily through Rizorsi Agrikoli Malta, a public agency, to ensure no good land goes to waste. If, after three months, no one steps forward to claim the land, the agency can step in and allocate it to a registered farmer. Of course, if a valid title is eventually proven, the land will be returned to the rightful owner, with a few conditions in place.
There’s also a move to curb land speculation: from now on, it will be prohibited to advertise agricultural land for sale if it’s clearly being promoted for non-agricultural purposes. That means no more listings trying to sneak a future villa or car park past the system.
“Niltaqgħu l-għalqa?”
But wait, does this mean I can’t use my field for family time?
Absolutely not. These regulations aren’t about keeping you off your land or stopping anyone from enjoying time outdoors with loved ones. What they do is make sure that Malta’s agricultural land remains usable and healthy for farming, now and into the future. It’s about creating more sustainable opportunities for today’s farmers and future ones, so we can keep producing local food for as long as possible.
The regulations will officially come into effect in September 2025, but landowners will have a six-month window to register their field, and up to a full year to align with the new rules.
What’s next?
You’ll be seeing educational campaigns in the coming months on how to care for your agri-land, support local flora and crops, and avoid doing unintentional harm. (Yes, even putting up a small wooden shed can damage otherwise healthy soil and affect nearby fields, so it’s worth learning a bit more.)
This isn’t just about farming. It’s about local food, the future in agriculture and the Maltese countryside we all love. The new regulations are one big step toward keeping our island sustainable and secure, one field at a time. Making sure that if- one day – our borders had to close for any reason, we’d still have enough homegrown food to get us through. So let’s stop taking local produce for granted, and start working together one field at a time.
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