The 2010 Census of Agriculture revealed an increase in the utilised agricultural area, more sheep and goats, and fewer cattle and pigs, over a decade ago.

Over the past ten years, the number of agricultural holdings went up by 4.8 per cent. The total utilised agricultural area (UAA)advanced by 1,796 hectares, or 18.6 per cent. Stocks of sheep and goats increased, while those of cattle, pigs, broilers and layers declined. An increase of 4,649 persons, or 36.9 per cent, was registered in part- time employment in agriculture, while full-time employment went down by 14.6 per cent.

The total UAA amounted to 11,453 hectares. Agricultural holdings in Malta and Gozo are quite small, with nearly 9,203 agricultural holdings (73.5 per cent) having a UAA of less than 1.0 hectare each. Medium-sized agricultural holdings made up 24.4 per cent of the total; such holdings comprise between one and five hectares, while 2.2 per cent are considered large, each having a minimun of five hectares of UAA. Arable land accounted for 79.3 per cent of the total, while permanent crops and kitchen gardens made up the remaining 10.9 and 9.8 per cent respectively. The cultivation of forage crops (61.2 per cent) is predominant in the use of arable land.

1,251 hectares of UAA were devoted to plantations, of which 49.1 per cent was dedicated to vineyards. Fruit and berry plantations, mainly peaches, had a share of 29.7 per cent of total permanent crops, while citrus, olive and nurseries accounted for 8.9, 11.2 and 1.1 per cent respectively.

As at 31 August 2010, the total cattle population amounted to 15,688 heads, with 6,740, or 43.0 per cent, being dairy cows. The Census revealed that the pig population amounted to 70,593 heads, while sheep and goat stocks numbered 11,873 and 4,384 heads respectively. A total of 1.2 million poultry heads was registered, of which 73.1 per cent were broilers. The remaining 26.0 per cent were laying hens.

Agricultural holdings in Malta are predominantly run by sole holders (98.0 per cent). Group holdings and companies accounted for 1.7 and 0.3 per cent of all agricultural holdings respectively. Sole holders also acted as farm managers in 95.4 per cent of all sole-holder agricultural holdings.

In 2010, the agricultural labour force comprised 18,539 persons or 4,862 annual work units. Part- time employment amounted to 17,238 persons (93.0 per cent), while 1,301 persons (7.0 per cent) worked on a full- time basis. Males (78.7 per cent) predominated in the agricultural labour force. Of all sole-holder managers, 44.2 per cent reported that they practised a major gainful activity apart from agriculture, while 53.5 per cent stated that they had no other gainful activity. The majority of the latter were either totally engaged in agriculture or were pensioners.

In the 2010 Census, 192 agricultural holdings, or 1.5 per cent of the total, used equipment for renewable energy generation. The Western district was ahead, with 60 holdings using renewable energy from wind and 13 holdings using solar energy.

The total estimated volume of water used for irrigation between September 2009 and August 2010 amounted to 28.2 million cubic metres.

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