Why is large-scale farming difficult in Malta?

Large-scale farming is difficult in Malta primarily due to the country's challenging physical geography and limited natural resources. Several key factors hinder the development of large-scale agricultural operations:

• Land Fragmentation: Much of the available land is divided into small, irregularly configured plots, which makes efficient farming difficult.1
• Topography and Soil: Farming is largely restricted to small, terraced strips of land. Furthermore, the soil is generally shallow, thin, and immature, often lacking sufficient humus.12
• Water Scarcity: The country faces a lack of adequate water supplies, which is a significant constraint on agricultural development.1
• Mechanization Constraints: Because of the small, terraced nature of the fields, it is not feasible to introduce large-scale mechanization.1

These environmental and structural limitations have historically shaped the Maltese agricultural sector, leading to a reliance on smaller, often part-time farming efforts, even as techniques for specific horticultural crops have improved.1