WATCH: In Conversation with Young Local Farmer Ryan Portelli
Young farmer Ryan Portelli earns European recognition for a circular economy project that transforms agricultural waste into clean energy, smarter fertilisation, and practical solutions for cleaner water and sustainable farming.
Paul and Ryan Portelli of Ta’ Floqqos Farm in Rabat represent four generations of farming within their family. Among generational farmers, they share a common saying: “You are born a farmer; you don’t become one.” Ryan learned the trade from his father, his grandfather, and the generations before them.
This year, Ryan Portelli’s circular economy proposal was recognised by the EPP Congress (European People’s Party) at the 11th European Congress of Young Farmers, where he was awarded the Young Farmers Award. His EU-funded Syneco Pilot Project proposes innovative ways to convert pig and cow slurry into clean energy, water, and high-quality fertiliser. Syneco is funded through the Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020.
Malta currently holds one of the highest livestock densities in the entire EU and has significant nitrate content in its drinking water. This situation is not sustainable, and reducing the amount of animal waste entering municipal systems is essential.
As part of the project, Portelli and the Syneco group collaborated with a Danish institute to develop an app called The CropManager that allows farmers to collect data individually for each plot of land. Farmers input their lot size and other key information, and the app calculates the exact amount of nutrients required for their fields.
This helps farmers determine the precise amount of fertiliser needed to grow their crops as efficiently and economically as possible; an intersection of farming and science designed to ensure safe, healthy produce as well as cleaner drinking water for the island.
To date, 2,450 fields belonging to members of the FCCS, the largest vegetable growers’ cooperative in Malta, are registered in CropManager, with fertiliser plans created for most of them through the Syneco Malta project. Shapefiles for the fields are obtained via interoperability with the public LPIS field register, facilitated by the Malta Paying Agency, ARPA. This work has only just begun, and the number of participating farmers and fields continues to grow.
The combined impact of the Syneco Malta circular economy initiative and the CropManager app supports a smarter, cleaner, and more efficient approach to farming. An approach that blends generations of Maltese agricultural wisdom with modern technology. By using cow and pig waste to produce pure fertiliser rather than sending it through municipal waste systems, the project is predicted to prevent around 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years.
Ta’ Floqqos Farm may be rooted in tradition, but its future is being shaped by innovation, stewardship, and the determination of a young farmer committed to carrying his family’s legacy forward.
Their long-term goal is to help Malta’s farms maneuver the challenges that a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) status offers for farming, which aims to protect water quality by regulating practices that contribute to nitrate pollution. Under NVZ guidelines, farmers would follow mandatory action programmes limiting the use of fertilisers and manure to prevent excess nitrates from entering groundwater and surface waters.
These regulations, will help ensure clean, safe drinking water. The CropManager app will simplify compliance for farmers across the island.
