Minister McConalogue and Minister Heydon launch research grants which total €20 million

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D., and Minister of State Martin Heydon, T.D., today jointly announced awards of €20 million in funding for 24 research projects arising from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Call 2021.

Announcing the awards, Minister McConalogue stated

“The research investment announced today is aimed at ensuring the Irish Agri-food sector is in a position to deliver on the ambitious goals set out in the Food Vision 2030 Strategy. This is most notable in terms of delivering a sustainable Food System capable of ensuring the supply of safe and nutritious food while protecting the environment”.

“As a sector, we must continually strive for improvement and ensure that we futureproof ourselves. Central this is well-funded and targeted research particularly in the area of climate and sustainability. That is why I am delighted to announce such a strong awarding of research grants. These will ensure that we stay ahead of the challenges we will face as and will allow us work together for the benefit of everyone in the sector.”

Minister Heydon who has responsibility for research and development said:

“Of particular note is the investment of over €12 million across 10 projects with an environmental and climate theme. Investment in these projects will help farmers to deliver on the Climate Action Plan 2021.

“We are co-funding two projects with the Environmental Protection Agency; one related to abatement measures and associated cost curves to facilitate reduced emissions from agriculture and one on the re-wetting of farmland to enhance carbon sinks. The close collaboration with the EPA for these two projects is particularly welcome and emphasises the importance of co-ordination and co-operation on this critically important issue.’’

He continued that

“A number of projects focus on potential threats to food security arising from climate change, with one project exploring the potential to diversify protein sources on an all-island basis, another looks at increased disease risks from vector-borne pathogens affecting animals and humans and another at threats to sustainable and safe shell-fish production.

“Many of the projects funded will contribute to sustainable production and processing. For example, three projects focused on the forest sector will examine the potential to improve climate regulation, enhance bio-diversity and facilitate sustainable timber solutions. Another innovative project focuses on sustainable packing with improved shelf-life for highly perishable food products, such as fish, thereby contributing to a reduction in food waste and plastic pollution while also potentially facilitating transport to more distant markets. "

‘‘My Department’s commitment to ‘‘One-Health’’ and food safety is also reflected in the selection of projects for funding, with one project examining over-reliance on anthelmintics in the sheep sector, whilst another is to examine the concentration of residues and pathogens in manure used for land spreading and another will be examining risks associated with myco-toxins in cereals’’, Minister Heydon added.

In line with the Food Vision 2030 goals, there are projects which aim to add value to the Irish food industry through diversification and food product innovations, such as, providing the evidence base for value added plant products and the propagation of micro greens in vertical farming systems. Another project will focus on the flavour profiles of grass-feed beef and sheep meat to substantiate quality claims, while another will focus on genetics to improve beef outputs from dairy herds.

Minister Heydon highlighted that a number of socio-economic projects have also been selected for funding including a project on generational renewal and the transitioning of farm assets to younger generations, whilst securing the financial stability of older generations. There is also a project on identifying mental health issues among the farming community and developing a bespoke mental-health education programme to improve knowledge and help seeking among the farming population.

‘‘An important aspect of the projects funded is an enhanced focus on knowledge transfer, with awardees having submitted relevant plans with their applications. The greater emphasis on knowledge transfer aims to ensure that outputs and impacts from the funded projects are maximised during the life-course of the projects and beyond. This is important given the Call’s emphasis on sustainability in the context of the current climate related challenges and the need to deliver on the Climate Action Plan 2021’’, Minister Heydon said.

A welcome aspect of the research awards is the all-island dimension with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Island (DAERA NI) providing up to additional €2.4 million in funding to Northern Ireland based institutions involved in six research projects.

A total of 19 Irish Research Performing Organisations will benefit from the awards announced to-day, including Teagasc, the Universities and the Institutes of Technology. The investment across all 24 projects will provide higher education opportunities for 61 postgraduate students in the form of PhDs (52) and master’s degrees (9) as well as contract position for postdoctoral and other researchers (59).

Minister McConalogue concluded,

‘’The total investment by both my Department and DAERA NI of over €22 million will advance human capital and scientific knowledge and will make a significant contribution to innovation and sustainability in the agri-food sector on the Island of Ireland. It adds to the €175.5 million allocated by my Department to national and international agri-food research programmes over the period since 2011. As a shared food island, we have a strong working relationship with DAERA and I am glad to see this further strengthened.”

Full details of these awards are set out at: Research and Codex

Notes for editor:

The awards arise from a Call for Proposals launched under the competitive research funding programme operated by the Department.