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The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett, today welcomed the announcement of funding from the department’s 2023 Thematic Research call for an organics research project. The “Growing Resilient Organic Farming Systems” project, led by Teagasc and in collaboration with UCD, will develop and share with all stakeholders sustainable organic grass-based beef and sheep production system blueprints, as well as assess the social, environmental and economic impacts of organic beef and sheep systems.
Commenting on the announcement, Minister Hackett said:
“I am delighted that funding of €1.3 million has been allocated to this ground-breaking project, with €900,000 coming from my department and €400,000 from Teagasc. Research plays an important role in allowing us to adapt to our changing environment, and to future-proof our farming systems. I believe organic farming is a ready-made solution to protect Irish farmers, and to equip them with the tools needed to improve their economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the years ahead. It is also the next step in developing Ireland as a world leader in organic farming, on our road to becoming an organic island.”
The GRO-FarmS project will be co-ordinated by Dr. Kevin Kilcline from the Teagasc Rural Economy & Development Centre, Mellows Campus, Athenry. Commenting on the project, Dr. Kilcline said:
“This project provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate efficient organic farming systems to the increasing cohort of organic farmers in this country to enable them to enhance the sustainability credentials of their organic systems. Dissemination of the research outputs to the organic farming community will be a key feature of this project. The financial benchmarking element of the project will allow us to attain a greater understanding of the financial performance of organic farmers across all the main farming enterprises and will provide an invaluable benchmarking tool for existing and newly converted organic farmers.”
Minister Hackett concluded:
“This has been a milestone year for organic farming in Ireland and I am very pleased this project has received funding. We need to fully understand the benefits of organic farming in an Irish context and this work will ensure we have the data needed to support organic farmers as we continue to grow the sector in Ireland.”
There is limited research evidence on organic systems to support Irish farmers as they switch to organic farming. This project will address this research gap and support evidence-based organic farming conversion and best practice adoption in Ireland through the development of a strategic, integrated research and extension programme across Teagasc, in collaboration with research partner, UCD. This will involve the development of a number of interconnected research areas which will feed into an overarching knowledge transfer and dissemination plan, with the overall strategic objective of supporting the sustainable growth and development of the organic farming sector - Beef Production Research Trials - Sheep Finishing Research Trials - Integrated organic dry stock and tillage demonstration farm - Benchmarking the financial, social and environmental sustainability of organic farms.
The DAFM 2023 Thematic Research Call implements the thematic research strand of DAFM support for research. More information about the five research support strands operated by DAFM.
The Call sought proposals across five thematic areas: Climate Mitigation and Adaptation, Agri-Environment, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Smart, Sustainable Animal & Plant Production, Health & Welfare, Bioeconomy, Rural Economy, Agri-Digitalisation & Data, and Safe, Nutritious and Sustainable Food Processing and Consumption.
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