Teaching and research to benefit under Teagasc-UCD alliance

ADVANCES in sheep and beef genomics, grassland management and environmental research are just a few of the likely gains from a partnership between Teagasc and UCD.

The national agricultural research, education and innovation partnership will see Ireland’s two main providers of agri-research share teaching staff and research facilities.

This move also complements Teagasc’s long-standing food research alliance with UCC.

Teagasc director Gerry Boyle said: “We will be working very closely on areas such as greenhouse gas emissions and water quality, as well as the rural economy and CAP reform. UCD are short on teaching professionals in some areas, so we will be helping them with that.

“We are a small country and we need to share resources. We will be sharing state of the art facilities, and sharing some courses. UCD personnel will have access to some of our land resources. We will also continue to work on joint experiments.”

The joint project will be overseen by former IFA chief executive and FBD Holdings chairman Michael Berkery.

UCD president Dr Hugh Brady said: “The partnership will enable both organisations to accomplish goals together that they could not achieve separately. This partnership will bring resources that will enhance the flow of new information and technologies to the Irish agri-food sector.”

Mr Berkery welcomed the collaborators’ commitment to engage with farming and the food industry in developing joint programmes to help the sector deliver on ambitious growth targets.