EU's €500m fund to grow more crops

Ireland can access €15.8m from the fund

Countries will have until the end of June to notify the commission of the measures they plan to take to secure the funding.

The European Union will use a €500m agriculture crisis fund to cushion the impact of rising fuel and fertiliser costs along with the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Under the scheme announced by the European Commission (EC) yesterday, farmers will also be allowed use fallow land for the production of any crops for food and feed purposes while maintaining the full level of the greening payment for farmers. There will also be support for the pigmeat sector and flexibilities to existing import requirements on animal feed.