Second Ireland-NZ agriculture research call opens

There is commitment by both countries "to accelerate the pace of development of innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gases".

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon said that the call widens the offering to researchers with the two new research topics on the development of digital tools and data, and land management on agricultural organic soils.

A second Ireland - New Zealand joint research call on agriculture and climate change opens this week. 

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries launched the first joint call in 2022, following the signing of a memorandum of arrangement between both organisations in May 2022.

This provided for the establishment of a three-year pilot joint research initiative over the period 2022 to 2024. 

Over €7m in joint funding was awarded to four research projects in the 2022 call.

The 2023 research call aims to investigate:

• Land management on organic agricultural soils to support the development of greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon sequestration; 
• Refinement of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions inventories through the development of emission factors for methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide;
• Identification and development of technologies for the mitigation of greenhouse gases from ruminant systems; 
• Digitalisation and data to support climate-related action and management practices in agriculture. 

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon said that the call widens the offering to researchers with the two new research topics on the development of digital tools and data, and land management on agricultural organic soils to support the livestock sector to reduce its impact on the environment.

He added that there is a commitment by both countries "to accelerate the pace of development of innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gases from livestock-based, pasture systems, and I strongly encourage Irish researchers to apply".

New Zealand’s Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor said that tackling climate change globally will take strong collaboration. 

"New Zealand is proud to be partnering with Ireland in this joint research call. As strong agricultural nations, we can lead the way in driving important research that will lead to vital new and improved tools to drive down environmental impacts, backed by cutting-edge science," Mr O'Connor added.