Department of Agriculture announces €37.5m funding for agri-food, forest and bioeconomy research
Strategic use of feed additives in Irish beef systems is among the 30 projects to receive funding.
Feed additive research aimed at reducing lifetime methane emissions is to be included in a €37.5m fund supporting 30 agri-food, forestry and bioeconomy projects.
The 30 projects are spread across 19 institutes. Key areas of focus include innovation and value-add in the food sector, while addressing healthy diets, improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity, tackling climate change, strengthening animal health and welfare, and advancing farm safety.
Projects such as investigating reducing methane emissions in Irish beef systems through strategic feed additives use will be coordinated by Teagasc.
Others include surveillance and actions for combating clubroot in oilseed led by Maynooth University, using artificial intelligence to monitor and provide early warning systems to disease threats headed by University College Dublin (UCD), and sustainable biorefinery approaches for grasslands led by Munster Technological University (MTU).
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Agricultural minister Martin Heydon said: “This research investment will generate the insights and innovations required to meet those needs — with projects covering areas such as functional foods for healthy ageing, improving water quality response times at catchment level, fibre-based packaging for longer shelf life, new approaches to tracking and controlling TB, and a first-of-its-kind study in Ireland testing feed additives for reduced methane over an animal’s lifetime.”
As part of the ongoing North-South co-operation on agri-food research and innovation, Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture collaborated in this research call and will provide co-funding of €3.1m to enable research-performing organisations in Northern Ireland to participate in projects with partners in Ireland. A total of six projects will benefit from this collaboration.
Minister of state at the Department of Agriculture Noel Grealish added: “Collaboration is at the heart of this investment. I am delighted to see that the projects will involve the education and training of over 90 postgraduate students and over 60 contract researchers, thus ensuring a continuous stream of highly skilled scientific talent coming through to our industry.”
Northern Ireland's minister of agriculture Andrew Muir said: “The projects being launched today reflect our shared commitment to science that is innovative, collaborative and impactful science that informs policy, supports innovation, and delivers real benefits for sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, and rural communities."
Further co-funding of €750,000 will be provided by the Department of Health for the National Children's Food Survey III project, led by MTU.
