New national plant health and biosecurity strategy 2026-2030 launched 

Strategy aims to safeguard food security, facilitate safe trade and protect the environment

Agriculture minister Martin Heydon with Liam Whitford, department inspector, at the launch of the Plant Health and Biosecurity Strategy 2026-2030 at Backweston Laboratories in Kildare.

The new Plant Health and Biosecurity Strategy 2026-2030, which includes contingency plans for 15 high-risk pests, has been launched.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates up to 40% of food crops are lost every year because of plant pests, leaving millions of people around the world without enough food to eat and impacting agriculture, the primary source of income in poorer rural communities.