UPDATE: The Organic Farming Action Plan for 2013-2015 was launched today by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Tom Hayes TD.
“This action plan will be central to assisting our efforts to develop the organic sector to its full potential as recognised by the Food Harvest 2020 Report,” he said. The minister also paid tribute to the work carried out by his predecessor, the late Minister Shane McEntee “who was the driving force behind the establishment of this action plan”.
The action plan has four main objectives: increase the production base in Ireland, with a view to replacing where possible imports with Irish organic produce, promote awareness of the potential export market, seek to develop sustainable export markets for Irish organic produce as supplies become available and to identify issues that are impeding the growth of the organic sector with an emphasis on developing solutions.
“The target of 5 per cent of land area under organic production set out in the Food Harvest 2020 Report is indeed a challenging target that we must together strive to achieve. The Action Plan I am launching today is a very important element in this process and one that I hope all stakeholders will embrace,” Minister Hayes concluded.
Click here for the report Organic Farming Action Plan 2013-2015.
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