Production of the three main cereals, wheat, oats and barley, fell by 594,000 tonnes to 1,915,000 tonnes in 2012, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this morning.
The decline was due to combined decreases in all three main cereals, including a decrease of 252,000 tonnes in the production of winter wheat.
The yield of potatoes decreased by 25 per cent from 34.4 tonnes per hectare in 2011 to 25.8 tonnes per hectare in 2012.
Further comparisons with the 2011 results indicate that: barley production decreased by 18.4 per cent (260,000 tonnes). This was due to reductions in the yield of winter barley of 23.1 per cent and in spring barley of 24 per cent.
Oats production decreased by 13.5 per cent (23,000 tonnes). The yield of winter oats and spring oats decreased by 20.5 per cent and 22.8 per cent respectively.
Oilseed rape production decreased by 2.1 per cent (1,000 tonnes). While the area sown increased by 41.1 per cent, or 5,100 hectares, the yield decreased by 30.4 per cent.
Image Shuttlestock