Production of cereals increased by 22% during 2021, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The Area, Yield and Production of Crops 2021 report shows that the yield of wheat last year increased by 2.3t/ha or over 27% compared to 2020.
There was a 14% increase in barley yields which rose by 1.1t/ha, while oats yield grew by 0.9t/ha (12.5%).
The data shows that the production of wheat increased by 269,400t (+68.5%), barley by 126,100t (+8.8%) and oats by 48,400t (+25.5%).
The yield of potatoes increased by 35% from 33.8t/ha to 45.6t in 2021.
However, the production of beans and peas decreased by over 17% from 65,700t in 2020 to 54,400t last year.
CSO report
Commenting on the release, Sophie Emerson, CSO statistician in agriculture surveys, said:
“We can see that the yields of selected crops have increased since 2020.
“Overall, this has resulted in a production increase across the total wheat, oats and barley crops, despite a fall in the production of spring cereals,” she explained.
“There was a rise in the production of total winter cereals in comparison to 2020.
“When compared to 2020, the area of spring wheat, spring oats and spring barley has decreased while the yield increased,” the statistician added.
The area of beans and peas sown decreased by 4,000ha or over 29% compared to 2020.
Production of beans and peas fell by 17% from 65,700t to 54,400t in 2021, despite the yield having grown from 4.8t/ha to 5.6t/ha.
The production of potatoes increased by almost 36% from 300,100t in 2020 to 407,500t last year.