A €17.5 million fund is now open for “innovative proposals” that could help to “address some of the main environmental challenges currently being faced on Irish farms”.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett, today announced an open call for European Innovation Partnership (EIP) projects under the general theme of environmental sustainability.
Minister McConalogue, said: “EIP projects have established an impressive track record already in Ireland, and I welcome this latest call as an opportunity for new operational groups, involving farmers and other stakeholders, to try out new ideas for advancing environmental sustainability on Irish farms.
“My department is committed to supporting innovation in this area, and will continue to provide support for environmental sustainability through a suite of schemes that includes Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), Organic Farming, Areas of Natural Constraints, the Eco-Scheme and Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) among others”.
Environmental challenges
According to Minister Hackett she wants to see innovative proposals that focus on some of the key environmental challenges facing Irish farmers today.
“Soil health, short supply chains and regenerative agriculture are among the areas in which we are encouraging proposals, and my hope is that the successful projects will deliver learnings and approaches that can be rolled out at scale in future agri-environmental schemes,” she added.
Under this current call – the sixth under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan 2023-2027 – interested parties are invited to submit proposals for projects which could include:
- Innovative approaches in farming to address: climate mitigation and climate adaptation at farm level, farming in coastal areas, farming within the organic and horticulture sectors;
- Food sustainability, security and the role of short supply chains;
- Regenerative agriculture;
- Protecting and restoring soils and their sustainable use;
- Sustainable farming systems for intensive agriculture at local and landscape levels;
- Innovative approaches within the bio/circular economy at a locally-led level.
According to Minister Hackett the EIP model has shown “how the bottom-up approach to innovation on Irish farms can and does work”.
The EIP initiative is co-funded by the European Commission and the Irish government under CAP.