The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is looking at a range of themes, potentially including gender balance and peatlands, which could deliver new European Innovation Partnership (EIP) schemes from next year according to Minister of State, Pippa Hackett.
Speaking at the EIP-AGRI National Conference in Athlone today (Monday, November 28), which was hosted by the National Rural Network (NRN), the minister highlighted the potential for new EIP themes to deliver further multi-million euro projects for Ireland.
Last weekend she confirmed details of a €60 million EIP scheme to help farmers improve water quality on their lands at the Green Party annual conference.
This new €60 million scheme to support farmers improve water quality on agricultural lands will be run as a five-year EIP programme from 2023.
It aims to help farmers improve water quality by reducing “losses of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment to water from agricultural lands”.
EIP
The European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural productivity and sustainability (EIP-AGRI) programme was first launched by the European Commission in 2012.
In Ireland 57 EIP-AGRI projects have now been funded by DAFM.
Minister Hackett told conference delegates that Ireland’s approach to EIPs had “been one of the most ambitious and successful in Europe” and that other European Union member states now looked to Ireland “as an example of how best to approach the model”.
She also detailed that some EIPs had “directly” led to innovative practices “that are now integrated in the new agri-environment scheme, ACRES, which will commence next January”.
Addressing delegates today in Athlone, Minister Hackett stressed that her department is “committed to developing other EIP themes” including some that may have been specified in Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.
“The promotion of generational renewal and greater gender balance on Irish farms are two possible themes included under Stream A of the CAP Strategic Plan.
“Under Stream B, EIPs aimed at peatlands, apiculture, farming in the callows and on coastal areas are all mentioned,” she added.
The minister highlighted that while many of the previous and current EIPs supported by DAFM had chiefly been aimed at the environment and biodiversity. Other projects were targeted at farm safety, health and wellbeing of farmers and farm families and succession challenges.
Minister Hackett also said today that she wanted to thank farmers who had participated in various projects over the last six years. She described them as “pioneers” who had led the way in “innovation and education in the early days”.