The Kildare Growers group has called for emergency legislation to allow harvesting of indigenous peat for horticulture as the war in Ukraine increases the pressure on the sector.
The group is warning of a “disastrous season ahead” due to the lack of supplies from the Baltic region and government restrictions on peat harvesting for horticulture.
Chair of the Kildare Growers, Larry Doran explained:
“Our government has driven us to import peat stocks, with all the negative environmental implications this brings, but now we can’t even get the supplies we need from the Baltics. We are being placed in an impossible situation.”
The amount required for the Irish horticultural industry is 0.12% of total peatlands nationwide, according to the group.
“We have already reduced our peat usage by 30% using wood fibre which clearly demonstrates our commitment to using feasible alternatives,” Doran added.
Food security
The Kildare Growers chair explained that recent discussions on food prices and the war in Ukraine emphasise the importance of home-grown food and crops for food security.
Doran added that the encouraged increase in grain production by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, highlights the importance of nationally grown food.
However, he added:
“It is the height of irony that Minister McConalogue is asking farmers to grow grain due to the worsening of the war in Ukraine, and we are not allowed to harvest peat to grow our crops.”
The chair said that the minister’s call for an increased grain production supports their demand for a fair and workable transition away from peat in horticulture.
Government action plan
Doran criticised particularly Green Party ministers for their “failure to recognise the dilemma”. However, he added, “it is even more astounding that they are ignoring their own proposals”.
The planned commissioning of an independent expert group to assess Irish peat levels that could be made available, according to the group, did not happen.
Neither was free advice provided by a panel of planning experts to those who want to harvest peat in compliance with the regulations on sub-30ha bogs, the chair said.
“We want the government to allow us immediate access to our own superior local materials until we have viable alternatives.
“We need immediate emergency legislation,” the chair of the Kildare Growers said.