The horticulture sector is “facing wipeout” because it “cannot harvest peat”, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
The IFA has said that growers will hold a protest tomorrow (Tuesday, July 13) at 11:00a.m outside the Convention Centre in Dublin where the Dáil will be sitting.
Growers will build a 50m² display with their produce “to highlight the threat to their sector unless there is urgent government action”.
President of the IFA, Tim Cullinan said: “Without immediate government intervention to allow the harvesting of peat, the Irish horticultural sector faces wipe out. The ministers in charge here have to step in save the sector.
“The situation is now beyond serious,” he added.
Crisis in sector
Members of the industry recently addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with Growing Media Ireland (GMI) arguing that the “urgency of the crisis facing the horticulture sector” due to peat shortages “is not appreciated by the departments tasked with solving the issue”.
John Neenan, chair of GMI said that the industry is in “a critical stage” with peat supplies, due to restrictions imposed on harvesting.
There are over 17,000 jobs in the Irish horticultural sector – 6,600 full-time staff in primary production, with another 11,000 employed in downstream businesses.
The horticulture sector output was worth €467 million in 2020 – it is the fourth highest sector in terms of value, with only beef, dairy and pigs greater, according to the department.
Cullinan added: “As a major segment of the Irish horticulture sector relies on peat, particularly the mushroom and ornamental sectors, this will have devastating consequences.
“Producers will either have to close their business or import peat, which will make some businesses unviable because of the extra cost.”
“It’s contradictory for the minister for horticulture to commission a report on opportunities for the horticultural sector, while at the same time the industry is facing closure because the raw material required is effectively gone,” Cullinan said.
Horticulture review
Last week, Minister of State Pippa Hackett announced that she has commissioned a major report on the horticulture industry in Ireland.
The minister has sought independent experts to identify and analyse “opportunities which are emerging for the sector”.
She said that the industry is “vital” – but that a “roadmap to chart the way forward” is needed.
The report will assess the current state of the horticulture industry in Ireland across its various sectors: field crops; protected crops; soft fruit; top fruit; amenity; potatoes; and mushrooms.
It will analyse each sector in detail, covering a wide range of areas, including: the transition to sustainable growing media; diversification; climate change; organic and integrated production; labour; and routes to market.
Demand for peat
The IFA has said that following a ruling of the High Court in September 2019, harvesting of peat from bogs greater than 30ha now requires all harvesters to go through a complex licensing and planning regime.
Horticultural peat harvesting on Irish bogs has all but ceased and Irish peat supplies will be exhausted before September, according to the association.
“As it stands, we will be forced to import peat from Europe and the Baltics, which is at odds with the green credentials of the horticultural sector,” Cullinan continued.
The area of peatland required to supply the Irish horticultural industry is just over one tenth of 1% (.12%) of Ireland’s total area of peatlands, according to the IFA.
The association adds that there is a shortage of peat on the European market and growers are having their orders refused.