24 May 2024

Teagasc students compete in HortiChallenge in Estonia

Aoife Hester and Chelirs Brecq, students in the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, will fly the Teagasc flag at the ongoing HortiChallenge 2024 in Estonia.

Taking place from May 23-26 in Räpina, a small town in south-eastern Estonia, the students will compete against 14 other teams from 12 different countries in the competition open to students of horticulture aged under 26 years old.

Over the course of the competition, numerous skills and competencies will be examined through 20 different tasks – ranging from plant identification, plant protection and grafting to name just three. As part of the plant identification tasks, the Irish team of Chelirs and Aoife will have to identify 15 different plants by leaf, branch and stem.

Each of the 20 tasks must be completed within 15 minutes and points-based scoring is being used to identify the most proficient team in each task and to also crown the overall winner of HortiChallenge 2024.

HortiChallenge judges will evaluate each task on quality, while teamwork and communication will also be evaluated. The competition will conclude with an awards ceremony on Saturday, May 25, where the best team in every task will be honoured and the three teams with the highest overall score across the 20 completed tasks will be awarded special prizes.

The Irish team are being supported by Deirdre Walsh and Sarah Simpson from the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens.

Commenting on the students’ participation, Assistant Principal of the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, Deirdre Walsh said: “Both Chelirs and Aoife are very excited and looking forward to the competition, which is an excellent opportunity to showcase their skills and compete against students from across Europe.

“The assessed tasks are wide and varied, but Sarah Simpson has done an excellent job in organising training days to refine the students’ skills in advance of the competition. We wish Chelirs and Aoife the best of luck in the competition.”

Echoing Deirdre’s comments, Teagasc Head of Education, Anne-Marie Butler said: “Events like HortiChallenge offer Irish students an opportunity to put their learnings into practice on an international stage. HortiChallenge will give Chelirs and Aoife an expanded view on horticulture and will be of benefit into their future careers post their Teagasc Education and I wish them all the best as the compete in Estonia.

“I want to thank the staff in the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture in not only supporting the students in advance of the competition, but also the work they’ve done in making this competition possible,” Anne-Marie Butler concluded.

Find out more about the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture here.

Photo caption: Aoife Hester and Chelirs Brecq, students in the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, travelling to HortiChallenge 2024 in Estonia.