15 July 2024
Funding awarded to increase AgNav scope
Plans to include sheep, poultry, pigs, tillage and horticulture in AgNav have been given a boost following the provision of funding under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s 2023 Thematic Research Call.
AgNav is a sustainability toolkit jointly developed by Teagasc, ICBF and Bord Bia, with the support of the Department of Agriculture. It provides farmers with accurate and verifiable data to support decision making on farm to help meet agriculture’s Climate Action. It also allows farmers and advisors to co-create a farm specific plan to improve farm sustainability, and will be used extensively as part of the Teagasc Signpost Advisory Campaign.
To expand the scope of AgNav, a project titled: ‘Industry level data integration and development of a digital sustainability platform and decision support tool for agricultural production systems in Ireland’ has been awarded over €1.5 million in funding. Details of all the projects receiving funding as part of the DAFM 2023 Thematic Research Call were shared by the Minister of State with special responsibility for Research and Development at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon T.D, on July 9.
Co-ordinated by Dr Jonathan Herron, Teagasc, and in collaboration with the South East Technological University and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), the project will expand the scope of the AgNav platform by including sheep, poultry, pigs, tillage, and horticulture systems and report economic, environmental and social sustainability indicators.
Additionally, as data integration is central to the project, a stakeholder advisory group will be formed to allow feedback, communicate the risks/concerns and to ensure that there is transparency throughout for all stakeholders, which will build confidence and result in the development of a rounded digital sustainability platform.
DAFM 2023 Thematic Research Call
The above is just a brief summary of one of 21 new research projects arising from the DAFM 2023 Thematic Research Call, to which total funding of €22.3 million has been made available.
Making the announcement, Minister of State with special responsibility for Research and Development at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon T.D. said: “I am announcing €22.3 million in grant aid for 21 new research projects arising from my Department’s 2023 Thematic Research Call.
“This will see research work being conducted across a wide range of areas including, low emissions dairy production, carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, developing farmland nature credits, optimising oat production and processing for healthy foods, assessing the impact of deer in forestry, advancing the Irish wool sector, sustainable packaging materials, and improving shelf life of dairy products, among others.”
Minister Heydon added: “Practices across the agri-food, forest and bioeconomy sectors are always evolving and Ireland should be at the forefront of these developments. A steady pipeline of new solutions is the cornerstone of increasing economic, environmental, and social sustainability and the next step is for the output of these projects to reach end-users such as farmers, advisors, policy makers and industry stakeholders.”
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