Minister Creed announces grant awards of over €1.8m for research projects in the area of sustainability
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced awards of over €1.8m for Irish researchers collaborating in major international research projects. The key areas of research relate to greenhouse gas mitigation and sustainable animal production and will be conducted under the European Research Area Networks (ERA-Nets) programme. This programme harnesses collective effort across major international research partners in areas of strategic importance. The funding for these awards comes from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Programme and partnering with Teagasc’s Walsh Fellowship Programme and the EU.
Announcing the awards today the Minister said “The agricultural sector in Europe faces significant challenges in curbing GHG emissions while maintaining food security and sustainable animal production in a changing climate. Today’s research funding announcement will make a significant contribution to strengthening the collaborations of Irish research institutions with their international counterparts and help accelerate Ireland’s efforts in meeting these shared challenges.”
Four projects are funded under the ERA-Net for Monitoring & Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases from Agri- and Silvi-culture (ERA-Gas). This programme aims to strengthen the transnational coordination of research and innovation on greenhouse gas mitigation in the European Research Area. Two of the projects focus on reducing emissions from ruminant animals while land management aspects in terms of soil pH and carbon sequestration are examined in the other two projects.
The remaining two projects are funded under the ERA-Net for Sustainable Animal Production (SusAn). This ERA-Net funds research on innovative solutions for sustainable livestock production systems in Europe. One will focus on sustainable sheep production while the other will deal with sustainable beef production systems.
The six awards benefit six different Irish institutions and organisations which along with Teagasc, include a number of our universities (University College Dublin, University College Cork, University of Limerick, and the National University of Ireland, Galway) and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation; all partnering with international institutions.
Stressing his on-going commitment to achieving the targets set out in the Food Wise 2025 in a sustainable and evidence-based manner, Minister Creed said “Today’s research awards will help further scientific knowledge to inform the pathway to ensuring that environmental protection and economic competitiveness are equal and complementary; one must not be achieved at the expense of the other.”
Full details of these awards are set out in the following links: