Dáil debates

Thursday, 21 October 2021

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Agriculture Industry

9:40 am

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very much aware of the important role on-farm carbon removals and carbon pool protection will play in meeting the sector's challenging climate change targets going forward. Teagasc, along with private sector agricultural consultants, is an essential component in providing best practice advice to the farming community on measures necessary for the increased sequestration and storage of atmospheric carbon through making better on-farm management decisions.

It is important not only that the increased removal and storage of atmospheric carbon brought about through the activities of our farmers be recognised in the national inventory reporting accounting system but also that farmers receive recognition for their efforts in this area. This recognition, however, needs a solid scientific basis backed up by country-specific data. Towards this end, I recently provided funding through Teagasc for the establishment of a national agricultural soil carbon observatory, with supporting technology for the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from a range of soil and farm types. This will place Ireland at the forefront of EU carbon sequestration research. This infrastructure, which will be located on a number of Teagasc Signpost farms, is a new initiative that aims to support farmers by acting as a demonstration and research resource for best practice on farms.

In tandem with the soil carbon observatory infrastructure, I also recently launched the pilot soil sampling and analysis programme, which will provide a baseline assessment of soil organic carbon throughout the country. Teagasc also recently commenced a research project called “Farm-Carbon - Farm Hedgerows and Non-forest Woodland Carbon”. This project will provide a deeper understanding of hedgerows and non-forest woodland as carbon stocks in agricultural landscapes and will allow researchers to identify approaches to maintain and enhance this contribution. The knowledge gained from these activities will place Ireland at the forefront of research in this area, while also allowing for the refinement of our reporting to the national inventory, further emphasising the sustainability of the agricultural sector.

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