Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The tillage sector is an important and integral component of the Agri-food industry and is a sector that I want to see grow and develop. Adding value to Irish grain is an integral part of growing and improving the economic sustainability of the tillage sector.

Research work carried out by Teagasc and University College Dublin has confirmed the nutritional quality and low carbon nature of Irish grains. The food and beverage sector places significant value on the quality of Irish grain as demonstrated by recent growth in the volume of Irish grain used by these sectors. Food and beverage suppliers are marketing their products based on sustainability claims as a growing number of consumers are interested in knowing the environmental impact of the food and beverage products they buy and consume. I believe that Irish grain has real potential to meet this demand for low carbon sustainable food production.

The low carbon footprint of Irish grain is a unique selling point for the Irish tillage sector. Recent research work carried out by Teagasc on developing a Life Cycle Assessment model for Irish tillage crops, which included a comprehensive assessment of data from 48 farmers who grow crops, provided real evidence of the low carbon footprint of the sector. The challenge for the tillage sector now is to build on this early-stage Life Cycle Assessment work and to present verifiable evidence of the low carbon credentials of Irish grain to the marketplace.

Adding value to Irish grain was one of the key considerations of the Food Vision Tillage Group which I established last year to set out a road map for the sustainable growth and development of the sector to 400,000ha by 2030. I recently received the final report from the group, and I am considering its recommendations.