Chinese minister says Ireland leading ‘the whole world’ in agricultural science and technology

China wants to increase its agricultural links with Ireland and believes this State is leading the way in agricultural science and technology, according to China's vice-minister for agriculture Zhang Taolin.

Dr Zhang was speaking during a visit to Richard Keenan & Co, the Carlow nutrition and feed technology company that signed a multi-million euro deal earlier this month to bring its feeder wagons to China.

Through an interpreter, Dr Zhang said Ireland and China shared a traditional friendship “and our friendship keeps on developing in recent years”.

He said last year’s visit by Xi Jinping, who has since become president, “helped to bring our relationship to a new high . . .

“We hope to further promote our bilateral relationship, in particular our agricultural co-operation,” he added. “Ireland is leading the whole world in terms of agriculture, in particular agricultural science and technological advancement.”

Accelerated transition
Dr Zhang said China was at a key stage in its accelerated transition from traditional to modern agriculture and China wanted to develop agriculture in an environmentally sustainable and efficient way.

He toured the Keenan plant and heard about the technology behind the feeder wagons, which cost between €20,000 to €60,000. The machines calculate and provide the optimal mix of various feedstuffs such as silage, protein and energy supplements and straw, through the use of technology.

Based in Borris, Co Carlow, Keenan employs 220 people around the world and exports account for 90 per cent of its sales. It has more than 31,000 customers in over 40 countries.

The deal with Chinese partner, Shanghai Yanhua Biotech, initially involves selling the feeder wagons along with back- up from nutritionists on the ground. Eventually, it is planned that the group will manufacture the machines in China. The feeder wagons, and the technology behind them, is patent-protected.

Keenan group executive chairman Gerard Keenan said China and Ireland had real similarities. Ireland was planning to increase national milk output by 50 per cent between 2015 and 2020, from its current five million tonnes, while China was planning to increase its output by 25 per cent, to 50 million tonnes, by 2020.

He said the Irish feeder wagons would help Chinese farmers to get more milk from less feed and could improve their efficiency by 20 per cent.

Global centre
Mr Keenan also said that progress was being made on the setting up of a China-Ireland dairy research and technology centre and discussions were advancing between the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Keenan's and UCD's Institute of Animal Science.

His company was also planning to establish a global centre for feed and food efficiency, which would link farmers who owned all brands of mixer wagons. They would have access to Keenan’s nutrition support staff who would advise on ways of increasing feed efficiency.

The centre would be established next year, he added, and by the end of 2016, it aimed to have 30,000 dairy or beef producers involved. “The objective is to achieve big returns to livestock farmers at low cost.”

Dr Zhang also visited Glanbia headquarters in Kilkenny. The dairy and ingredients company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with one of China's top food companies, Bright Foods, on potential areas of co-operation.

He also spent time on the dairy farm of Jim and Mary O’Grady, and their son Joe, near Thurles, Co Tipperary.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said he and his colleagues in Government and in statutory agencies deeply appreciated the growing relationship between Ireland and China, particularly in agriculture.