Horticultural output in the State is now valued at over €300 million and retail sales of Irish produce are worth about €650 million, according to new figures.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Trevor Sargent, gave this picture of the industry when announcing a grant-aid package of €9.4 million. Some 189 producers are to receive the capital grants for new facilities under the horticulture scheme in the National Development Plan.
The Minister urged shoppers to look out for locally-grown fruit and vegetables and reminded them that local food required less transport and therefore benefited the environment. "We should support local producers and by doing so we are making an investment in our own community," he said.
The bulk of the applications for grants came from the nursery crops sector (53), while 30 applications came from mushroom plants and 27 from soft fruit and apple growers. Twenty applications were approved for protected crops grown under glass and plastic.
Mr Sargent said that the grants would help to fund on-farm investment in mushrooms, protected crops, nursery crops, field vegetables, soft fruit, apple production and beekeeping to an amount in excess of €23.2 million.
The level of interest in the horticulture aid scheme was now at its highest since the scheme began in 2000. This reflected a high degree of confidence by producers in the future of the sector.
He added: "This is all the more encouraging at a time when the importance of fruit and vegetables in a healthy diet have been highlighted by recent reports on obesity."