The creation of 3,000 jobs in the agriculture sector in the past year at a time of rising unemployment indicated the vibrancy of the sector, economist Jim Power told a conference yesterday.
He told the iQuest inaugural National Food and Agribusiness Conference in Croke Park there was a growing sense of optimism in the sector.
However, agriculture faced a credit squeeze and rising input costs, and the need to get costs under control was a major challenges for the agriculture, food and drinks industry, he said.