THE VALUE of agriculture to the national economy will double to €40 billion by 2030, according to a report commissioned by Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, which held a conference in Dublin Castle yesterday.
Teagasc director Gerry Boyle predicted an exciting new era in farming and food production in the future with the agri-food sector playing a wider role in a broader knowledge-based bioeconomy.
The report, Teagasc Foresight 2030 was presented at the conference, at which the organisation marked 50 years of service to agriculture. The forerunner of Teagasc, An Foras Talúntais (AFT), was set up in 1958.
Prof Boyle said agriculture was on the cusp of profound change. There were immense challenges and opportunities, but also a positive future for the sector.
"An internationally competitive Irish dairy industry, exploiting the natural advantage that grass provides, is set for substantial expansion as the EU milk quota system changes. We anticipate a period 'post-peak oil' when industries switch from fossil fuels, with a need to derive chemicals from plants as an alternative to petroleum-based products," he said.
"The opportunities to find alternative sustainable fuels from plants will provide a challenge for research and exciting opportunities for those involved in the agri-food industry," he said.
Teagasc's role would be to provide science-based innovation support requiring partnership, leadership and accountability. "Teagasc is adapting and ready for change," he added. He told the conference, attended by more than 300 people, that a number of critical initial steps had already been taken, including the establishment of bioscience research centres, to ensure that science, technology and innovation were at the heart of development of the agri-food sector, he said.
The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, said the report would strengthen the strategic capabilities of Teagasc and its relevance to its stakeholders, enabling it to provide proactive leadership in the rapidly changing open market environment.
He said we were now entering a new debate around the issue of food security which would serve to further heighten the importance of the agri-food sector. As a food-producing nation, Ireland had a responsibility to ensure the issue of food security features at EU level.
Recalling the establishment of AFT in 1958, the Minister said that at the time, somewhat over 60 per cent of total national exports were agricultural, and that production levels had been relatively static for a considerable period. Its establishment was critical to the subsequent development of Irish agriculture.
Significant progress, he said, had been made since then but it was essential that we continued to seek to build a truly knowledge-based society which offered new opportunities for employment and social advancement.
The keynote speaker, Dr Gale Buchanan of the United States department of agriculture, said that applying science and education to agriculture had improved human health and environmental quality.