Minister of State Heydon announces €2.2 million for new environmental and timber research

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon T.D, today announced awards of almost €2.2 million for Irish researchers participating in European Research initiatives.

Just over €1.45 million in funding is being awarded to Irish researchers in five projects under the European Green ERAHUB which supports research into sustainable agriculture and food systems. Two of these projects, SustainSheep and NutriStorm, are being led by Irish researchers from Teagasc and the University of Limerick, respectively. SustainSheep will investigate the development of new breeding goals for sheep to reduce methane emissions. NutriStorm will investigate ways to enhance fertiliser efficiency by minimising soil nutrient loss through leaching, runoff and emissions.

The other projects with Irish collaboration include LIFE from University College Dublin and Fertigo from Teagasc that will examine ways to reduce fertiliser use through novel nutrient solutions from agriculture wastes, and the innovative use of new cover crop species to stabilise nitrogen in soils, improve phosphorus utilisation, and conserve of soil nutrients. The final project, DARE2CYCLE, will see researchers from the University of Galway investigate innovative upcycling processes of dairy wastes and residues into valuable microbial protein contributing to protein self-sufficiency in Europe.

'ForestValue2' research initiative is aimed at research into resilient and sustainable forest and timber building systems. Under this research initiative, €740,000 is being awarded to the University of Galway and Trinity College Dublin for the CRESTIMB project. They will collaborate with scientists across Europe to develop innovative timber systems suitable for multi-storey buildings.

Announcing the awards, Minister Heydon said:

"The funding I am announcing today will Irish researchers to work with their European counterparts across six projects for the benefit of the wider agriculture and forestry sector. That Irish researchers are leading two of these large European collaborative projects is highly encouraging, especially in areas that will contribute to our climate commitments and improve the sustainability and resilience of our agriculture and forest systems".

Continuing, the Minister said

"These projects further demonstrate our dedication to innovative research to provide solutions for greenhouse gas emissions and fertiliser use reduction, new protein sources, and the novel use of timber in the sustainable construction of large-scale buildings. I am confident that together, these projects can bring about solutions to our common challenges and help to achieve greater impact for our agri-food and forest sectors."

Notes to Editors

Irish financial support for the Green ERAHUB Joint Call and the ForestValue2 Joint Call is provided through the DAFM Research Programme . The Department's funding of research awards across both Calls for Irish participation is €2,195,678 in total.

Green ERAHUB

The Green ERAHUB (GEH) research initiative aims to provide information, communication, cooperation, networking and joint transnational funding in the agri-food and biotechnology sector for national funders and researchers. The first Call on sustainable and resilient agri-food systems under the GEH was focused on four topics:

- Enhance fertiliser efficiency and reduce fertiliser use

- Increase European protein self-sufficiency

- Mitigate GHGs emissions in agricultural and food systems

- Sustainable energy use and production in agri-food systems

Following the evaluation process, five projects with Irish involvement were recommended for funding:

- DARE2CYCLE: Dairy Waste and Residues Upcycling into Microbial Protein. Dr. Piet Lens, University of Galway. €299,993

- Fertigo: Improving fertilizing strategies by Innovative use of Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) in agricultural systems. Dr. Bridget Lynch, Teagasc. €299,730

- NutriSTORM: Nutrient Soil Stoichiometry Transformation for Optimized Resource Management, Dr. Achim Schmalenberger, University of Limerick. €298,038

- LIFE: Climate-Resilient, Water-Efficient, and Self-Sustainable Agri-Food Systems. Dr Eoin Syron, University College Dublin, €297,623

- SustainSheep: Reducing sheep methane emissions: sustainability in practice via new breeding goals. Dr Fiona McGovern, Teagasc. €260,291

ForestValue2

The ForestValue2 research initiative aims to support and increase coordination and alignment of national and regional funding programmes on research and innovation related to the forest-based bioeconomy. The transnational call for proposals, focused on two overarching thematic areas:

- Resilient sustainable forest systems and management

- Sustainable timber building systems

Following the evaluation process, one project was recommended for funding:

- CRESTIMB: Increased Service life of innovative timber Building systems. Dr. Patrick McGetrick, University of Galway. €740,000