Bioeconomy
Ireland’s farmers and rural communities are under real pressure to produce food sustainably while keeping their businesses going. Our university researchers are working alongside them to find practical solutions, from reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers to protecting crops from disease and making sure Ireland’s land is used in ways that are good for both nature and people.
How we’re helping:
UCD are helping Ireland farm more sustainable crops
The Challenge: Ireland’s agricultural sector faces mounting pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Heavy reliance on chemical fertilisers is contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, and Ireland is obligated to cut these by 51% by 2050.
The Solution: Replacing chemical inputs with biological and plant-based alternatives, developing new crop varieties, and supporting rural communities to transition to more sustainable practices.
University Delivery: From UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, Prof Fiona Doohan is using genomics, drone technology and biological alternatives to develop more sustainable crops. Associate Professor Carl Ng and Dr Joanna Kacprzyk, alongside PhD student Patrick Quille, have shown that a seaweed-based biostimulant can cut fertiliser use on farms by 20 to 25% with no drop in yield. UCD also supports skills development for the rural economy, including ecology and marine biology, so that communities are equipped to lead this transition.
TCD is helping Ireland grow its forests more sustainably.
The Challenge: Ireland is planting more trees to tackle climate change, but not all forests are equal. The wrong trees in the wrong places can do more harm than good for biodiversity, local communities and the environment.
The Solution: Finding out which trees work best, where they should go, and what the real trade-offs are, so that Ireland’s plans to expand its forests deliver for nature and communities.
University Delivery: Trinity’s FOREST project is examining what expanding Ireland’s forests with native species actually delivers for climate, biodiversity and local communities, ensuring Ireland’s afforestation targets are grounded in real evidence across multiple sites.
DCU are designing a covid-style test that will help Irish farmers tackle potato blight.
The Challenge: Potato blight costs Irish and European growers around €90 million every year. One of the biggest problems is that new resistant strains of blight are developing, meaning the chemical treatments farmers rely on are becoming less effective.
The Solution: A lateral flow test, like a Covid-19 antigen test, that can tell farmers which strain of blight they are dealing with in under an hour, so they can choose the most effective treatment before they spray.
University Delivery: Prof Anne Parle-McDermott, DCU School of Biotechnology, is developing DNA-based lateral flow tests that can detect resistant strains of potato blight in the field in under an hour. The research is part of the AGSENSE project, funded by Research Ireland’s Future Food Systems Challenge.