Science Week 2022: Minister Heydon announces two new tillage research projects
- Published on: 14 November 2022
- Last updated on: 15 November 2022
- new dashboard launched to improve access to leading Irish research across a wide area of the agri-food system
- series of webinars this week covering range of topics including multispecies swards, mitigating greenhouse gases, and sustainable and healthy eating
On the occasion of Science Week 2022, Martin Heydon, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Research and Development, has announced funding for two tillage focused research projects, a new research dashboard, and a series of science webinars.
Running from 13-20 November, Science Week aims to engage the Irish public on science, to discuss and explore the possibilities that science offers, and this year has the specific theme of ‘Infinite Possibilities’. Science and research are critical to the sustainable development of the agri-food, forest, marine and bioeconomy sector.
Marking the occasion, Minister Heydon announced two projects from a European agrobiodiversity research Call that will benefit from €1 million in funding:
“These two projects will provide practical knowledge on how diversity can improve our agricultural systems. They will focus on improving the resilience of barley and wheat crops across the EU, two of its most important crops.
“A central element of the Food Vision 2030 Strategy is to restore and enhance biodiversity and this investment in research I am announcing today will be an important contributor to delivering on this commitment.”
The Minister also announced the launch of a new online dashboard that offers the public access to a range of information and statistics on research being funded by the department.
Speaking on this Minister Heydon said:
“This department is a significant funder of public-good research in Ireland, having invested over €207 million since 2010. It is crucial we continue to invest in modernising and increasing the resilience of our agri-food systems. The research we fund plays a crucial role in that and it is important that it can be accessed by the public and stakeholders alike."
As part of Science Week 2022, the Minister also announced a series of webinars on projects being funded by the department.
They include:
- the ‘SMARTSWARD’ project assessing the use of multispecies swards for sustainable pasture-based farming
- four projects exploring the mitigation and monitoring of greenhouse gases from agriculture
- and two projects on the National Adult Food Consumption Survey and dietary guidelines for sustainable and healthy eating
The Minister remarked:
“While my department funds a wide range of research areas, we have chosen a selection of projects on topics that are of particularly high interest and I would encourage everyone to sign up to these webinars on the department's website.”
Notes
c.€1 million research awards:
| Coordinator | Partners | Project | Award |
| Sonia Negrao | UCD | Recovering and Exploiting Old and New Barley Diversity for Future-Ready Agriculture | €496,505.13 |
| Fiona Doohan | UCD, Teagasc | Identification and sustainable deployment of wheat genetic diversity to enhance the resilience and security of the European food supply. | €499,693.00 |
These awards arise from the joint call run by the European Joint Programme Initiative on financial support for Irish researchers in these successful projects (that also involve partners from other EU countries) is being provided through the DAFM Research Programme. The awards are contingent on successful completion of contract negotiations with all partners involved in each project.
DAFM Research Dashboard
A video explaining how to navigate the Dashboard and utilise its functions can be viewed on the DAFM YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmA6FkPrw5c
DAFM Science Week 2022 Webinars:
‘SMARTSWARD’, Assessing the use of multispecies swards: the multiple benefits for sustainable pasture-based farming
Speakers: Prof Tommy Boland, Dr Helen Sheridan, Michelle Kearns
Public Webinar Monday 14 November 9.30am – 10.15am
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5044545481302021904
International Research Collaboration: Strengthening the monitoring and mitigation of greenhouse gases from agriculture through Ireland’s participation in the European Research Area Network, “ERAGAS”.
Speakers: Dr Karl Richards, Prof Bruce Osborne, Prof Paul Ross, Dr Paul Smith
Public Webinar Tuesday 15 November 9.30am – 10.45am
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2690126048529956876
The National Adult Food Consumption Survey and Transitioning towards sustainable and healthy eating
Speakers: Dr Janette Walton, Dr Sinead McCarthy
Public Webinar Friday 18 November 11.30am – 12.30pm
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5669970785060306190