Press release
World Soil Day 2022: Minister Heydon announces grant awards of €1.5 million for soil-related research
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Marking World Soil Day today, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon, has announced funding awards worth €1.5 million for soil related research.
The funding will be provided to researchers in four Irish research organisations collaborating with European partners under the European Joint Programme (EJP) Soil programme.
EJP-Soil is exploring ways to enhance the contribution of agricultural soils to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity enhancement, by providing knowledge on soil health and management practices.
Speaking on the announcement of the awards, Minister Heydon stated:
“Soil is the foundation of everything we do in agriculture. Food Vision 2030 highlights that soil is critical in terms of agricultural output, producing healthy food, sequestering carbon, and supporting habitats and biodiversity.
“The research we are funding will be highly relevant to Ireland, covering areas such as carbon sequestration, soil health and the role of soils in mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases. I want to commend the researchers involved for their success in these competitive research calls and for their contribution to an innovative and resilient agri-food sector.”
The Minister also used the occasion of World Soil Day to announce the creation of a new ‘Soil Mission Mirror Group’ in Ireland. The focus of the mirror group will be to maximise Irelands participation in the Horizon Europe Mission ‘A Soil deal for Europe’, to which the EU has allocated over €142 million for the 2023-2024 work programme.
Concluding his series of announcements to mark World Soil Day, Minister Heydon also unveiled an expansion of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership to include the topic of ‘Soil Health’.
Minister Heydon remarked:
“The US-Ireland R&D partnership has proven to be very successful to date. This expansion will ensure that researchers from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States can collaborate on projects that seek to deepen our understanding of the factors influencing, protecting and enhancing soil health.”
Concluding, the Minister said:
“The theme of this year’s World Soil Day is "Soils: Where food begins". The announcements I have made today will contribute to Ireland’s ambition of raising awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by focusing on what’s beneath our feet.”
The EJP SOIL, funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, was launched in February 2020. It brings together 26 partners from 24 European countries for agricultural soil research in Europe. Irish financial support for the EJP Soil is being provided through the DAFM Research Programme.
Funding of €1.5 million will be allocated to the six research projects with Irish involvement that have been successful in the 1st EJP Call. This will go to four Irish research organisations: University College Dublin, University of Limerick, The National University of Ireland Maynooth and Teagasc. They will collaborate with research organisations from a total of 12 European countries and 10 non-European countries. The projects are as follows:
The Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme 2021-2027 is the European Union’s key initiative for funding research. It has five missions, one of which is the ‘Soil Deal for Europe’ and this aims to protect and restore soils in Europe.
The Soil Mission leads the transition towards healthy soils by funding an ambitious research and innovation programme with a strong social science component, aiming to put in place a network of 100 living labs and lighthouses to co-create knowledge, test solutions and demonstrate their value in real-life conditions, developing a harmonised framework for soil monitoring in Europe, and raise people’s awareness on the vital importance of soils.
In order to coordinate, facilitate and maximise Irelands participation in the Soil Mission, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has established a ‘Soil Mission Mirror Group’. This will include a wide range of representatives involved in soil research and practice. It will be coordinated and chaired by the DAFM Research Division.
The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a product of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and involves the governments of the United States of America, Ireland and Northern Ireland working together for scientific progress by awarding grants for research on a competitive basis.
The Partnership was launched in 2006 and to date a total combined funding of €105.7 million has been awarded to 65 projects in 7 priority areas under the Partnership that includes: Cybersecurity; Agriculture; Health; Nanoscale Science & Engineering; Sensors & Sensor Networks; Telecommunications; Energy & Sustainability.
World Soil Day is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources. World Soil Day 2022 (#WorldSoilDay) and its campaign "Soils: Where food begins" aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health.