Irish horticulture minister Trevor Sargent has delivered a welcome boost for the Republic’s hard-pressed growers with the announcement of a €3.8 million (£3.4m) grants package.
The money, made available under the national development plan, will help fund on-farm capital investments in new facilities that are expected to total around €9.5m. All areas of the sector stand to benefit from the grant aid, including mushrooms and field vegetables, soft fruit and apples, as well as nursery crops.
Horticulture output in the Republic is now valued at more than €300m, according to the minister, with retail sales worth double that amount, and the sector also provides some 10,000 jobs. Despite current difficulties, producers had “a very high degree of confidence in the future of the sector”, he said.
The minister appealed to consumers to support local growers, citing recent reports highlighting the Republic’s worsening obesity problem and the dietary importance of fruit and vegetables in getting the country back in shape. “Buying fresh local food,” he advised, “is good for people’s health, good for the community and also good for the environment, as it reduces air miles and storage costs.”
