A major drive to increase organic production in the Irish Republic is to get underway shortly, to take advantage of the millions of euros spent on imported fruit and vegetables.
The fresh produce initiative is part of a four-year action plan announced by horticulture and food minister Trevor Sargent, aimed at persuading more farmers to go organic. At present, just one per cent of Irish farmland is given over to organic production - one of the lowest levels in Europe - and the minister’s ambitious target is to increase this to five per cent by 2012.
On fresh produce, the priority will be to displace the flood of organic imports by the big supermarket chains. According to the latest statistics, consumers in the Irish Republic spend some €70 million (£55.5m) a year on organics, with some 60 per cent of that going on imported fruit and vegetables, mainly from the Netherlands and France.
“The demand is certainly there,” said Grace Maher, development officer with the Irish Organic Farmers’ and Growers’ Organisation (IOFGA), an official certification body. “We get calls all the time from different parts of the country asking where organic produce is available. There’s been an upsurge of interest, mostly because of greater health awareness, and consumers almost always start off with fruit and vegetables.”
Maher, a vegetable producer, is one of seven organic growers on a 20-member steering committee appointed by the minister to help implement his action plan. There will be conversion grants, information meetings, training skills courses, special advisory services and visits to organic farms, all aimed at encouraging the switch from traditional crops.
“I believe this initiative couldn’t have come at a better time,” claimed Maher. “The current world trade talks, allied to the soaring cost of oil, have left many questioning the future of traditional farming. Switching to organics offers the prospect of growing food for which there is an assured market, and I can see Irish farming being transformed in five to10 years. Ironically, we are now attracting new members, at a time when some in traditional horticulture are being squeezed out by the poor returns from the multiples.”
Even with new recruits, the Irish organic sector remains miniscule, with a majority of small-scale growers operating on 10 acres or less.
There are concerns that some may be too small to qualify for the development grants available, and that the supports system may have to be adjusted. In addition, while local supermarkets and farmers’ markets offer outlets for such growers, the fact that they cannot guarantee continuity of supply inevitably denies them access to the multiples, the biggest players in the sector.
Maher hopes the minister’s conversion drive will change that, bringing in farmers with substantial acreages. “We have already had some interesting enquiries, and we are planning to build on that,” she said.
