Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 January 2019
199. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the targets committed to, that is, the number of hectares of new land into production and the number of hectares of converted land under the organic farming scheme, for the 2014 to 2020 RDP window; and the progress to date on the targets. [2272/19]
View answerThe target for Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 was to attract some 16,000 hectares of new land into organic production and to support 46,000 hectares of converted land over the lifetime of the programme. I am very pleased to report that this target was exceeded within the first year of the opening of the Organic Farming Scheme. Since 2015, a total of 26,000 ha of land has been added to the total utilisable agricultural area under organic production and supported through my Department's Organic Farming Scheme. There will also be additional land added to this figure as a result of the re-opening of the scheme at the end of last year. My Department is currently assessing the applications under this most recent round. The total area currently under organic production is 72,000 hectares.
