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Horticulture Sector

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 June 2022

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Ceisteanna (925)

Martin Browne

Ceist:

925. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made on identifying alternatives to horticultural peat; if he will provide details of the work done to date in relation to this; if he will identify the specific alternatives studied identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32025/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Good progress is being made on identifying alternatives to peat for horticulture.

Following a competitive research call, the Department recently committed €1.69 million to a research project ‘Beyond Peat’. The project is being led and co-ordinated by Teagasc Horticultural Development Department, with project partners from the Technological University of the Shannon, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Northern Ireland.

The aim of the project is to identify full and partial replacements for peat within professional horticulture, preferably from materials sourced within Ireland.

An initial focus of the project is to evaluate near to market alternatives to peat-based growth media in several key cropping scenarios. These alternatives will include the use of forestry materials, such as bark, wood-fibre, composted green waste and coir.

Additionally, the use of native materials as feedstocks for the creation of alternative growth media is also being investigated. The research is underpinned by an assessment of the sustainability of alternative candidate materials, through the use of Life Cycle Analysis. The project commenced on 1st February 2022 and will run for a period of five years until 2027.

My Department is also funding two sustainability research projects through the EU Producer Organisation scheme for fruit and vegetables. The first project is looking at spent mushroom substrate and how this could be potentially used as a peat replacement material within the wider horticulture sector.

The second project is investigating the sustainable replacement of peat in mushroom casing material and ongoing shelf and house trials are reporting good progress.

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