Minister has launched €10m soil sampling programme
AGRICULTURE minister Charlie McConalogue recently launched an investment of €10 million in a pilot soil sampling and analysis programme. He said this programme “is aimed at putting soil carbon, soil health and fertility at the very centre of our future agricultural model”.
“Our farmers know that a healthy soil is the basis for all farming be it livestock, tillage or horticulture. Detailed knowledge about soils on our farms will increase economic and environmental sustainability,” he said.
The plan is for the programme to establish national baseline information on soils across Irish farms.
Minister McConalogue said that in addition to soil fertility and soil pathogen assessment, the programme will measure baseline soil carbon levels which will guide future actions to support carbon farming.
“It will also provide the basis for the next generation of soil-specific nutrient management advice and underpin targeted fertiliser and organic manure applications (right nutrient type, right application rate, right time and right place) across all farming systems in Ireland,” he said.
The Minister said that this sampling programme will provide the farmer with the critical information to make farm management decisions from improving nutrient use efficiency to soil carbon levels in our soils. “Advisors will be upskilled to assist farmers in translating the results of the programme into meaningful guidance for farmers. In this way, the pilot programme will realise the potential of managing soils on Irish farms,” he said. Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, said: “Soil health is vital for our very existence, and the more we know about it, the better informed we are to make the decisions necessary to preserve and regenerate it.”
She said that the programme will increase farmers’ knowledge and awareness of their soils, will enable them to take more targeted land management responses at farm level and at the same time gather important baseline data.
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Pippa Hackett at the launch of the soil sampling programme.