A 166-point plan for the farming, food and drinks sector was published yesterday by Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan.
The Agri-Vision 2015 Action Plan was, she said, based on the three key areas of competitiveness, innovation and consumer-focused marketing.
The Minister said the industry will be consumer-driven in the future, while food quality, nutritional value and ethical production needs would have to be met by our production systems.
She listed a range of practical steps to be taken, including better labelling, marketing, animal traceability, a focus on nutrition in product development, and more research into consumer needs.
She said greater emphasis would be placed on research and development.
The department would ensure the new agricultural and veterinary laboratories would operate as science-based centres and be integrated into the national research infrastructure.
The Minister said competitiveness was a life-or-death issue for our food firms and farms. For this reason, 93 of the proposals covered these areas.
Ms Coughlan said she had already announced changes to the milk quota system.
At farm level, land mobility would be important and structural changes would be necessary to increase productivity levels, improve economies of scale and maximise earning potential.
The plan also proposes the genetic improvement in livestock breeding for high-value markets, and urges the coming together of producers and beef processors to match specific consumer preferences.
"I believe it will be possible to maintain a core of commercially viable full-time farmers with good incomes, while at the same time giving part-time farmers the opportunity to supplement their farm incomes through off-farm work," she added.
At industry level, the plan proposes the establishment of a high-level group of chief executives of food agencies, chaired at ministerial level, to ensure a consolidated approach to the development of the food sector.
"I will also establish a food industry committee, again chaired at ministerial level, comprising senior representatives of the industry, to identify issues impeding the development of the sector," she said.
There was no reaction to the plan from the Irish Farmers' Association, which said it was setting up a project team to promote alternative land uses.
This would be part of a blueprint for the future of Irish agriculture.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association expressed disappointment at the plan, saying farmers would search in vain for any assurance for increased incomes or output prices in it.
Macra na Feirme president Colm Markey said the Minister's assertion that open trading of milk quotas would improve competitiveness in the dairy sector was "way off the mark".
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president Malcolm Thompson welcomed the emphasis on consumer-focused marketing, which he said was "the last chance for Irish agriculture".
Action plan: main points
- Agri-food sector to be driven by consumer needs for food safety, quality, traceability, with a nutritional focus on product development.
- Teagasc to reorganise its resources into centres of excellence to improve market-led R&D.
- Teagasc services to be restructured into four advisory programmes.
- Partnerships and alliances between farmers and food industry to be encouraged.
- Food industry committee to be set up to identify issues impeding development.
- Food agency CEO group to be established to implement a co-ordinated approach to development of the food sector as a whole.
- Bord Bia to strengthen strategic market intelligence and to form a centre of excellence for small businesses and regional food promotion.
- Doubling of the value of food and drinks exports to Far East over the next three years.
- New school milk scheme.
- Organic, forestry and bio-fuel production to be encouraged.
- Funding details to be part of the national development plan.