SETU researchers awarded agricultural research funding - Kilkenny Farming

Two South East Technological University (SETU) researchers have secured significant funding under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM) latest Thematic Research Call.

Minister Martin Heydon TD, Minter of State with special responsibility for Research and Development at DAFM, has announced funding of €22.3 million for 21 new research projects.

SETU researchers Dr Imelda Casey and Mr Kieran Sullivan have been awarded more than €400,000 in funding under the call, which aims to support innovative research across various agricultural domains.

Minister Heydon TD said projects funded will see research work being conducted across a wide range of areas including low emissions dairy production, carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, developing farmland nature credits, optimising oat production and processing for healthy foods, assessing the impact of deer in forestry, advancing the Irish wool sector, sustainable packaging materials, and improving shelf life of dairy products, among others.

Dr Imelda Casey, from SETU’s Department of Land Sciences, is part of a project entitled ‘Zero Zero; Low-emissions dairy production without fertiliser N or herbicides’.

This project, led by James Humphreys of Teagasc in collaboration with SETU and the University of Galway, is allocated €184,160. The project aims to extend the findings of the DAFM LOCAM project onto farms, to develop a low-emissions blueprint for fragmented dairy farms, seeking to enhance sustainability within the dairy industry by reducing dependency on synthetic fertilisers and herbicides.

Kieran Sullivan, from the Walton Institute at SETU, is part of the AgNav project team. This effort is led by Teagasc and involves SETU, Bord Bia, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and is focused on creating a farmer-centric sustainability support framework.

Led by Dr Indrakshi Dey, the Walton Institute will receive €225,723 to develop a disruptive framework for data analysis, interoperability and resilient data spaces to help the agricultural sector meet Climate Action Plan targets.
The project team, which also includes Walton Institute colleague Christine O’Meara, will develop a toolkit of tailored farm sustainability support and solutions for Irish farmers.