More Horizon 2020 opportunities, says NI farming body
An organisation encouraging farmers to become involved in research projects has said that more opportunities for undertaking research are available under Horizon 2020.
The chairman of the Northern Ireland Agricultural Research and Development Council, AgriSearch, James Campbell, emphasised at the body’s AGM that the farming community must invest in innovation in order to survive. He drew attention to the UK Government’s new Agri-Tech Strategy which provides funding worth £160m (~€203m) to advance ‘sustainable intensification’ and is targeting the livestock sector as a “key priority”.
“This [Agri-Tech Strategy fund] is an opportunity for NI farmers through AgriSearch to be involved with UK-wide research projects”, said Campbell. “Further opportunities for AgriSearch exist in Horizon 2020, which is investing €4bn in agri-food research and innovation over six years.”
Campbell discussed the recent cuts in government funding and changes to the costing model for projects carried out by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI). He said it was frustrating that projects approved in principle for co-funding from the Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) were unable to start until 2015, describing the projects as “of real practical value in helping make NI Farming Plc more competitive and more environmentally friendly.”
“This is not in keeping with the regional government’s acceptance of the Agri-Food Strategy Board’s report,” continued Campbell. “That report urged the NI Government to commission research into ‘best practice’ systems for sustainable intensification on-farm. It also called for a doubling in the draw-down of EU funding for agri-food innovation over the coming three years.”
Campbell added that it was important to address the long-term issue of agricultural research in Northern Ireland.
“Until now, most research projects selected for support by AgriSearch have been co-funded by DARD and carried out in co-operation with AFBI. With AFBI costings for research being pushed up since the 2013 report of the NI Comptroller and Auditor General, the continuation of agricultural research based in the province is an issue for DARD and AFBI to address urgently.”
The chairman said that AgriSearch was focusing on co-financing research with other bodies based in the UK and EU member states and held meetings with the European Cattle Innovation Partnership and the UK Red Meat Joint R&D Committee to discuss such opportunities. Campbell described it as “a golden opportunity to showcase the on-farm research being done through AFBI,” which would be of particular interest to the European Commission in their vision of Horizon 2020.
