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Nitrates Regulations
The continued implementation of the Nitrates Regulations is having and will continue to have an impact on our carbon emissions, as it results in better use of nutrients with consequently less nitrogen applications and therefore less nitrous oxide emissions. Its introduction was accompanied by a grant aid scheme to help farmers comply with the provisions of the scheme. Find out more click here
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Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS)
Rural Environmental Protection Scheme: Under this scheme farmers receive payment to farm their land under defined environmental conditions – that are beyond the legal requirements, according to a plan established under Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (DAFF) specifications. Measures under the Rural Environment Protection Scheme are expected to raise awareness amongst farmers of the need to address climate change and also to promote greater acceptance and uptake of technologies that contribute to GHG abatement, such as: the replacement of nitrogen fertiliser with biologically fixed N, promoting the use of minimum tillage, encouraging tree planting, promoting land application of manure through the use of low emission technology such as the trailing shoe. Find out click here
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Organic Farming
Organic farming: is supported through the Department’s Organic Farming Scheme. At present circa 1% (44,600 hectares) of agricultural land is employed in organic farming. A commitment under the Programme for Government, intends to increase this area to 5% by 2012. One of the specific provisions of organic farming is to avoid the use of fertiliser N. This will reduce emissions associated with fertiliser use on the farms converted to organic production.
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Good Agricultural and Environmental practice
Maintaining farms in Good Agricultural and Environmental practice. Farmers must maintain their land in good condition. This eliminates emissions associated with poor practices e.g. poaching that could give rise to leaching or loss of soil carbon and poor damage to the soil structure which could damage drainage and increase nitrous oxide emissions. It also prevents the loss of soil carbon by limiting the area of grassland that can be converted to tillage.
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Bioenergy Grant Aid
Bioenergy grant aid: Energy crops can play a role in mitigating GHG emissions. To encourage cultivation, the Department of Agriculture has introduced a National Energy Crop Premium of €80 per hectare in 2007 to supplement the EU Energy Crop Premium of €45 per hectare. A new Bioenergy Scheme was also launched offering establishment grants worth €1,450 per hectare to plant willow and miscanthus. Land planted with energy crops can also benefit under the Single Payment Scheme as well as REPS and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, subject to some restrictions on the areas planted. This action has a double dividend – reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and sequestration and storage of carbon in the living biomass.
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The Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFF) Stimulus Fund
The DAFF Research Stimulus Fund (RSF) has provided in the region of €15.5 million in funding for research to find ways to reduce GHG emissions from the agriculture sector. These projects examine agricultures ability to contribute to Ireland meeting its GHG targets as set out under the Kyoto protocol, they investigate strategies to reduce methane and nitrous oxide from livestock and manure recycling and investigate ways in which agriculture can contribute to our future energy needs through the production of energy crops and the utilization of grassland as an energy crop. Teagasc advisory and training activities.
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Teagasc
The national agricultural research and advisory body Teagasc have a number of activities that impact on GHG emissions from the sector.
- Research activities: This includes research work to identify the processes involved in the release of greenhouse gases from the sector and the investigation strategies to reduce these emissions. Teagasc also have a substantial programme of research aimed at improving the efficiency of production in the sector. This programme has had significant success in reducing emissions associated with food production so that food produced in Ireland has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world. This programme interalia aims to increase the use of grass in the diet as well as improving other production parameters that impact on GHG emissions.
- The Teagasc research and advisory programme aims to reduce costs to farmers by improving farm practices, reducing inputs, including fertilisers and introducing new farm management techniques. Many of these techniques, e.g. growing of clover in pastures, nutrient management planning, extension of the grazing season, etc, have a direct impact on the reduction of emissions at farm level.
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Increased Forest Cover
“Growing for the Future”, the Strategic Plan for the Development of the Forestry Sector in Ireland (1996), aims to increase forest cover to 17% of the land area by 2030. Ireland’s forest estate currently occupies 10% of the total land area and the total carbon store within this estate currently exceeds one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
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The Department of Agriculture and Food Afforestation Schemes
The DAFF Afforestation Schemes provides generous grants and annual forest premiums to landowners who plant new forests. The qualifying area can be a small as 0.1 hectare (for broadleaf species). Further information about forestry grants is available at www.agriculture.gov.ie/forestservice. DAFF are committed to funding research into climate change mitigation and adaptation in Irish forests through the various research programmes (www.coford.ie). Recent COFORD research estimates, that those forests established since 1990 (Kyoto forests) will sequester 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the 5-year period to the end of 2012. Forestry offers significant potential to replace carbon-emitting imported fossil fuel with carbon-neutral indigenous wood-fuels. COFORD is funding a national programme of research and development in the wood energy area.
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