Former Tánaiste Simon Coveney believes that the argument that Ireland’s contribution to the world is enhanced if we just reduce the amount of food we produce to make it easier to meet climate targets is flawed thinking.

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t have responsibility towards the environment, of course we do," he told those attending the Nuffield International Agri-Summit on Friday.

“But Ireland should have the resources…to be able to apply science to food production in a way that can provide sustainable intensification, with less inputs, more targeted inputs, using nature itself to fertilise fields, in terms of the use of clover swards, the use of injection systems [for slurry application], one-pass systems, so that we are actually producing more food with less effort and cost.”

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He said that for farmers, this means more competitiveness as costs are reduced and the environment is protected for future generations.

“Any fool can reduce the pressure on nature by just doing less. The real challenge is how do countries that have the capacity to produce more sustainably do that.

“I think there’s a lot to learn in Ireland. We make some mistakes; we get some things right. There’s a lot to learn in places like New Zealand and Australia and indeed across Asia and Africa in terms of finding ways for better breeding programmes, through things like hybrid vigour, new species of more drought resistant crops and so on.

“That’s where I think we have an obligation,” the former Minister for Agriculture said.

Mistakes and successes

Coveney said that resources must be put into research if we want to feed the world.

“If you’re in Ireland or the UK or New Zealand or Australia or parts of the Middle East that have the resources to put into that research, we’ve a big obligation to do that and then share the results of that research with other parts of the world that may not have the same resources, to help them to use their natural resources in a much more efficient and intensive way in terms of sustainable food production.

“We can talk about the role that Ireland has in terms of exporting €19bn worth of food and drink every year, but actually the real value that Ireland can provide to other parts of the world, in terms of food systems, is to share our mistakes and successes over the last 30 years so that others can do in three years what it’s taken us three decade,” he said.