Teagasc has said it is hoping to launch five land sector apprenticeships by the end of 2022.

The apprenticeships will include farm manager and stud farm manager courses, intended to lead to level seven degree awards on the National Framework of Qualifications.

The remaining three proposals are directed towards land technician occupations in horticulture and sports turf and are intended to lead to level six awards.

The comments came during an Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture meeting on Tuesday where Teagasc director of knowledge transfer Tony Pettit updated participants on the progress of the courses.

“Apprenticeships is an area that we’re very keen to progress. They are at a development stage, it’s a long process and at the moment we’re working on the quality assurance frameworks for those five apprenticeships which we hope to submit to QQI this summer,” Pettit said.

“The first of those apprenticeships will go for validation to QQI this autumn. There’s also other bodies involved in it as well in terms of Solas, the Higher Education Authority, and employers.

“The work is in progress, and we would hope that by the end of 2022, all five will be launched and running.”