A €2.8 million support package for the Irish horticulture sector has been confirmed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, but The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has commented that while being a positive step, soft fruit growers have been excluded.
The funding, which was approved on 13 April, will support “high-wire protected glass house producers of tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, field vegetable producers, mushroom producers and commercial apple producers”.
But Martin Flynn, IFA Field Vegetable and Protected Crops Committee vice chairman, says the package falls short of what is needed, given the huge input surge in the sector.
The protected crop sector has encountered a five-fold increase in energy costs in recent months, according to the IFA. “The soft fruit sector is worth approximately €51 million at farm gate. The producers are struggling with the same level of inflationary input costs as all other sectors. They must be included for funding under the proposed scheme.”
All horticulture sub-sectors have experienced a sharp increase in the cost of labour, packaging materials, fertiliser, energy, peat-based growing media and other inputs that are essential elements of production.
Flynn added that, “Given the spiralling costs, without adequate support, producers are facing hugely significant decreases in margins which cannot be recouped by price increases alone. Growers have already cut back on production for 2022 to manage cashflow. This is likely to continue unless substantial headway is made in terms of funding. Retailers must also continue to negotiate increased costs with growers,” he concluded.