Grants of up to €60,000 are available to farmers who want to take part in the Soilcrates Ireland Living Lab project.Researchers from Technological University of the Shannon’s (TUS) Moylish campus are urging farmers to get involved to help improve soil quality
Grants of up to €60,000 are available to farmers who want to take part in the Soilcrates Ireland Living Lab project.
Researchers from Technological University of the Shannon’s (TUS) Moylish campus are urging farmers to get involved to help improve soil quality
The project aims to enhance soil structure, health and knowledge via four Living Labs across the EU, through work from farmers and researchers. One of these Living Labs will be based in the mid-west region with farmers from Co Clare, Co Limerick and Co Tipperary will be taking part.
Dr Lena Madden, TUS research fellow, who is the Soilcrates Irish Living Lab co-ordinator, said they will put on their wellies and work with farmers who know the problems on their land and marry that knowledge with scientific acumen.
“There are soil health issues impacting the agricultural sector, that include nitrogen usage and poor drainage, and we want to see if we can address those using innovative practices,” she said.
“All efforts towards exploring sustainable soil management don’t just improve soil health for participating farms, but for everyone.”
Soil quality
Farmers who would like to participate more actively will be asked to highlight the challenges they are experiencing and provide a piece of land for the duration of the four-year project to explore sustainable practices to address the issues they are experiencing on their land.
Funding of €1.6 million has been provided for this project across the four Living Labs and a total of €400,000 is available in grants for farmers in Ireland.
Anyone with an interest in soil health may follow the project and attend events and workshops.
Dr Shane O’Sullivan, a TUS senior lecturer in the Department of Applied Social Sciences, said that it is important for the farmers to know this is an equal collaboration.
“For those who do agree to allow us use their land, it won’t in any way impact on them in terms of their usage for agricultural purposes,” he added.
“For instance, cows and sheep will be able to keep grazing, while the experiments adopted will have been tested fully beforehand. The key though is that the farmers share our interest in improving soil quality.”
Funding
This Living Lab is a central element of the Horizon Europe Soilcrates project, funded by the European Union.
The project will be headquartered in TUS where baseline soil testing will occur later this year with soil improvement experiments commencing in 2026.
Ballyhoura Development, Cloughjordan Community Farm, Loop Head Together and Kraken Seeds Ltd are also involved in the project.
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