9.4 International Research Supports 2022

Ireland-New Zealand Joint Research Mechanism Under the DAFM International Outreach Strand, a new bilateral Joint Research Mechanism (JRM) was established in 2022 with New Zealand. Initially for a 3-year pilot period, this involved the signing of a Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) between DAFM and the Ministry of Primary Industries New Zealand on 12th May 2022. It aims to tackle shared policy priorities and contribute to evidence-based solutions for agriculture to mitigate its impact on climate change. The framework provides for joint research calls between both countries and the first such call was run in 2022. It invited proposals on strategies, technologies and novel systems to reduce and account for greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture ruminant production systems.

Four projects were subsequently awarded DAFM funding of €3.6 million for the Irish institutes involved, and when combined with the Ministry for Primary Industries funding of €3.5 million for the New Zealand institutes, total funding awarded under this Call was €7.1 million.

The successful projects and awards are as follows:

1. Development and Validation of high throughput predictors for large capacity screening of methane emitting ruminant livestock at an individual and system level – Methane- Predict (DAFM - €1,004,404.22, Total - €1,995,675.02).

a. Irish Co-ordinator: Fiona McGovern (Teagasc Athenry)

b. New Zealand Coordinator: Suzanne Rowe (AgResearch Ltd)

2. REfining Emission Factors for Inventory Reporting – REEFIR (DAFM - €631,012.14, Total - €1,495,952.35).

a. Irish Co-ordinator: Dominika Kroll (Teagasc Johnstown Castle)

b. New Zealand Coordinator: Tony van der Weerden (AgResearch Ltd)

3. RUmen microbiome MINING for bacterial cultures to reduce methane – RU_MINING (DAFM - €992,712.62, Total - €1,992,713.39)

a. Irish Co-ordinator: Catherine Stanton (Teagasc Moorepark)

b. New Zealand Coordinator: William Kelly (AgResearch Ltd)

4. Roadmap for efficient and effective ruminant breeding programs to reduce enteric methane production – ROADMAP (DAFM - €995,946.52, Total - €1,595,246.52)

a. Irish Co-ordinator: Donagh Berry (Teagasc Moorepark)

b. New Zealand Coordinator: Natalie Howes (AbacusBio Ltd)

US-Ireland R&D Partnership The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a tri-jurisdictional alliance between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States, which aims to promote collaborative, innovative research projects that create value above and beyond individual efforts. The 2022 Call for Proposals saw an increase to 12 in research topic areas, which resulted in renewed interest, with the partners receiving 11 submissions, the most of any call since 2017. One was subsequently successful and will involve researchers in Ireland teaming up with the Agri-food and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland and Auburn University, USA to use engineered biochar to absorb excess soil phosphorus, with subsequent slow release for cost effective and sustainable crop production.

Co-funding Initiatives In 2022, DAFM entered co-funding arrangements with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a range of projects of mutual interest. This included co-funding up to €2 million across 10 projects from the 2022 EPA Research Call. In addition, DAFM also continued co-funding of the SFI VistaMilk Centre.

Figure from page 281