TEAGASC ezine / 03 HORTICULTURE RESEARCH BOOST AT TEAGASC ASHTOWN Teagasc's new development of horticulture, forestry and education facilities at its campus in Ashtown, Dublin were officially opened on Thursday, 17 May by Andrew Doyle TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Over €2.1 million has been invested in facilities including a modern glasshouse equipped with advanced systems for research, a turf grass academy, a horticultural utility building, a large multi-span forestry polytunnel and additional polytunnels and structures which have various specific uses. The other primary piece of infrastructure on the site is the mushroom research unit, which has 100m2 of growing area ADMIRING TOMATO VARIETIES IN THE NEW GLASSHOUSE DURING THE RECENT OPENING; PROFESSOR GERRY BOYLE to support a dedicated mushroom research programme. These new (TEAGASC DIRECTOR), MINISTER ANDREW DOYLE TD, DR NOEL CAWLEY (TEAGASC AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN) facilities underline a Teagasc commitment to the horticulture sector and complement already existing facilities on the Ashtown campus, including a conference centre and facilities associated with the food research programme. This investment followed a decision taken as part of the Teagasc change programme which saw the Teagasc Kinsealy campus close and horticulture, forestry and education activities moved to the Ashtown campus, where Teagasc already has a food research centre. The investment was funded through the disposal of Teagasc assets and Teagasc funding from the government. The upside to embedding the horticulture development department, and ultimately the horticulture research programme, in the Ashtown campus will be threefold: the opportunity to conduct research and development in new state of the art facilities will be more appropriate to current commercial requirements; the increased capacity that the Ashtown site provides to crosspollinate with the food research programme cannot be underestimated; opportunities to develop synergies with horticulture education and forestry colleagues on the site are evident. ✽
FRUIT RESEARCH: INVESTIGATING THE OPTIMAL NUTRITION FOR ‘MALLING CENTENARY’ STRAWBERRY IN TEAGASC ASHTOWN ‘Malling Centenary’ still continues to play a blinder in terms of a quality strawberry. Maiden crops and second year overwintered ones have cropped very well. The crop has so far performed very well under both regimes with good yields of very high quality fruit. At the moment the crop is continuing to produce new flowers and fruit. This is very unusual for a June bearing plant whose fruiting season typically last for between six to eight weeks. This extension of the season may be caused by heating the crop, and may offer huge extra crop potential to those in a position to heat their glasshouses. ✽
RESEARCH DRIVERS It was interesting to read a recent research prioritisation document from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation which identified exciting new opportunities including robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, health and wellbeing, smart and sustainable food production and processing, decarbonising the energy system, sustainable living, and advanced and smart manufacturing. In the horticultural context, all of the above are relevant. Our ability as an industry to adopt and adapt existing technology in production and processing into our sector from other sectors will be paramount in the future. The dependence on labour in horticulture production will need to be reduced in the medium to longer term as labour availability is currently constraining growth in certain sectors. Enhancing the innovative capacity of Irish based horticultural businesses along with their ability to diversify into new markets has become more critical, particularly in light of Brexit. Smart and sustainable food production is a key consideration in avoiding environmental impacts and satisfying a knowledge driven consumer who is set on buying products with sound environmental credentials. In terms of health and wellbeing, as members of the Horticulture Industry Forum (HIF), we are well versed on the potential which exists for collaboration between the medical sector and the horticulture sector to improve public health and at the same time underpin fresh produce horticulture. If the Irish population ate the recommended daily intake of fruit or vegetables (560g), we would have a tripling of demand for fruit and vegetables (€0.75bn) and a major reduction in the estimated €1.64bn cost of obesity to the Irish health system. While large amounts of research funding go towards looking at the human microbiome, probiotics and gut health, significant positive impacts from increased fruit and vegetable consumption have been known for many decades and consumers are moving in greater numbers towards healthier options. ✽
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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Summer 2018
