Andrew Doyle T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Horticulture, announced the opening of the 2018 Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector.
Launching the Scheme Minister Doyle said “I am delighted to announce the opening of the Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector for 2018. An increased annual budget of €5m for the Scheme has been retained reflecting this Government's ongoing commitment to the sector. The competitive nature of the scheme combined with the scheme’s flexibility and ability to react to evolving situations are two key strengths in supporting this highly dynamic sector.”
The Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector is open to all horticultural sectors – field vegetables, mushrooms, protected food crops, amenity crops, soft fruit, apples and beekeeping and will provide grant aid, at a rate of 40%, for approved capital investments undertaken by 28th September 2018. The Closing date for receipt of applications is 19th December 2017.
In 2016, Ireland’s horticulture sector contributed over €430m to the value of output at farm-gate level and is estimated to be directly responsible for over 6,600 jobs with many more employed indirectly both upstream and downstream. The sector has strong potential for growth; notwithstanding recent challenges in the amenity sector caused by storm Ophelia.
The Minister also stated that, “The SBCI Loan Scheme” launched in last year’s budget was a great success and a number of horticultural businesses have benefited from these low interest loans. As part of the recent Budget €25 million has been secured to facilitate the development of a new Brexit response loan scheme for farmers, fishermen and food businesses in 2018 and further details will be announced in due course.”
The Minister concluded by saying “The timely launch of the 2018 Horticulture Investment Scheme represents both a recognition of this most recent challenge to the sector but is also a clear signal of my continued support for, and commitment to its ongoing development.
For more information:
www.agriculture.gov.ie/farmingsectors/horticulture/horticultureschemes







Announcements
Job Offers
- Packing Supervisor
- Head Grower Greenhouse Canada
- Post Entry Quarantine Facility Manager
- Economic Policy Officer Agri-Tech Kentucky
- Licensing Manager North America
- Junior Sales Executive
- Fruit Breeder/Trait Discovery Scientist
- General Manager
- Regional Sales Manager – DACH Region
- Country Manager – Italy
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
- "The availability of affordable heat is of vital importance"
- Dutch bell pepper grower installs 20MW electrode boiler
- Data-driven lighting for autonomous growing
- Air-assisted spraying technology for improved horticultural pest control
- Baby vs. teen leaf : what’s the best approach for loose leaf lettuce?
Top 5 -last week
- Combining vertical farming and greenhouse horticulture to decentralize lettuce production
- Fresh produce chain hit by Lakeside Produce’s bankruptcy
- Growy acquires assets and team of Kalera International (&ever)
- Positive vibes on the first day of IPM '23
- CAN: Land Betterment acquires 50% ownership in greenhouse operations
Top 5 -last month
- How farmers are cutting out supermarkets
- Combining vertical farming and greenhouse horticulture to decentralize lettuce production
- Higher light transmission and lower heat demand with double foil greenhouse
- Fresh produce chain hit by Lakeside Produce’s bankruptcy
- 30MHz declared bankrupt, curator 'optimistic about restart'
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-02-02 EU consumers save on food and buy less organic in 2022
- 2023-02-02 First Dutch aubergines back on shelves
- 2023-02-02 "70% of tomatoes in supermarket are now of foreign origin"
- 2023-02-02 In 2022, the average price paid to Andalusian tomato producers was the highest of the last ten years
- 2023-02-02 High cucumber pricing factors into the 'salad category' demand
- 2023-02-02 India: Uttarakhand government to construct 50,000 poly houses in state: CM Dhami
- 2023-02-01 Swiss greenhouses to operate without fossil fuels by 2040
- 2023-02-01 "Cucumbers had a good season, so more tomato growers have switched to them"
- 2023-02-01 Government and horticulture sector target $12b in exports by 2035
- 2023-02-01 Sharp rise in vine tomatoes in week 4
- 2023-02-01 "In February, there will be a production gap in cucumbers, zucchinis, and eggplants"
- 2023-02-01 Spanish and Dutch pepper sales in the EU decrease while Moroccan pepper sales grow
- 2023-02-01 Long-term impact of California rains on strawberries unknown
- 2023-02-01 California rains highlight inability to capture enough rainwater
- 2023-02-01 Crisis update: TTF gas price reached low point again
- 2023-01-31 Teaching self-sustainability to schools and communities across South Africa
- 2023-01-31 Despite challenging 2022, Serbian fruit exports are increasing
- 2023-01-31 Spanish zucchini exports decrease by almost 22% while purchases of Moroccan zucchini increased by more than 33%
- 2023-01-31 UK: Plans for more soft fruit polytunnels at a Colworth farm are resubmitted
- 2023-01-31 Cucumber season expected to end two to three weeks earlier