Cross-border food research project launched

Research institutions in Northern Ireland have been invited to apply for funding for joint projects with the Republic of Ireland that benefit the local farming and food industry.

The Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland announced on 30 June that—having identified a number of topics of shared strategic relevance— it had agreed to fund the participation of researchers based in Northern Ireland in successful project applications to Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s 2017 competitive call.

DAERA’s departmental science adviser Alistair Carson said that addressing common issues with a collaborative approach had many benefits, including the leverage of additional research capacity and the expertise to meet the needs of the local agri-food industry.