On the second day of the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, economist and professor at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) David McWilliams, spoke about the carbon debate, the green deal and the possible future of Irish agriculture.

During his presentation, David stated: ''We all inherited the planet from our ancestors, people we can no longer see - we are just custodians, we are only passing through, and we will be passing it on to our descendants, people we cannot yet see.

''We are all in this together, with just one planet to share and the goal in the three H's: Healthy people, Healthy society, Healthy planet.''

Speaking about the carbon debate and how agriculture is part of the solution, he said: ''I described it as a bath overflowing and that the water is the carbon we are emitting.

''Once the bath reaches a certain level, it causes global warming, so there are only two ways to prevent the water (carbon) from causing damage.

''The second option is the opening of the plug in the bath, or to capture the carbon... agriculture is the only sector that can do this.''

This is where David believes agriculture plays a role. Agriculture is the only industry that takes in carbon and he said this could offer farmers a new green deal and he also believes that this is what the US government has planned.

Speaking about Ireland's role in this, McWilliams said: ''Irish people curse our damp, warm climate swept over the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream, yet it makes Ireland 'ground zero' for grass growing.

''Although member states must buy the Covid-19 vaccines together, each member state is responsible for their own carbon targets.

''The production of Ireland's €13 billion food exports elsewhere would cost the world a lot more.''

McWilliams added: ''Irish agriculture could respond like the Irish tech sector, which is home to all the big tech companies - generating over $25 billion in exports.

''An ultra-modern Irish agriculture sector, mirroring the tech sector needs to be the focus of the country.

''Ireland could be the cultivator of the new agricultural breakthroughs, making Ireland the most resource-efficient, carbon neutral, sustainable food producer on earth, which in turn could produce a new export - an incredibly valuable Ag-tech sector.''

''The weather every Irish person complains about gives us a competitive advantage over the rest of Europe; we can produce food much cheaper," McWilliams told the conference.

''Our input to output ratio is far better than many other parts of Europe and the world; producing here [in Ireland] where it's more efficient makes sense.

''We have been slightly hijacked by generic ideology, that is not sensitive to the local characteristics, that make Ireland a very good place to produce food.''