Climate projects aimed at developing new technologies to reduce and account for agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are to receive funding of €5.2 million as part of the Ireland-New Zealand Joint Research Initiative (JRI).

The three research projects were announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State with special responsibility for Research and Innovation, Martin Heydon TD, along with New Zealand Minister for Agriculture, Todd McClay.

The JRI was established in 2022 to strengthen cooperation between funders and researchers in recognition of the strong existing research connections and the common challenges facing the agri-food sectors in both Ireland and New Zealand.

Funding of €2.3 million will be given to Irish partners and will go towards mitigation measures for greenhouse gases, inventory refinement, and technologies to improve methane emission estimates.

The 2024 projects will be coordinated in Ireland by researchers from Teagasc and University of Galway in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD). The Ministry for Primary Industries will provide the balance for the research organisations in New Zealand.

The successful climate projects and awards are as follows:

Disaggregated Dairy Urine Emission Factors (DREAMFactors): €1,746,357. Ireland coordinator - Dominika Krol (Teagasc) - €746,427. New Zealand coordinator - AgResearch Ltd - €999,930. Collaborating Partners: UCD;
Strategic Urine Patch Emissions Reduction Technology (SUPERTech): €1,562,164. Ireland coordinator - Patrick Forrestal (Teagasc) - €567,979. New Zealand coordinator - Surinder Saggar - €994,184. Collaborating Partners: UCD, AgResearch Ltd;
Agricultural Methane Emissions: Farm Scale to Regional Scale (FARMAI): €1,919,312. Ireland coordinator - Damien Martin (University of Galway) - €932,040. New Zealand coordinator - Alexander Geddes (NIWAR Ltd) - €987,272. Collaborating Partners: TCD, DairyNZ, Landcare NZ Lrd, LIC Ltd.

On announcing the funding, Minister Heydon said: "Our partnership with New Zealand over the last three years has seen us jointly invest almost €20 million in ground-breaking research and I am confident this will serve us into the future in improving the sustainability.”

Minister McConalogue said that "mitigation efforts" last year showed a reduction in emissions from agriculture of 4.6%, and that these efforts will further advance the reduction.