The government must do more for farmers when it comes to the rising cost of inputs and the fertiliser crisis, according to the president of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Tim Cullinan.

Cullinan was speaking in response to figures released by Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (March 15) showing a significant rise in the cost of fertiliser, saying they illustrate the very serious input crisis that farmers are facing.

According to the CSO, the overall price of fertiliser has increased by almost 22% in a month. Straight fertiliser increased by almost 26% in the same period and 170% when compared to January 2021.

There have been calls for Ireland to grow more crops in response to uncertainty around food security as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, this cannot be done if farmers can't access fertiliser at affordable prices according to Cullinan.

The CSO figures also show energy costs increased by nearly 32% since January 2021, while fuel prices jumped by 37% in the same period.

A recent 2c/L cut in excise duties on green diesel was met with disappointment from many farming organisations.

Cullinan says the rise in costs is putting huge strain on farmers across the country.

The IFA president also said the lack of urgency that the government is displaying on this issue is very worrying.

“At our AGM [Annual General Meeting] in January, I called on the minister to pull the sector together to set up a taskforce on inputs. While the minister has belatedly done this, he needs to come forward with concrete funded proposals,” he said.