The chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Organic Project team, Nigel Renaghan, is calling for the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) to be reopened immediately "given the low number of applicants" in the latest call.

317 applications were received by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for the scheme, despite increased funding to facilitate 400-500 farmers.

Renaghan is present at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine this afternoon (Tuesday, June 15).

“The opening of the Rural Environment Agri Pilot Project (REAP) scheme forced farmers to decide between the two schemes, with the REAP scheme offering a significantly higher per hectare payment. The number of applicants highlights the lack of support available to the organic sector," he said.

"It’s contradictory and it discriminates against organic farmers."

Renaghan said that the scheme "must be reopened immediately and that all applicants must be accepted into the scheme without the constraints highlighted above".

The Programme for Government sets out to align the area under organic production with the EU average of 7.5%. Just 2.6% of Ireland’s agricultural area is under organic production.

"This seems unrealistic as the sector is severely under-resourced in terms of investment, research and advisory services. The shortcomings in the way in which the scheme is administered must be addressed," Renaghan continued.

“The OFS scheme should be a stand-alone scheme without the need to join other schemes to make the farming practice viable.

"The OFS must be continued under the new CAP and payment rates increased to €520/ha for farmers in conversion and €470/ha for flat rate payments.

"The rate of grant aid under the capital investment scheme must also increase to 60% to allow for the investment commitment of farmers converting to organic farming."

Renaghan also showed concern that the Organic Strategy Group "has only had one meeting with all members present since the establishment of the group over two years ago". He said this highlights the government’s "lack of commitment to the sector".

Renaghan noted that Ireland has approximately 1,800 organic producers, of which 70% are livestock farmers and they are mostly concentrated in the south-west and mid-west of the country.

Renaghan also claimed the sector suffers from being "under-resourced regarding market research, production research and specialised advisory services".

"EU-funded schemes subsidising organic farming have been available for some years," Renaghan said.

"Their uptake has been hampered by the lack of clarity on market opportunity for a very small domestic market or for export, the economic risks, the challenges of the two-year conversion period and the relative unavailability of technical support.

"Research and development and KT [knowledge transfer] are also central to maintaining the balance between supply and demand in the sector and thereby, maintaining a viable farm gate price."

Renaghan said that organic farmers are particularly dependent on price premium being protected.

He added that retailers have "integrated food produce into their food offering to a greater or lesser extent".

"It is legitimate for organic farmers to fear that their necessary price premiums will go the same way as those of quality assured conventional farmers whose produce has become the norm, and is routinely discounted at retail level."