The final report on the Maximising Organic Production Systems (MOPS) project - an initiative under the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) - has been published.

This four-year project, which involved 11 certified organic vegetable and fruit producers and was run by the Irish Organic Association, sought to investigate, and provide solutions to, the barriers to the growth and development of organic horticulture in Ireland.

For the duration of the project, these vegetable and fruit producers, along with researchers, agronomists and industry representatives, worked together to increase the supply of Irish-grown organic horticultural fresh produce.

And it was a case of mission accomplished as sales of such produce increased by 112% from €3.8 million to €8.2 million between 2017 and 2020 for the 11 producers.

The report outlines the main headline results for the project, in terms of horticulture production, market research, green manure field trials, dissemination and knowledge sharing.

These headlines are:

In launching the report, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Senator Pippa Hackett, thanked the 11 producers, the operational group members and the project team members for participating in the project.

"The MOPS project shows how growers can adapt to market demand and increase the supply of Irish organic vegetables and fruit.

"This is really vital evidence given our ambition for the sector to increase our area under production in Ireland," the minister said.