Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, and Minister of State, Martin Heydon TD, announced the opening of the Knowledge Transfer Programme under Ireland’s 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan.
Minister McConalogue said, “I am delighted to open the new Knowledge Transfer (KT) Programme, another important milestone in the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This new Programme will foster knowledge exchange and innovation between advisors, farmers and other stakeholders and will play a crucial role in helping farmers meet current and future challenges.”
Minister McConalogue added, “this new Programme will build on what was achieved by its predecessor under the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme. It will also contribute to the wider development of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) by harnessing the knowledge of all those who work in the agri-food chain. I look forward to advisors and farmers engaging with the new KT Programme – to the benefit of Irish farm businesses – as this is where the programme’s success will be measured.”
Minister Heydon, who has special responsibility for farm safety said about the CAP Knowledge Transfer Programme, “the new KT Programme will provide an important avenue to support farmers to access information across a wide range of topics including environmental sustainability, digital and smart technologies, and succession planning.”
Minister Heydon added, “I am particularly pleased that farm health, safety and wellbeing has been included as a priority topic in the new programme. Peer learning is a powerful driver of behavioural change and has been shown to be an effective method of improving safety on farms. This ensures the programme covers not only economic and environmental sustainability but also social sustainability on farms.”
