Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Michael Healy-Rae has urged all Irish growers to complete the department's horticulture census.

The minister said the closing date for growers to submit their information is March 31, 2026.

The National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027 calls for the collection of better data to inform an evidence-based national policy to support the development of the industry.

According to the department, the annual census has been developed in conjunction with the Horticulture Industry Forum and the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Horticulture census

Minister Healy-Rae said the census should be completed by every horticulture grower in Ireland that sells produce.

"Submitting returns to the census will give us an accurate picture of the sector which will inform policy and supports for the sector.

"All the data collected will be aggregated and anonymised and the questions have been simplified so that it should only take a few minutes to complete.

"This is our opportunity to build an accurate picture of which crops are being grown in Ireland and to what value – if we don’t know, we can’t grow," he added.

The horticulture census can be found on the DAFM website.