An Irish MEP has warned of what he called a food security crisis of the EU's "own making".

Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly called for "urgent action" to be taken to reduce the soaring cost of fertiliser and fuel for farmers.

Mullooly was speaking after addressing farmers who are protested today (Tuesday, May 19) outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg over rising fertiliser costs and the threat to food production.

The protest comes as the European Commission unveils it Fertiliser Action Plan; however, farm organisations are unconvinced over the plan and its ability to address the current high prices and availability issues of fertiliser in the short term.

Mullooly said that he would bring these farmer concerns "directly" to European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen during a debate in the European Parliament this evening on the fertiliser plan.

According to Mullooly, the war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and continuing pressure in energy markets are "now feeding directly into farmyards across Ireland".

"The EU is facing one the most serious food security challenges in modern times," the MEP claimed.

"Farmers in Ireland are telling me clearly that the economics of sowing crops simply do not add up. If farmers cannot afford fertiliser and fuel, food production will fall, and food secuirity will be put at risk," he said.

He called on the commission to reduce and suspend import tariffs on fertiliser.

"At this time, we cannot afford the luxury of holding rigidly to policy principles,” he said.

The Midlands-Northwest MEP said that food production "must come first".

"If the EU wants farmers to produce food, then the EU must stop making the basic inputs of food production more expensive than they need to be," Mullooly added.

He commented: "This is not a bureaucratic debate in Brussels. This is about whether farmers in Ireland and across the EU, who have produced food for generations, are now being asked to carry costs they simply cannot absorb."

"They need lower input costs, practical support and a clear signal that Europe understands the crisis on the ground," Mullooly said.

"Never forget, the first duty of food policy is to make sure food can actually be produced. If fertiliser and fuel costs continue to rise, and farmers are forced to cut back production, Europe will have created a food security problem of its own making. That cannot be allowed to happen," he added.