Scaling up of fibre crop industry 'dependent on numerous factors'
The scaling up of a fibre crop industry would be "dependent on numerous factors", Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said.
The minister recently responded to questions from Fine Gael TD William Aird related to fibre crops.
Deputy Aird asked Minister Heydon about the total number of hectares of agricultural land currently classified as set-aside or otherwise unused and whether an assessment has been undertaken of the potential to utilise such lands for the cultivation of alternative sustainable crops, including hemp.
He also asked if the Department of Agriculture has examined historical and current practices of crop diversification, including the cultivation of hemp in Ireland.
Hemp
Minister Heydon said hemp can be "successfully grown in Ireland and offers opportunities for diversification and crop rotation while delivering environmental benefits".
"Conditionality sets the current baseline requirements for farmers in receipt of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments and consists of Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) requirements," the minister said.
"Crop rotation and/or crop diversification requirements under GAEC 7, commonly referred to as the three-crop rule, is one of the baseline requirements in line with conditionality for the receipt of CAP payments.
"GAEC 7 is concerned with improving soil quality and health and reducing the dependency of chemical pesticides through control of weed, pest and disease spread.
"Changes to GAEC 7 in 2025 made compliance with the standard more straightforward for many farmers with Crop Diversification being the only standard that many arable farmers have to comply with."
Minister Heydon said many farmers for economic, environmental and disease control purposes see the benefits of having multiple crops.
"It allows the workload and the financial risk to be spread and assists with pest and weed control," he explained.
Consultation
Minister Heydon said his department carried out a consultative process in 2021 to examine the commercial viability of growing fibre crops including hemp.
The report on this consultation was published in December 2022.
"The main finding of the report was that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp for the purposes of fibre production only is not currently viable in Ireland," he said.
"However, hemp can be successfully grown in Ireland and offers opportunities for diversification and crop rotation while delivering environmental benefits.
"Potential markets also exist for hemp fibre with its use in the construction industry offering the most significant opportunity."
The scaling up of a fibre crop industry would be dependent, however, on "numerous factors".
These include the development of stable markets, significant capital investment to increase processing capacity and collaboration with all stakeholders along the supply chain, all of which must be industry-led, Minister Heydon said.
"The report noted that while the outcome of the consultation did not support the viability of fibre crops such as hemp in Ireland, it is a matter for the industry to address and bring forward a proposal containing viable options for consideration," he added.
"DAFM would welcome any such proposal."
Hemp is included as an eligible crop under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS).
Current legislation in Ireland does not allow for the growing of hemp unless a specific license has been granted by the Health Products Regulatory Authority which operates under the auspices of the Department of Health.
