TResearch: Summer 2008

Editorial: Looking back, looking forward

This special anniversary issue of TResearch features a collection of some of the main research highlights in An Foras Talúntais (AFT) over the last 50 years. AFT was established in 1958 using funding from the American Government under the Marshall Aid Programme. The groundbreaking research emanating from the organisation provided the impetus for a new era of development in Irish agriculture, founded on scientific knowledge. AFT was amalgamated with ACOT, the advisory and training organisation, to establish Teagasc in 1988.

This is a time for reflection on the achievements of the last 50 years, and a time to look forward to prepare for the challenges ahead.

It is timely that Teagasc 2030, the outcome of Teagasc's Foresight project, which commenced last year, will be launched at a major conference in Dublin Castle on May 30. While commemorating the achievements of the past 50 years, the conference will signpost the development that can take place in agriculture and food over the next 20 years or so, and how Teagasc will contribute to this development.

The onus is on Teagasc to put structures in place to enable it to provide answers to the burning research questions, some of which have been around for some time, while new challenges such as climate change, competitive world food markets and food security, and working in harmony with the environment, will continue to test us.

While the article focuses on some of the research that has had the biggest impact on the advancement of the agriculture and food industry in Ireland over the last 50 years, it is not possible to mention every project or every researcher. This broader contribution is duly noted in this editorial. Tribute should also be paid to the technical and farm staff who have supported the research programmes and trials.

The existence of a strong research function, closely integrated with advisory and training services, is an essential component of Teagasc's future and that of the industry that Teagasc has served so well over the past 50 years.

Catriona Boyle
Editor

Table of Contents

• News
  • Greenhouse gas seminar
  • Agricultural Research Forum
  • Stokes Professorship
• AFT 50th anniversary celebration
  • Celebrating 50 years of agriculture and food research
• Livestock
  • Promising legumes for beef pastures
  • Preventing mould growth on baled silage
  • The practice of piglet castration in Europe
• Food
  • Food and health – the consumers’ perspective
  • Sensors in food manufacture – the next generation
• Environment
  • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture
  • Liming grassland soils in Ireland
• Crops
  • New strategies for drying willow chips
• Economics
  • Farm numbers and viability
• Comment
  • The CAP Health Check
• Social research
  • Rural men and suicide: risks and vulnerabilities
• Horticulture
  • Mushroom casings: science catching up with technology
• Events
  • Science events 2008