Laois farming councillor warns of food shortages due to loss of 'good sprays'

A Laois county councillor warns that Ireland could run out of homegrown food, because of the loss of "the good sprays" to kill insects and weeds as well as climate change.

Cllr Ollie Clooney who is a vegetable farmer from Durrow, represents the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.

"We have to be careful with food, you can take it too far. Weed control will be irrelevant in the future because the good sprays are gone. Unless you get on your knees and pull weeds, [crops] will be gone.

"Insects are a huge problem as well. They are breeding more rapidly. It is now a real problem with the mild weather. They can multiply. This has to be addressed, to have decent food without it being sprayed.

"Everyone thinks there is a big food mountain. There is not, believe it or not. Technology is needed to overcome this if you take away sprays. Without them, you have very little. You might succeed in year one, you won't in year two," Cllr Clooney said.

He was speaking at the November meeting of Laois County Council, following a presentation about the advances of STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) lessons in Laois schools, paid by the EU Just Transition fund.

The funding aim is to create a new generation of qualified Laois STEM workers to amend the damage to the Midlands economy by the end of Bord na Mona's fossil fuel peat production, with projects like Vex Robotics. Read more here.

The Laois STEM officer is Seanie Morris.

He addressed Cllr Clooney's comments.

"The effects of climate change is what is driving pests to change. But genetics are busy at work on that," he said.

Cllr Paddy Buggy from the Portlaoise Municipal District also took a farmer's view in reaction to hearing about the STEM lessons.

"Maybe we can use more robots in food production, like the robotic milking machines. I am looking forward to sitting in my sitting room pressing a button for stones to be picked in the field," he said.

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Mr Morris replied that there are millions of skilled jobs needed because of the advance of AI.

"In the US there are 1.8 million jobs in the computer sector. They only have enough qualified people to fill 0.8m," he said.