Horticulture

Christmas trees

Christmas trees are a significant niche crop in Ireland, with an annual market value of around €15m. Bord Bia estimate that around 100 growers annually harvest 700,000 trees for sale. About 300,000 are exported, mainly to Britain and France. Christmas trees are grown mainly in counties Wicklow, Wexford and Carlow but also in Kerry, Tipperary, Roscommon and Dublin. The most popular varieties grown are the Nordmann fir (70%) and the Noble fir (20%), which suit our soil types. Their ability to retain their needles makes them popular with customers. On average it takes 7 – 10 years for a Christmas tree to grow to a minimum height of 2 metres.

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Christmas trees
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Christmas trees

Christmas trees are a significant niche crop in Ireland, with an annual market value of around €15m. Bord Bia estimate that around 100 growers annually harvest 700,000 trees for sale. About 300,000 are exported, mainly to Britain and France. Christmas trees are grown mainly in counties Wicklow, Wexford and Carlow but also in Kerry, Tipperary, Roscommon and Dublin. The most popular varieties grown are the Nordmann fir (70%) and the Noble fir (20%), which suit our soil types. Their ability to retain their needles makes them popular with customers. On average it takes 7 – 10 years for a Christmas tree to grow to a minimum height of 2 metres.

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Strawberries

Wexford is the county most closely associated with strawberry production. Bord Bia estimate that it accounted for almost 100 of the 224 hectares of the crop grown in Ireland in 2008. The Irish strawberry industry began around 1930 and in 1939, when war cut off imports, a production region began around Bree, Clonroche and Adamstown in Co Wexford. According to Teagasc records, the county had just three hectares of the crop in 1940, but this had jumped to 336 hectares by 1960. Crops were grown in small field plots and employed hundreds of young people. Chivers jams opened a depot in Enniscorthy, while Bunclody co-op and Irish Sugar were also involved. In the late 1990’s the crop moved from the fields to indoors, with fresh berries now available for six to eight months rather than just weeks.

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Strawberries
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Strawberries

Wexford is the county most closely associated with strawberry production. Bord Bia estimate that it accounted for almost 100 of the 224 hectares of the crop grown in Ireland in 2008. The Irish strawberry industry began around 1930 and in 1939, when war cut off imports, a production region began around Bree, Clonroche and Adamstown in Co Wexford. According to Teagasc records, the county had just three hectares of the crop in 1940, but this had jumped to 336 hectares by 1960. Crops were grown in small field plots and employed hundreds of young people. Chivers jams opened a depot in Enniscorthy, while Bunclody co-op and Irish Sugar were also involved. In the late 1990’s the crop moved from the fields to indoors, with fresh berries now available for six to eight months rather than just weeks.

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Horticulture is a valuable sector of farming in Ireland, with an estimated farmgate value of € 208 m. The key crops in this sector include mushrooms, malt, flour, cut foliage, Christmas trees and bulbs, potatoes, field vegetables and outdoor Fruit (Bord Bia, 2018 - 2019).

At retail level, the domestic fresh produce market was worth an estimated €1.54 billion in 2017, so there remains considerable scope for import substitution (BordBia, 2019).

The star of the sector are Irish mushroom growers, who sent 99% of their output to the UK in 2018 , generating export earnings of €81m and taking a remarkable nearly 50% share of the UK market. All of this is achieved from just 110 mushroom growers in Ireland, mainly located in Monaghan, Cavan, Tipperary, Roscommon and Mayo.

Bord Bia estimate that there are 200 commercial field vegetable producers growing around 4,500 hectares of crops (bordbia, 2017). North county Dublin is the most important region, with 63 growers. Apart from proximity to Dublin, the soil in the area is among the best in the country (bordbia, 2017).

Teagasc estimates that Irelands protected crop growers are mainly located in Dublin, Meath, Cork and Wexford. The main crops grown include cabbage, carrots, broccoli, swedes, cauliflower and parsnips (Teagasc, 2017). 

Fruit crops

Over 70 growers are engaged in apple, strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant production. Bord BIa estimate that strawberries account for over 92% of the Irish berry production. The retail market for strawberries is now worth about €43m (Teagasc, 2017). .

Amenity horticulture

Amenity horticulture covers a range of non food plants grown in Ireland. Our mild temperate climate provides ideal growing conditions for a comparatively large range of garden/landscape plants and flowers. Commercial amenity crops are grown either indoors in permanent structures such as glasshouses, fixed and mobile polythene tunnels or in open field/plant bed situations. While protected food horticultural production i.e. growing in glasshouses/polythene tunnels, is mostly concentrated in the area just north of Dublin and along the East Coast, containerised nursery stock production is centred in Kildare.

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Amenity horticulture
Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Amenity horticulture

Amenity horticulture covers a range of non food plants grown in Ireland. Our mild temperate climate provides ideal growing conditions for a comparatively large range of garden/landscape plants and flowers. Commercial amenity crops are grown either indoors in permanent structures such as glasshouses, fixed and mobile polythene tunnels or in open field/plant bed situations. While protected food horticultural production i.e. growing in glasshouses/polythene tunnels, is mostly concentrated in the area just north of Dublin and along the East Coast, containerised nursery stock production is centred in Kildare.

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Foliage

A niche sector is the foliage business (Worth €4.8m of exports in 2018), which grows around 200 hectares in order to produce the greenery for use in wreaths and floral arrangements. There are also around 40 growers that specialise in apple growing.

Ireland has around 100 nursery stock producers, who produce plants for the domestic and export markets. In 2018, 26 nursery stock producers were exporting to Northern Ireland and Great Britain (€7.3m worth of exports).