Theme leader: Dr Siobhan Jordan

With the continuing expansion of the agri-food sector in Ireland, in addition to the anticipated further development of industry in line with the targets of the Food Wise 2024 strategy, there is an increasing pressure to manage the large quantities of waste materials and resources generated from this sector in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The need for alternative and innovative solutions and technologies to treat these organic by-products in a sustainable and cost-effective manner is well documented, particularly in terms of protecting water resources and reducing the contribution of the agri-food industry to greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the increasing demand for food production concurrent to elevated environmental concerns related to agricultural production has resulted in a need for increased efficiency in crop production. With this in mind, the research theme has expanded into the area of crop and feed science, in addition to studies in the area of microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils.

The Agri-Environmental Management theme addresses the following management issues in the agri-food sector, amongst others, under the following areas:

• Environmentally benign technologies for the conversion of organic resources into value-added products; Calorific value, bioethanol fermentation, anaerobic digestion.
• Biomass composition – Agricultural materials; SMS, crops, horse manure, farmyard manure, brewery waste & organic residues.
• Constructed wetlands – Bioremediation of contaminated wastewaters - agricultural and sewerage.
• Microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils and terrestrial ecosystems.
• Crop and feed science.